Hong Kong is one of the popular tourist destinations for travelers from all over the world, and is continually upgrading its tourism offerings, whether for leisure, business or family tourists. Business tourism is an important element of Hong Kong’s tourism industry. Hong Kong is already a leading regional host for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE). The main businesses are conference and meetings, exhibitions and trade fairs, incentive travel and corporate events. Here, event management experience will be an advantage. Recent trends in hospitality include a rise in Internet travel companies, budget airlines and an emphasis on sustainable tourism.

Most jobs in this industry are people-oriented and focused on customer service, which is vital to the success of organizations operating in this sector, which include hotels, travel agents, tour operators, airlines, airports, car rental companies and cruise lines.

 

Food and Beverage

As one of the great gourmet capitals of Asia, Hong Kong draws gourmands from all over the world, as well as international restaurants and hotels to set up shop. While most jobs in the food and beverage industry are in customer servicing areas and kitchens, hotel and restaurant chains are in need of professional management and food safety technology professionals to ensure the quality of the meals they serve as well as the service personnel. For enterprising and independent graduates, entrepreneurship opportunities abound in self-owned businesses or through franchises.

 

Hotel Management

Careers in hotels cover a wide range of duties: from front office procedures and housekeeping to property and security management, and the supervision of relations between staff and guests. They also include back office administration such as accounting, legal, marketing, and personnel and procurement activities.

Some large hotel chains such as Hilton and Starwood run graduate trainee programmes, in which trainees will be assigned to work in various departments under job rotation programmes. There will be opportunities for high-performing trainees to be seconded to overseas locations in order to gain international experience and cultural exposure, which is necessary for this line of work.

 

Tourism Management

In this industry, you will liaise with local clients and co-ordinate travel packages for them as well as take care of visitors from abroad (arranging tour itineraries, providing information about Hong Kong, arranging transportation and accommodation); and co-ordinate ticketing matters with airlines. There are also various graduate job opportunities in tourism planning and development in both private and public organisations such as the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

 

Positions / Job Titles Offered                    

• Tour Coordinator
• Ticketing Officer
• Hotel Management Trainee                     

 

Typical Job Nature/ Job Duties

• Liaising with local clients/ agencies and coordinating travel package
• Taking care of visitors from abroad (arranging tour itineraries, providing information about HK, catering, transportation & accommodation arrangement)
• Coordinating ticketing matters with airlines
• Working in hotels as trainees, often assigned to work in various departments under job rotation programme

 

General Requirements         

• A bachelor degree in Hotel Management, Tourism, Hospitality. For some posts, bachelor degree is not a must, but secondary school graduates/ diploma holders with experience in the field
• Good communication and language skills (a third language is a plus)
• Strong interest in working with people
• Pleasant, patient & courteous
• Knowledge in various cultures around the world is an added advantage

Related Associations/ Useful Links

• Tourism Commission                             http://www.tourism.gov.hk
• Hong Kong Tourism Board                    http://www.discoverhongkong.com
• Hong Kong Hotels Associations            http://www.hkha.org

(Sources from The CUHK Careers Guide 2012)