Attitude and application are the most important words of advice for students seeking a successful career in hospitality, a hotel general manager has told a tourism industry summit.
Emporium Hotel general manager Peter Savoff told the Queensland Tourism Industry Council鈥檚 Y Summit in Brisbane that those two qualities would ensure students stood out from the pack.
The summit, sponsored by The University of Queensland鈥檚 School of Tourism, attracted more than 80 registrations from industry representatives and hospitality students earlier this month.
Mr Savoff said the combination of a university degree and work experience would help graduates get a foot in the door in the hospitality industry.
Attitude and application would then help them stand out from other employees and help them in their rise to supervisory and middle-management positions, he said.
鈥淚f there is one piece of advice I could give, it is that people should go through more than just the motions,鈥� Mr Savoff said.
鈥淚f they prove they will do more than the job description entails, it shows they have the right attitude, incorporated with a willingness to get on with the work.
鈥淭here is a likelihood they will be recognized for supervisory and middle-management positions.鈥�
Students studying tourism and hospitality management showed they had 鈥渁 diligence to study theoretical models and case studies and learn how to handle a situation should it occur in their career鈥�, Mr Savoff said.
But they also needed to know how things worked in practice, through work experience or programs such as the School of Tourism鈥檚 Executive Shadowing Program, he said.
The school also took students on site visits to restaurants, hotels and casinos to learn about hospitality, food and beverage or gaming management.
The Y Summit featured Mr Savoff, QTIC chief executive officer Daniel Gschwind and Beetswalking Consulting managing director Wayne Clift as guest speakers, along with an interactive panel discussion and networking lunch.
鈥淭his summit is one way I try to contribute to a more professional standard in the tourism industry,鈥� Mr Savoff said.
鈥淚 believe there are great lifetime careers to be had in tourism and hospitality, particularly in Queensland.鈥�
Media: Peter Savoff (3253 6999) or Erik de Wit (0417 088 772)
