Hospitality, sport and tourism sector
The hospitality, tourism and sport sector employs over two million people in the UK, across more than 220,000 different sized organisations
Employment opportunities in the hospitality, tourism and sport sector can be categorised into:
This sector is expected to grow significantly over the next couple of years, with a rise in demand predicted particularly for high level, skilled positions.
For examples of job roles in this sector, see graduate jobs in hospitality, tourism and sport.
The vast majority of organisations in hospitality, tourism and sport employ fewer than 50 people, meaning there aren't many large employers in the industry.
Where there are large organisations operating in this sector, they are mainly in the accommodation and sport and active leisure areas.
Examples of big companies operating in the industry include:
Graduates entering the hospitality, tourism and sport sector can expect:
Because of its reliance on consumer spending, this sector was affected by the closure of organisations during the recession.
Pubs, bars and nightclubs have been impacted the most during the economic downturn, but the majority of the issues actually arose before the recession, including the smoking ban, increases in 'beer tax' and competition from supermarkets.
The number of restaurants in the UK has fallen too, however the number of staff employed in this area has increased. This suggests the organisations that went out of business were small, while the larger chains have been expanding.
Learn more about the jobs that could suit your personality, qualifications and skills in this vast sector
These job profiles are examples of graduate careers in the hospitality, sports and tourism sector:
To find the graduate job roles that best match your skills and interests, log in to what jobs would suit me?
For job vacancies in the hospitality, tourism and sport sector, search graduate jobs in hospitality, tourism and sport.
If you're looking for a graduate role in the sector, you may require a mix of different qualifications and skills
This depends on the area of work that you're looking to enter.
Many jobs listed in the sector don't require a relevant degree and some people who are already working as restaurant managers, tour manager and hotel managers may not have accessed higher education at all.
According to figures from the Labour Force Survey, 20% of the sector's workforce as a whole hold a degree or higher, while 32% of all managers in the sector have a higher education qualification.
However, that isn't to say that higher level skills aren't required in the sector. The number of people with diplomas or certificates of higher education is increasing, and has been for the last decade.
What's more, candidates with higher level skills are in demand to help improve standards in the industry.
In certain roles, for example a sports and exercise scientist, a relevant degree is required.
Work experience can be gained in a number of ways. For example, you could work part time while at university, during the summer, take a work placement as part of your degree or do some voluntary work with local authority sports centres.
There are some schemes available that help you gain recognition for the work experience you have gained in the hospitality industry.
The Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Adding Value for Employability (HAVE) Scheme is delivered by the Institute of Hospitality and helps university students reflect on the development of their skills during their experience and how to demonstrate their development to prospective employers.
Kings Recruit offers placements, work experience and voluntary opportunities in sports management, coaching, holiday camps and cruise ships.
Challenger Sports is one of a number of organisations that provides British soccer coaching camps in the USA. Demand is high for Britons who are thinking of pursuing a career in coaching, and the experience could significantly improve your employability.
Opportunities to complete voluntary work are advertised through Do-it, where you could find yourself gaining experience helping with outdoor pursuits, fundraising, sports coaching, activity management and more.
To find work placements and internships in the hospitality, tourism and sport sector, search for work experience.
There are some graduate training schemes with some of the big hotel and restaurant firms, for example Marriott hotels, Macdonald Hotels, Carluccio's, Nando's, Whitbread, Mitchell and Butlers. Application details are usually available on the companies' websites.
Other areas of the sector, for example events management, are harder to enter. In these cases, work experience and networking is invaluable.
As the vast majority of organisations in the sector are small to medium enterprises (SMEs), this means less formal ways of finding and applying for jobs, such as speculative applications, can be effective. Smaller businesses often don’t have the recruitment budgets of larger organisations, so many vacancies are left unadvertised.
To find graduate jobs in the sector, search graduate jobs in hospitality, tourism and sport.
Postgraduate study and professional qualifications could help you climb the career ladder in the sector.
It isn't a requirement for many occupations in the sector to have a postgraduate degree.
However, for some roles extra qualifications are necessary. For example, to become a sports coach you often need to complete your coaching qualifications, while progression to management in hospitality, tourism and sport could be facilitated with professional management training or a Master of Business Administration (MBA).
For more information on entry requirements and career development in the hospitality, tourism and sport sector, see types of jobs.
To find postgraduate hospitality, tourism and sport courses in the UK,search courses and research
The answer really depends on the type of job you are aiming for.
Entry qualifications for some jobs are provided (or accredited) by professional bodies. Where this is so, you might need to join the professional body to become qualified to do the job, which could mean membership is compulsory.
For other jobs, being a member of a professional body is voluntary and can be valuable for to demonstrate your expertise and enhance your status within the field.
Professional bodies can be particularly helpful in the sport industry, as they often do a lot of work to help professionals advertise their services.