The tourism and hospitality industry has been a fast growing sector in India. Around 4.4 million tourists visited India in 2009 says a report by the Indian tourism department. According to a business news website, India’s hotel industry growth seconds only to China in the Asia Pacific. As per a World Travel and Tourism Council data India ranks 18th in business travel and will be among the top five in this decade. The hotel industry is currently growing at the rate of 15 per cent, industry pundits predict this rate to skyrocket. India’s hospitality market has so far proved lucrative and this has been attracting several international hotel chains in the past few years and many more such investments are expected in the near future.

All this indicates a growing need and demand for a talent pool in the hospitality and hotel management industry. The education sector in India has, however, not been far behind in this regard. India can boast of several hospitality or hotel management schools and programmes. However, giving quality training is now the need of the hour. Choosing the best suited school or programme could be the next big challenge for a hotel management aspirant. While doing one’s basic application research candidates should consider the infrastructure, faculty and the placement trends of an institute.

The course
The time duration of the courses offered by many of the institutes may vary from six months to three years. For most hotel and hospitality management courses, students are required to appear for the entrance test, based on which applicants are selected for the group discussion and personal interview. The courses offered are either at the graduate level as in BSc in hospitality/hotel management or post graduate and diploma levels.

The course work in hotel management usually covers topics like: food and beverages production & services, hotel operations, general management principles, managerial and business communication, hotel economics, hotel housekeeping, quantitative techniques in management, business law, human resource management, financial management, entrepreneurship, marketing management, tourism management etc. It can be observed that along with management topics specific to the sector participants are also exposed to a few general MBA subjects.

Apart from the classroom sessions, industrial training is an important part of the academic life. Internships, projects and a final project dissertation are all part of the fulltime course work.
The National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) offers a two year fulltime MSc in hospitality administration at the well known Institutes of Hotel Management (IHMs) across its campuses in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad.  The NCHMCT also conducts a national standardised aptitude test for its graduate programme in hotel management offered at the IHMs.

Scope and opportunities
Opportunities exist in both the public and private sector. The hotel industry supports allied businesses as well which include tour operations, transportations, logistics and travel agencies.

The hotel industry provides direct job opportunities at various managerial levels at various kinds of hotels for management students for instance, commercial hotels, airport hotels, conference centres, economy hotels, suite or all-suite hotels, residential hotels, casino hotels, resort hotels.

Management graduates are also offered management trainee roles in the hospitality and tourism sector. At the entry levels you are expected to deal with customers, handle operations and also brand management to a certain extent.

The starting remuneration can be anywhere between Rs 2 and 3 lakh per annum.

Some of the well known hospitality and hotel management institutes in India:

The above list is not an exhaustive one.