Top 3 Trends for Hospitality Careers in 2016

This article is sponsored by Les Roches International School of Hotel Management.

Hospitality careers are characterized by diversity and constant change. This presents educators with the challenge of keeping pace with upcoming industry trends, to ensure their graduates are ready for the modern sector. As 2016 gets underway, here’s a review of three of the biggest predicted trends, and how they are shaping hospitality management degrees.

1. Hospitality talent shortages in emerging destinations

As highlighted in previous years, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts difficulties for the travel and tourism sector in finding enough qualified professionals to fill the estimated 80 million new jobs due to be created over the next 10 years. This is particularly a problem in emerging destinations, where a shortfall in talented hospitality graduates could limit the growth of the developing tourism trade.

A number of initiatives are underway to address this issue. For instance, the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) of the Rwandan government has entered a new partnership with Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, with the aim of sustainably strengthening localized talent, filling shortages in technical skills and hospitality services. Through this collaboration, Les Roches is providing guidance to support the WDA’s creation of a new hospitality management institute in Rwanda, creating new learning opportunities for local students interested in pursuing hospitality careers. 

As part of this project, Les Roches is providing advice on curriculum design, academic quality, and campus operations. Several Rwandan MBA students who have graduated from Les Roches are now managing the delivery of the project on site, aiming to open the new facility and start enrolling the first students by September 2016.

The skills gap in hospitality careers is also linked to the traditionally high turnover and movement of staff within the sector – an issue which is correlated to the growth in global job opportunities. Future HR professionals working in hospitality will need to be ready to address this problem by taking a strategic and innovative approach to talent attraction, retention and development.

To help equip future HR professionals in hospitality with the expertise they need, Les Roches Marbella is offering a specialization in Strategic Human Resources Management as part of its bachelor’s degree in hospitality management.

2. Technology-driven disruptions to the sector 

The last few decades have seen fundamental changes to the hospitality industry, with new technologies and services dramatically transforming consumer behavior. To start with, online travel agencies (OTAs) changed the way we book trips, with one third of leisure and half of business travelers booking their trips online.

More recently, peer-to-peer housing platform Airbnb has emerged as a significant competitor for hotels. It now lists over 800,000 properties worldwide. In a parallel development, app-based taxi services have introduced the concept of smart mobility, revolutionizing the transportation sector.

All of these disruptions have been predominantly fueled by technological innovation: new databases and logarithms allowed providers to aggregate lodging options, while shared economy and app-based payment enabled the success of peer-to-peer services.

Technology-driven disruption is only set to continue, and this means digital skills must be integrated into the curricula of hospitality degrees, alongside practical, soft skills and business management acumen. Les Roches has a strong focus on incorporating technological innovations and tools in its curriculum, which features many tech-focused and forward-looking courses. New computer labs are used to teach courses in fields such as web design, and allow students to work on app development and innovation as part of their business and start-up projects. The tech lab collects the latest technology innovations, providing a focal point for multimedia development, while the school’s collaborative learning process acts as an incubator for entrepreneurial students.

Les Roches has also responded to the digital disruption trend by offering students a blended learning experience. A selection of courses can be accessed online, and reading material is available at any time through electronic devices and an online repository.

3. Demand for seamless travel experiences 

The latest Economist Business Intelligence conference on The Future of Travel identified the growth in consumer demand for seamless travel experiences, no longer the privilege of a select few first-class travelers. Industry stakeholders are working to eliminate obstacles and facilitate mobility through new technologies and infrastructure.

For those entering hospitality careers, this means using technology to reduce obstacles at each stage of the journey, for instance by offering opportunities to check-in online, customize rooms and eliminate queues. In addition, luxury tour operators are having offer even more complete travel offerings, to meet the demands of today’s luxury travelers.

To help prepare students for this set of challenges, Les Roches is launching a new Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management for Luxury Tourism at its Marbella campus in April 2016. This course focuses on understanding the impact of new technologies and trends, preparing students to lead marketing projects and strategies in global tourism, at the fore of innovation and with a competitive edge.

As a leading educator in the area of hospitality management, Les Roches accepts its responsibility to track industry developments and update our curricula to continuously benefit students. It is our mandate to ensure our graduates are skilled in all aspects of today’s hospitality to meet the hiring needs of the industry and get a head start when joining the professional world.