One’s most valuable personal asset is an ability to communicate effectively. To convey ideas and persuade an audience that a product or service is best suited to their needs, it is essential that one be able to speak articulately, in a well-organized, thoughtful, and impressive manner. In addition to a client-based audience, professionals must also be skilled in expressing their ideas and opinions to co-workers, employers and professional peers.

This seminar will discuss using strength based competencies to positively affect your career, your leadership and your teams. We will explore your personal strengths and competencies and how to think about them within your own career. We will also explore how to use competencies in leadership to get the best out of the individual, build effective teams and deliver on your business objectives. Self-assessments will be incorporated and its application to leadership.

Preparing for this exciting and increasingly competitive industry requires a strong understanding of tourism development, the structure of the hospitality industry and its many segments. Topics explored include the socio-cultural, environmentally sustainable practices, and the economic aspects of the tourism industry as well as the role of government and tourism organizations.  This course also provides an overview of the inter-relationships of tourism and hospitality industries, especially in regard to their importance as major economic drivers for economies around the world. Students engage in active discussions on the current trends and future growth of this industry.

Examine the difference between a manager and a leader and learn what effective leadership means. The importance and benefits of appropriate human resource management techniques in the hospitality industry such as employee selection, progressive counseling / progressive discipline, termination, employee motivation, and employee training are explained. Learn the skills you will need to recruit, hire, and retain qualified individuals who can meet the growing and changing needs of your organization. Explore the hiring process including the administrative preparation, direct hiring activities, retention practices, and related employment laws. Understand the ins and outs of applicant sourcing, effective interviewing, accurate assessment and evaluation, while gaining a clear understanding of your role as a human resources professional in interfacing with management and other staffing decision makers. Discussion topics will include importance of staffing metrics, tips and tools for recruiting on the web, and a review of creative recruiting methods.

This course is an introduction to accounting and budgeting for the hospitality industry. Emphasis is on developing a realistic and comprehensive accounting and budgeting system that serves as a tool for department managers and general management. Topics include: the development of an accounting and budget system focusing on revenue and expense estimating, calculation of break-even point and return on investment. In addition, students identify the key components of a budget, fixed versus variable costs, financial statement analysis and the need for capital as well as operational budgeting including PIPs (property improvement plans).

Customer service management is a vital business issue as organizations integrate customer relationship management (or CRM) for providing effective customer service and support. This course addresses the importance of how you handle your customers and how that can directly affect your individual goals as well as your team’s and company’s performance.  Topics include: delivering better, faster service and increasing customer satisfaction; learning how to gain repeat business; finding workable solutions to customer problems and motivating your employees to provide seamless service.

Events are an important revenue source for hotels, resorts, restaurants, casinos, cruise lines, and other hospitality venues. Successful event project management requires excellent communication skills and coordination of many individuals and departments, and frequently, outside vendors. Making certain that event projects achieve their objectives, meet their deadlines and come in within budget can be a daunting but rewarding challenge. While this course is useful for anyone who needs an overview of how events can be planned, executed and controlled successfully, it is especially designed for those who are relatively new to event management. Discover proven tools, concepts and ways of thinking about events that will considerably enhance the positive outcome of a hospitality and/or special event project. Instruction clarifies concepts and illustrates them with practical, real-life examples that are applicable to the hospitality industry, event planning, audiovisual and to related special events. Planning events begins with client communications, venue selection and continues to the culmination of the actual production and delivery of the event. This course is an excellent introduction to those who may be interested in a career in events or who will be working with event planners.

Hospitality, dining, lodging, travel, leisure, and entertainment habits are changing rapidly as the information age and globalization revolutionize the world economy. More than ever, businesses must focus their marketing efforts on specific segments within the market. Success in the hospitality industry demands cutting-edge decision-making skills necessary for effective strategic marketing initiatives designed to reach specific markets and establish brand identity for new markets to be cultivated. This course examines effective strategic marketing and branding practices in the hospitality industry.  These practices include ways to manage double branding opportunities, electronic sales, distribution channels, and brand dominance.  Students will review the strategic marketing plan elements through sample detailed case studies and examples of various hospitality models.  Additional topics include electronic resources, international competitive analyses, and metrics for evaluation.