Top 10 Skills You Need for Hospitality Management

Hospitality management isn’t for everyone. But if you’ve got the right skills, it could be the perfect career for you! Prioritize building the following ten skills to ensure you stand out in your field.

• Hospitality management is a guest-focused, constantly evolving industry that requires a wide range of technical and interpersonal skills.

• Among the most important hospitality skills are communication, customer service, the ability to solve problems, business acumen, and leadership skills. 

• You can develop your hospitality management skills through online degree programs, which combine theoretical knowledge with real-world case studies.

It seems obvious, but many people don’t consider how crucial it is to develop skills that align with their desired career. They think that knowledge and experience alone will earn them their dream job. However, in a competitive job market, a degree without relevant skills isn’t enough. 

Ten skills are a must-have for hospitality hopefuls. Some skills, like team management and business acumen, are naturally relevant to the job. Other soft skills are less obvious, but they actually are the difference between a good career and a great career!

Improving communication is a hot topic in the hospitality field, and for good reason. Whether you need to communicate an urgent update with your staff or help an unhappy guest, being a strong communicator allows you to do so. 

Many qualities make up effective communication—everything from how you express yourself via email to your tone of voice. If you can master the skill of interpersonal communication, you’ll be able to ensure customer satisfaction and create a positive work environment for your staff. 

Outstanding customer service is at the heart of the hospitality industry. From the moment a guest enters a hotel, resort, or restaurant to the end of their experience, hospitality professionals ensure that they have a good time. Core tenets of excellent customer service include keeping a positive attitude and going the extra mile. 

However, customer service isn’t solely about giving the customer what they want. Making difficult decisions means you won’t always have good news in response to customer complaints, especially when you assume a management or leadership role. Your customer service philosophy should allow you to balance striving for guest satisfaction with adhering to company policies. 

If your goal is to thrive in hospitality management, strengthening your leadership skills is a no-brainer. This might mean developing your abilities in public speaking, team management, strategic decision-making, and organization. 

A leader sets the tone for an entire company; when the person in charge doesn’t excel in their role, the entire team suffers. Especially in the fast-paced hospitality industry, leaders need to hone these skills so they can meet unexpected challenges head-on. 

In the hospitality industry, problem-solving can vary drastically from day to day and requires professionals who can adapt to these situations. Common challenges you might face in your role include meeting guest needs, staffing issues, health and safety concerns, and equipment or technological issues.

When you work in management, many people look to you for simple and efficient solutions. A skilled problem-solver prioritizes listening to complaints, evaluating possible solutions, and deciding what course of action best satisfies everyone involved. 

Think of the last review you left for a hotel chain or a restaurant. Whether it was positive or negative, you probably focused on the details. That’s because the details often make or break the guest experience. 

As a hospitality manager, it’s your job to juggle both the big picture and the details. This means not cutting corners when it comes to the guest experience and ensuring that your staff is dedicated to the same goals. It also means listening to customer feedback and searching for areas of improvement—even those that seem like “tiny details.” 

The hospitality industry moves fast. To keep up with it, roles in the hospitality industry require strong organizational and time management skills. 

Your organizational skills are what keep the ship running smoothly—whether that’s day-to-day tasks, like keeping check-in and check-out on schedule, or big picture, like coordinating a project that involves multiple teams and many moving parts. A good grasp on time management helps you make the most efficient use of your staff’s time while prioritizing tasks that matter the most each day. 

A career in hospitality management often means working in a global context—interacting with guests from all over the world and working to give them an excellent travel experience. In these instances, language barriers and cultural differences can hamper your ability to communicate. Therefore, it’s imperative that hospitality professionals develop their cultural awareness. 

While becoming fluent in another language can help, you should also become well-versed in nonverbal communication and your guests’ cultural customs so that you can respect them. Emotional intelligence also comes into play here; by empathizing with and anticipating the needs of your guests, you can deliver a high-quality experience. 

While hospitality is a highly human-focused industry, it’s still a business. Because of this, an understanding of finance is an asset in your future career. It will allow you to stay abreast of financial challenges facing both your company and the hospitality field as a whole. 

Whether you need to battle rising costs or identify ways to stay ahead of the competition, being able to analyze your company’s financial health and develop a solid hospitality business strategy will strengthen your ability to lead.

Being a skilled marketer comes in handy in hospitality management. If you know how to effectively market your company, you’ll be able to attract new customers.

You can also use these skills in your role to build your company’s brand and foster loyalty amongst your customers. This might mean encouraging guests to leave positive reviews—an excellent way to build trust in your company—or offering promotions or discounts that reward returning guests.

People skills are imperative in hospitality management, but it helps to also know your way around a computer. So many aspects of the hospitality industry have gone digital—everything from reservations and check-ins to ensuring guests have access to promised amenities. It’s important to familiarize yourself with software and systems that are relevant to your job. Even if you won’t be working regularly at the front desk, you never know where you’ll be needed from day to day.

Despite having so much technology at your disposal, digital systems can also cause unexpected issues when they malfunction or need repairs. In these situations, it’s critical for management to have digital skills that allow them to resolve issues and get hotel operations back on track. 

Once you’ve honed your hospitality skills, what can you do with them? Many career paths are available to you, such as:

• Event and Convention Planners 

• General and Operational Managers

• Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Staff 

• Sales Managers

• Supervisors of Food and Beverage Staff 

These roles span a wide range of experience levels and salaries, ensuring that you can continue to climb the ranks throughout your career! Additionally, with employment growth rates between 3-6% on average, you’ll have no shortage of positions to which you can apply.

You have many options for developing your hospitality management skillset. Both online certifications and on-the-job experience will help you learn how to communicate with guests and exceed their expectations. 

Interested in taking a more intensive, focused approach? Then an online degree program may be perfect for you. 

The University of Cincinnati’s online Applied Associate of Business in Hospitality Management is the key to your dream career. Your coursework is delivered 100% online, creating a flexible educational experience while helping you develop the skills you need to succeed. 

Dr. Ryan Maloney, Hospitality Management Program Director, ensures that students are prepared for success in a wide variety of hospitality careers. Hear what he had to say about the program in his faculty spotlight blog. 

If you're ready to begin your journey, it’s time to contact your Enrollment Services Advisor. UC's dedicated online staff is here to guide you through the application process and beyond. Your hospitality career awaits you—all you have to do is take the first step!

Technical or “hard” skills that are useful in hospitality management include experience with specific software or systems, such as hotel reservation or POS systems. Other relevant skills in hospitality include financial management, budgeting, and fluency in a foreign language.

Absolutely! While some skills are particularly advantageous in hospitality, they are transferable to other industries. Being skilled at customer service, business acumen, and problem-solving makes you valuable to any company.