‘The hospitality industry offers a great career.’ Really?

Serving cocktails in Wengen, Switzerland. Image by Alev Takil (CC0) via Unsplash.

A family member in the last year of high school is asking you for advice on careers. Would you suggest a career in hospitality? Why? Why not?

Your correspondent put these simple questions about a career in hospitality to “GT’s” diverse network of travel & tourism stakeholders and requested written responses of no more than 300 words. Thanks to those who chose to participate. Their answers appear in the order received.

Click/touch a name to go to their answer:

• Saverio F Bertolucci — ‘Motivating, challenging, and stressful’
• Greg Bakunzi — For those ‘passionate about people and travel’
• Zohreh Khosravi — ‘Be ready for challenging, sweet, and erratic days’
• Willem Niemeijer — ‘Opportunities for personal and professional growth’
• Melanie Smith — ‘There will always be work in hospitality’
• Rieki Crins — ‘A hotel can be a cradle for development’
• Herb Hiller — ‘Certainly not hospitality as traditionally taught’
• Andrew Chan — A career in hospitality? ‘100%!’
• Shamiso Nyajeka — Challenges, risks, and great rewards
• Dominic Standish — Depending on where, hospitality is now attractive
• Edwin Magio — ‘Absolutely’, if …
• Anna Richardot — Hospitality is ‘incredibly eclectic’
• Jonathon Day — ‘Join us. We need you’
• Ha Phan — We ‘supported each other and had a lot of fun’
• K Michael Haywood — ‘I have had an amazing career’
• Frédéric Dimanche — Not for those seeking ‘comfortable’ jobs
• Samantha Lauver-Marion — Learn by doing: Try on your dreams

What AI ‘thinks’:

• ChatGPT — ‘Carefully weigh the pros and cons’
• Bard [Experiment] — Word count fail … with a twist

More importantly:

• What do you think?

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