Career Tips for Global Hospitality Business Management

In today’s interconnected world, the hospitality industry offers unique and exciting opportunities for professionals seeking a global career. With the rise of international travel and growing demand for exceptional guest experiences, the need for skilled hospitality business managers who can navigate diverse cultures and markets has never been greater. 

A global career in hospitality business management (HBM) gives you the opportunity to work in different locations while serving guests of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds. Whether you’re a seasoned hospitality professional looking to broaden your horizons or a travel enthusiast eager to explore the world while working, an international career offers adventure, growth, and fulfillment. 

Hospitality industry careers allow you to work in hotels, restaurants, events, and tours all over the world. To prepare yourself for these opportunities, you’ll need some guidance. Luckily, we’re here to help with this article! 

From growing your professional network and working on communication skills to obtaining internationally recognized education and training, this guide will supply you with everything you need to go forth and conquer the world as a hospitality business manager.  

Read on or listen to our podcast below to learn the tips and how it helps accelerate your success in hospitality.

Listen to: “Career Tips for Global Hospitality Business Management”

Obtain Hospitality Business Management Education and Training

Whether local or international, businesses look for specific qualifications from professionals. As an aspiring hospitality business manager, you can only meet these types of requirements by obtaining the right hospitality management education and training. An educational program for hospitality business management will give you the knowledge and skills you will utilize for your global career.

Sundance College’s Hospitality Business Management diploma program stands out for its comprehensive curriculum and industry-focused approach. The program not only covers core hospitality management principles but also provides students with the opportunity to gain valuable AHLEI (American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute) certificates. These certificates, as well as the diploma itself, are highly regarded in the hospitality industry and can enhance your credentials and employability.

Sundance College’s Hospitality Business Management Instructor, Fatima, highlights how our diploma program equips you with skills for an international career: “Problem-solving, financial management, industry trends, sales, and marketing are some of the essential skills and knowledge from the HBM program that can be applied effectively in various hospitality businesses around the world to give you a strong foundation for a successful career in the industry.”

By enrolling in a program like Sundance College’s Hospitality Business Management diploma, you can benefit from a career-focused curriculum designed to meet the demands of the global hospitality industry. The program’s focus on practical skills and industry certificates can help you stand out in a competitive job market and excel in your global career.

Learn About the Tourism of Your Desired Workplace

Tourism is what makes the global hospitality world go round, so investing the time and effort to learn about the tourism of your desired work location is strongly recommended. This includes understanding the area’s culture and history, natural attractions, politics, economy, demographics, and geography.

Acquiring these insights will enhance your expertise and allow you to position yourself competitively in the international hospitality job market. This knowledge will improve everything from your service offerings to your marketing strategies and networking approach.

Reading books, performing research through news archives and social media, and talking to local experts are all effective ways for you to start learning tourism in foreign setting.

Adapt Your Hospitality Business Management Skills

Succeeding as a hospitality business manager requires you to adapt your management skills for a global audience. Hotels, restaurants, events, and tours all over the world are looking for skilled managers to run their operations and grow their business.

Because of the global and diverse nature of the role of a hospitality business manager, you must be able to adapt your skills based on your work location. This adaptability will allow you to refine your managerial skills and become more effective in situations like personalizing your service for international guests in your establishment or training your staff to implement local regulatory standards.

You’ll need experience and a deep understanding in the following areas to adapt your management style for different work environments:

Hospitality Marketing and Sales

Developing a marketing and sales approach which focuses on your customer base is the key to the management and growth of a business. As a hospitality business manager, you must have a clear understanding of who your audience is and the best ways of engaging them. This changes according to the company you work for.

Typically, local businesses are competing for the same customers. When you work overseas, your market changes and you must make a point to understand the local audience, along with their cultures, values, and interests.

To effectively market your business and stand out from the pack, you must gain knowledge and insights into local industry trends, demand, competitors. You can achieve this through using your research and interview skills.

You may also discover that changing work locations requires you to learn new sales practices that are more conducive to local sensibilities. The more you know about local insights, the higher your chances are for succeeding with your aspiring global career.

Communication & Interpersonal Skills

Communication is one of the key factors that contributes success towards your hospitality management career. You must adapt your communication style based on location to provide excellent customer service to your guests and patrons. One way to succeed in navigating through communication barriers in another country is to learn the local language and cultural etiquette.

This knowledge will come handy for both accuracy of information and relationship building with your staff, guests, vendors, and stakeholders.

Hospitality business managers need accurate information to manage their business effectively. For instances such as directing their staff for day-to-day operations, communicating with the guests which services they are entitled to and informing third party businesses which product or service your business require, you’ll need to be able to understand and relay accurate information.

The strong relationships are beneficial for every area of business management, including marketing, business negotiations, and human resources management.

Knowledge of International Safety and Security Protocols

Although most of the safety and security knowledge you acquire, such as food safety and first aid, can be applied universally, there are some areas that you’ll need to adapt to fit a different workplace.

Conducting research and speaking with locals to learn the common safety concerns that are usually raised will help you navigate new and unique circumstances. For example, safety concerns like slipping hazards in tundra climates will not be a priority in tropical areas where concerns are more for hurricanes and storms.

Understanding local laws and regulations allows businesses to run without any barriers from government or relevant organizations. It will also help you understand how local authorities become a resource in times of emergencies.

As management, it is your responsibility to have full knowledge and understanding of these standards to follow and reinforce them within your company. By doing so, your business will increase its emergency preparedness while providing a comfortable and safe environment for your guests. Along with this, you will help develop a stronger brand reputation and guest confidence and improve overall operational efficiency, contributing to the growth and success of the workplace.

As with many of the skills mentioned in this article, knowing the local laws for your work location will have a positive impact on your ability to successfully do your job as a global hospitality business manager.

Acquire Relevant Work Experience

Work experience is highly valued in all areas of the hospitality industry. International employers are keen on employing individuals that possess relevant experience to prove that they can handle the responsibilities that come with the job opportunity. They want to see that you’ve successfully contributed to a similar operation, team management, strategic planning, and providing customer service.

For those who are about to start their career in hospitality, there is one effective way to address this need for experience. A practicum period included in your training program is one of the primary ways to obtain hands-on hospitality industry experience during the formative stages of your career.

Through a work placement, you are given the opportunity to work in the role you are training for. You will get the chance to work for a real company and contribute to their daily operations.

Some colleges include practicums with their hospitality diplomas. We recommend you find one which runs for a substantial period, such as the practicum offered in Sundance College’s HBM program, which runs for 5 weeks.

The longer the period of your practicum, the more you will be acclimated to a real work environment and the more you will understand the expectations when performing in your role.

Network with People in the Hospitality Industry

Networking is advantageous in every industry, but especially in hospitality. It’s a key skill that may lead to new opportunities for career progression, mentorship, or industry insights.

Hospitality industry networking across borders can be done through attending events and conferences, joining online platforms like LinkedIn, or connecting with instructors at your educational institution. If you have adapted to the language and business customs of your desired work location, networking there would become much more effective. Typically, these are great starting points for building up your network.

To become effective at networking you must deliver value to the people you meet, this may come in the form of information, other connections, or services. Once you have built a strong network, your connections will not only be a valuable resource, but they will also enhance your hospitality industry qualifications and overall value in the job market.

Enroll in Sundance College’s Hospitality Business Management Program

As you create a plan to pursue a global hospitality business career and look into training programs, Sundance College should be top of your educational institution list.

Our Hospitality Business Management diploma program is a 43-week career-focused introduction into the hospitality industry and includes a 5-week practicum period. This means you will get the opportunity of learning foundational knowledge about hospitality in-class or online, then use your practicum placement to apply it in a real-work setting to reinforce your learning.

As an AHLEI certified institution, Sundance College can provide you with an internationally recognized completion certificate to promote your global career aspirations. Reach out to one of our academic advisors to learn how you can start your journey.