The tourism and hospitality sectors have faced unprecedented changes due to COVID-19 over the past few years, and negotiating these and other industry-specific challenges requires a range of skills. Our Certificate of Hotel Management is ideal for hotel managers, venue managers, or anyone keen to work in the the hotel sector or open their own business.

In hospitality short courses like ours, you will learn about resort and hotel operations, management structures, workplace organisation, and effective management policies. You will also gain insights into establishing a professional team to ensure quality service delivery, and the complexity of hotel management, from maintaining hotel systems relating to facilities, activities, front desk operations and food service management.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a hospitality short courses include:

• Learning about the scope and nature of hotel management
• Exploring the hotel and catering industries
• Studying planning and policies
• Gaining insights into the organisation of the hotel workplace
• Examining the nature and purpose of organisation
• Understanding the mechanistic and human relations view of organisation
• Learning about the systems approach to organisation
• Exploring organisation structure
• Gaining an understanding of the informal structure
• Studying staff management in hotels
• Gaining insights into work charts
• Examining communication and coordination
• Understanding monitoring workloads
• Learning about work procedures and career structures
• Exploring authority and the chain of command
• Gaining an understanding of control systems – production, quality and sales
• Studying control systems – labour utilisation, materials, maintenance and financial
• Gaining insights into setting standards
• Examining corrective action
• Understanding front desk (reception) management
• Learning about customer service
• Exploring how to deal with grievances and complaints
• Studying communication and conversation development
• Gaining insights into business letters and using the telephone
• Understanding promotions and customer relations
• Learning about client interpersonal skills
• Exploring self-esteem and reinforcement
• Gaining an understanding of servicing rooms and general cleaning
• Studying servicing equipment and the purchase or hire of equipment
• Discovering insights into the purchase or hire of linen and the choice of fabrics

And more!

2021 Tourism and Hotel Market Outlook

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a particularly heavy burden on Australia’s hotel and tourism sectors, and their recovery will be primarily be delivered in the short term by domestic demand as international tourism is unlikely to return in a meaningful way until 2022. By undertaking hospitality short courses online, you’re in the best position to gain career advantage when the industry picks up.

The Tourism Sector Prior COVID-19

According to the 2021 edition of the Deloitte Access Economics Tourism and Hotel Market Outlook, growth in Australia’s tourism sector was outpacing growth in the wider economy prior to COVID-19.

From 2009 to 2019, Australian tourism expenditure saw an average annual growth of six per cent, and 2019 saw a record high of 9.5 million overseas visitors arrive in Australia spending over $45 billion.

When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, international visitor arrivals fell globally by 74 per cent, and the Asia Pacific region was the hardest hit. In Australia, interstate and international travel fell by 65 per cent and 81 per cent respectively. The impact was dramatic — there were 45 million fewer domestic overnight trips and 7.6 million fewer international arrivals, resulting in a loss of over $85 billion in visitor spending.

The Outlook for the Tourism Sector

According to Deloitte, the post-COVID recovery for Australian tourism will be dependent on a range of factors, including travel restrictions, aviation capacity, the loss of human capital and tourism business viability in the short-to-medium term. Consumer confidence and behaviour, local and global economic conditions and ongoing government responses to managing the health crisis will also play a part.

However, there is evidence of recovery for the domestic travel sector via pent-up demand and tourism agencies encouraging people to holiday within Australia. Domestic overnight trips are forecast to grow to 113 million by the end of 2021 (which is just under the 2019 levels), and to 134 million trips by 2023 (a 14 per cent increase on 2019).

On the international front, when international travel restrictions lift, Australia will face an extremely competitive landscape with other countries looking to reactivate their tourism industries as well. However, the development and adoption of vaccine passports and other measures is expected to drive the return of international visitors.

The Hotel Sector Prior COVID-19

In 2019, Australia’s tourism sector welcomed 126 million overnight visitors — 117 million of those were domestic and 8.8 million international. These visitors spent over 690 million visitor nights across the country, representing a growth of seven per cent over 2018. Nearly one in five visitor nights was spent in a hotel.

The impacts of COVID-19 have been equally dire for hotel operators. In 2020, travel restrictions led to occupancy plunging to a low of over 45 per cent.

The Outlook for the Hotel Sector

However, despite the devastating operating climate in 2020 due to COVID-19, over 5000 new hotel rooms were added to the market in 2020. And in the future, there is potential that more than 32,000 new rooms will be added to the national tally, with around 40 per cent of these anticipated to open in 2022. That’s great news for those looking to undertake hospitality short courses!

For hoteliers, although occupancy rates are forecast to remain considerably lower than in recent years, they are expected to recover to 95 per cent of 2019 occupancy levels in the final year of the forecast horizon. This will be influenced by the addition of new hotel rooms, but also in the anticipated slow recovery of business travel and the return of international visitors.

The Deloitte report also forecasts that the pace of recovery will be different across different city markets. For example, Perth and Brisbane are likely to see occupancy rates returning to 2019 levels by 2023. However, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Western Sydney and Tropical North Queensland are expected to be slower to recover due to their greater exposure to either international tourists or business travel, or both.

In terms of room rates, they fared better than occupancy rates in 2020, ending the year down on 12 per cent over 2019. Rates are expected to improve more quickly than occupancy levels — returning to 2019 levels by 2023 with some markets achieving this milestone even sooner.

The corporate travel segment will be critical in terms of the recovery as well. However, markets where corporate travellers represent a relatively larger share of demand will face significant challenges. This is particularly because many businesses have been influenced by people connecting via technology. The challenge for hotels in the major cities in the short to medium term will be to look at ways to encourage a greater volume of domestic holidaymakers to fill in the gap from business travellers.

Reference:

2021, Tourism and Hotel Market Outlook 2021, Deloitte

Top 5 Accommodation and Hospitality Industry Trends in 2021

In 2020, many operators in the accommodation and hospitality industry had to shut their doors literally overnight. Others had to find ways to continue to operate amid unprecedented safety measures and restrictions. And although border closures and restrictions continue to consistently change, there are a range of trends that are changing the operational landscape of both of these sectors. Here are the top five that will provide food for thought for those interested in hospitality short courses.

1. Sustainability

This is one of the biggest trends in the industry at the moment as people become more attuned to social and environmental issues. Hotels and restaurants are switching to reusable containers, recyclable plastics and ethically sourced materials like produce, linen and toiletries.

2. Contactless Service

Over the last 12 months this has played an important role in reopening venues. Contactless payment, digital menus and technology is allowing operators to access data they’ve never had before. And ahead, hotels may switch to digital check-ins which will mean the end of key cards.

3. Staycations

Many people have chosen to stay at home during the pandemic, with more operators promoting the “shop and buy locally” mantra. For the industry, businesses face the challenge of improving their branding to reflect a more homely and informal atmosphere that encourages locals to enjoy a “staycation” away from home.

4. Unique Experiences

The new generations of Gen X and Gen Y travellers have different needs from the hospitality and accommodation industry. With a rise in independent travelling, they are opting for purposeful experiences where they spend wisely and positively impact the local community. One example of this trend are farm stays at  B&Bs which blend the divide between guests and locals and promote sustainability and farm-to-table initiatives.

5. Automation

Technology is playing a significant role in the shift to automation within the industry. AI-powered chatbots are providing customer service during the booking process, and for hotels, cloud-based integrated solutions are essential to keeping up with the ever-changing digital revolution.

Gain the foundational knowledge to pursue a career or open your own business in the hotel and resort management sector with hospitality short courses such as our Certificate of Hotel Management.