5 Qualities You Need to Thrive In The Hospitality And Tourism Sector

The hospitality and tourism businesses are booming and there are many jobs in Toronto that you can look into. A diploma in the travel & tourism sector will open career options in diverse industries for you in Canada or anywhere around the world. 

However, there are few key people skills or soft skills that every hospitality employee must possess to be successful in their career or run a successful business. Read this blog further to understand five vital qualities you will need to thrive in the hospitality and tourism sector.

Quality Communication and Positive Demeanor

In the Hospitality and Tourism sector the primary objective of an employee is to make sure the customer they are assisting is happy and contend with the services they are offered. Hence it is important to have a quality communication with them and understand their needs in the first place. 

Most customers coming to a restaurant or staying at your hotel will have certain goals or purpose for their limited time spent with your business. Understanding this purpose will provide you an idea on what might be the best way to help your customer utilize their time efficiently and enjoy their visit. Once they are happy, they’ll consider your services more trustworthy for the remaining time they spent at your business. 

As you converse with your customers keep in mind that a positive and approachable demeanor will ease your customer to respond in a similar way and confide their needs more confidently. 

Time Management and Precision

Time Management plays a key role if you work in the hospitality and tourism industry. Your customers will always have plans around the clock to make quality use of their time as they might be visiting for business, travel, or personal purposes. Hence any service offered by your business must not interrupt their schedule. Simultaneously, as you work fast to meet timely service you must not give up on the quality of the service offered as this can lead to errors creating further problems. 

In case of delays or unforeseen circumstances, make sure you convey the situation to the customer as politely as possible and offer them free services or compensation as suitable. It is important to make sure your customer departs on a friendly note as they might choose to leave online reviews that can cause negative impacts to your business in no time. 

Intercultural and Interracial Knowledge

Intercultural and interracial knowledge is one of the most important qualities any employee in the hospitality and tourism sector must have. You will always be dealing with customers from any part of the world, and you should be sensitive with your comments and opinions as you assist them to not hurt their identity or culture. As an employee in this industry, you are expected to update yourself with various cultures, nationalities, and racial knowledge. When customers feel understood and their expectations are met, you will have a greater chance to prosper much more as your business will stand out as an accommodating and welcoming establishment. 

If you are a business owner, manager, or a supervisor in the hospitality and tourism sector, it is highly recommended that you provide cross-cultural education to your employees or subordinates to avoid the chances of offending your customers.

Problem Solving and Leadership Skills 

Managing customer issues is a daily task in hospitality jobs. Problems can arise in any form at any time in this industry and one should be a quick thinker and problem solver to calm the situation down and buy time to fix it. 

For example, imagine you are the manager of a hotel business and your administrator booked two different customers to the same room at the same time. Once you have realized the issue, you must be calm and handle the situation wisely, even if the customer gets angry and accuses you. Instead of coming up with reasonings you must listen to their concern, apologize for your mistake, and offer solutions such as alternate options or free services to compensate for the inconvenience. 

Although you cannot go back in time you can spin any situation to your favor by making your customer feel heard. This is possible only if you are a quick thinker, problem solver and possess leadership qualities. To deal with such unfortunate situations, make sure to train your employees on the importance of crisis management in the hospitality industry.

Strong Team-Player

No matter what position you hold in the hospitality business it is never a one-man show. So please note that even if you do your best but are a bad team player, conflicts can occur. Being a key team member comes from understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your teammates and delegating tasks accordingly. For this you need to communicate well with your team and hear their opinions, concerns, and recommendations. This will give you an insight of how and where you can bring in your strengths to manage a situation. 

To produce quality teamwork, always support your teammates if they approach you with a concern to the best of your possibility. This will in turn help you gain their trust and camaraderie helping you flourish in your career path. 

If you wish to become a part of this industry, join the two year Hospitality and Tourism post-secondary diploma program offered by NACPT Pharma College. Every qualified student will be eligible for educational grants and the job assistance program that will make you career-ready to take up positions in this field. 

Visit www.NacptpharmaCollege.com for more information.