The United States is the perfect place for international students to study hospitality management. Many of the biggest hotel chains in the world are based in the United States or have a major corporate presence there. Companies like Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham, and Hilton are all headquartered in the U.S. and tend to recruit employees from universities in the United States. These schools offer a variety of hospitality management courses that will prepare any international student for a career within the U.S. or in their home country.
Hospitality Management involves the organizing, planning, controlling and directing of human and material resources within the lodging, restaurant, tourism and travel, recreational management, institutional management, and convention planning industries. Various types of employment locations also exist within the hospitality industry; hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, airlines, convention centers, cruise ships, etc. Due to the fact that this industry is full of so many different options thousands of international students choose to study hospitality management within the United States.
The hospitality industry is closely tied to the tourism industry. In 2010 over 100 million people visited and traveled within the U.S. Recent studies suggest that the tourism market is expected to consistently grow in the next few years. There has always been a need for employees within the hospitality industry but because of the projected increase in tourism the demand for employees has risen as well. The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts that there will be over 69 million jobs in the travel and tourism industry in 2021. The majority of these new jobs (80%) are expected to come from the developing tourism markets of Asia, Latin American, the Middle East, and Africa. As a result, now is the opportune time for international students to study hospitality management and pursue a career in this field.
There are many educational options for those who want to study hospitality management in the U.S. An international student can acquire qualifications for a career in this field by completing hospitality management courses and earning a bachelors or master’s degree from a college or university. Students can also earn an associate’s degree from a community or junior college that specializes in hospitality management. Students typically earn a hospitality management degree from a college or university in 4 to 5 years. A master’s degree can be completed in 2 years but can require a longer period of time depending on how many courses a student takes each semester. Two-year degrees from a community college are good for individuals who want to own their own hotel or restaurant but for people interested in pursuing management positions in larger hotel or restaurant chains, attending a four year university may be a better choice to secure a job.
Many international students study hospitality management in the U.S. because of the top ranked schools for the industry. Cornell University, an Ivy League school located in New York is a prestigious university which has a program that specializes in hospitality management courses. The university’s School of Hotel Management was the first collegiate program in hospitality management to exist in the U.S. (founded in 1922) and is regarded as the world leader in this field. Individuals who earn their degree from this undergraduate business program will share an alma mater with an elite group of corporate leaders and entrepreneurs who have dominated the workforce after graduating from this school. Fairleigh Dickinson University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Georgia State University, are also top ranked institutions located in the U.S. who have degree programs specializing in hospitality management. Associate’s and Bachelor’s Degrees in hospitality management can also be earned online through schools such as the University of Phoenix, Sullivan University, and The Art Institute which are based in the United States.
The United States is the best place for international students to study hospitality management because of all the possibilities associated with this industry in the U.S. Individuals are able to choose between different work/internship locations (all 50 states and hundreds of countries around the world), different career options (hotel, restaurant, cruise ship, airlines, etc.), and a variety of different higher education institutions. Another reason the U.S. is a good place to take hospitality management courses is because companies like Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham, and Hilton are all headquartered in the U.S. and tend to recruit future employees from these universities.