The Hospitality industry (Hotel, Food & Beverage and Tourism) has enjoyed massive growth in recent years because of increased leisure time, low-fare airlines, budget/executive accommodation and access to many new tourist destinations.
Some key facts:
- The nature of tourism has developed in scope and direction away from traditional activities, such as the sunshine, sand and sea holidays to a wide range of new activities. These new activities include cultural tourism, adventure tourism, sports and leisure activities and eco-tourism. This trend is offering Ireland new opportunities to develop and grow its tourism and culture industry sector
- Tourists visiting Ireland have almost doubled in the last 10 years. The Irish Tourist Board ‘Failte Ireland’ has identified the best type of visitor for Ireland as Sightseers and Culture Seekers. These are people who like to learn about a country and its culture and enjoy visiting historic and cultural sights
- Tourism has been central to Ireland's economic strategy. Investment in tourism marketing and infrastructure resulted in Ireland attracting 6.5 million overseas visitors in 2009.
[Please check out the 'Ask the Experts' panel on the right for an overview of this sector by Failte Ireland]
Hotel and Accommodation
The number of hotels servicing the Irish tourism industry had increased to 920 hotels, with 16 new hotels registered in 2009. This has brought significant career opportunities for people interested in this sector, as each hotel needs a large number of people with different roles in order to function properly.
Some of the roles include:
[detailed information on individual occupations is available from the 'Sample Careers' panel on the left]
- Front Office Manager - responsible for the effective management of the reception desk, reception staff and the number of bedroom sales in the hotel
- Receptionist - Works at the front desk of a hotel, motel, resort, etc, and is the first person a guest deals with on arrival
- Accommodation Manager/Assistants - responsible for the cleanliness of bedrooms and all public areas of the hotel
Careers in these roles are available in hotels, B&B’s Guesthouses, Hostels, Campsites and Holiday Villages all over Ireland. In addition to these roles are the managers that keep the business side of things running. This includes roles such as:
- General Manager
- Duty Manager
- Sales and Marketing Managers
- Human Resource Manager
Food & Beverage
The food and Beverage sector covers all types of establishments supplying food and drinks from restaurants, pubs, clubs and venues. This sector attracts people who like to work with people, creating and serving meals, making cocktails, designing menus etc. These occupations require excellent social skills as people are working closely with each other and the public.
Careers in this area include:
- Chef
- Commis Chef - entry level role of a chef – prepares dishes to be cooked, general kitchen work
- Restaurant manager
- Waiter
- Sommelier - Wine expert
- Bar Staff
- Bar Manager
Tourism
Career opportunities exist in Ireland and overseas for young people at all levels from office administration to junior and senior management in a diverse range of tourism related organisations including
- Tourism offices
- Tour Guides
- Travel Agents
- Reservation Centres
- Airlines
- Leisure Centres
- Spas
- Museums
- Cultural attractions
- Heritage Centres
- Tourist shops.
Getting into this Sector
Given the potential for interesting and rewarding careers in these sectors, many young people are looking for suitable courses that will help prepare them for careers at different levels. Because of the competitive nature of these careers, staff with industry related qualifications tend to get the better jobs.
The Irish higher education system has a well developed range of courses, at all levels from PLC’s (Post Leaving Cert) to Level 7 & 8 Degrees. When looking at courses in hospitality and tourism, there can seem to be a bewildering variety of course titles covering the main employment areas of travel, tourism, hotels and restaurants.
Typical titles include:
- Tourism Management
- Tourism Marketing
- Travel and Tourism
There are also joint degrees where it is possible to study combinations of subjects, such as Tourism and Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, Hospitality and Marketing. Most undergraduate courses will include a period of work experience as part of the course, varying in length from 6 months to one year. This work experience is seen to be a central part of courses, where the student obtains the opportunity to practice what they have learned in college or university. Employers also see great value in this work experience when considering the employment of graduates.
Given the international nature of these industries, another valuable part of any course is the study of languages. Most courses in hospitality and tourism provide access to language courses, either as core components or as options.
In addition to the above courses, there are also more specialised courses in Tourism covering areas such as Cultural Tourism, Tourism Marketing, Tourism Planning, Museum Management, Heritage Management, Cultural Tourism and Sustainable Tourism: these are suitable for people who have an interest in employment in a specific sector of the industry.
Failte Ireland also provide skills training and work based training throughout Ireland for those who want to enter the sector more immediately, or want to complete their training whilst employed.
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