Soft skills are important for any job role regardless of your industry. They help you gain respect from your team, network with like-minded professionals, and, most importantly, build trust with your customer base.
These skills point to personal traits that enable someone to communicate effectively with other people and are essential if you are planning to pursue a career in the tourism and hospitality industry. Examples of soft skills include communication skills, teamwork, and problem-solving skills as well as time management and effective leadership qualities.
From working in hotels, restaurants, or bars to running conferences and events, the increasingly popular hospitality industry offers a lot of potential for career development and there are many different roles to choose from. If you want to build a career in hospitality, it is important to focus on building your soft skills first in order to stand in front of employers and advance your career.
Here are the most important soft skills to focus on before building a career in the industry:
Communication skills: While working in the hospitality and industry sectors, most of the day-to-day responsibilities are faced by the customer, which forms the key to effective communication skills. You will interact with people from different backgrounds and ages so it is important to be able to effectively present information to them and understand their needs. These skills can be a make or break in the industry and ultimately that will bring your customers back for something more.
Emotional intelligence: As industries, today become increasingly digitized, it has become a relatively stable field for people to pursue, which is at the heart of hospitality and tourism. As a service-dependent industry, much of your work will involve dealing with customer complaints or problems. Being able to solve these problems in a calm and timely manner will help you develop a top-rated customer experience.
Teamwork: The hospitality sector is fast-paced and ever-changing, which means you have to work closely with your team if you want everything to go smoothly, especially during peak season. Excellent teamwork skills improve performance with your team and encourage you and your colleagues to excel, even on the most challenging days. These interpersonal skills help to provide a positive customer experience. If you are shown running a tight ship with a team of organized and support staff, you are more likely to keep your clients using your services again.
Time management: For a career in hospitality and tourism you often have to do several things together, especially during the peak season. The ability to stay calm under stress and manage a heavy workload through good time management will help you go a long way in this fast-paced industry.
A positive attitude: Positivity is contagious. Having a do-it-yourself attitude towards the tasks at hand will not only give you more fulfillment in your daily role, but it will also make your co-workers hate you. Maintaining a positive attitude is the focus of customer service and it will help you build a trusting relationship with your clients. It is important to remember that customers are everything in this sector. Your guests ultimately ensure the survival of your business, so providing a positive customer experience is paramount.
Want to start your career in the dynamic hospitality industry? An MA in Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management from the Berlin School of Business and Management (BSBI) is the ideal first step.
A degree in International Tourism Management will give you a strong understanding of the hospitality industry while enhancing your management and problem-solving skills. Click here to learn more.
BSBI offers industry-relevant programs for training business leaders of tomorrow. Students can choose to study online, on-campus, or through mixed learning.
