Why are soft skills vital to succeed in the hospitality and tourism industry!

Soft skills are important for any job role, regardless of your industry. They help you gain respect from your team, network with like-minded professionals, and most importantly, build trust with your customer base.

These skills refer to personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively with other people and are essential if you plan on pursuing a career in the tourism and hospitality industry. Examples of soft skills include communication abilities, teamwork and problem-solving skills as well as time management and effective leadership qualities.

From working in hotels, restaurants or bars to running conferences and events, the increasingly popular hospitality industry offers a lot of potential for career development and has a variety of roles to choose from. If you want to pursue a career in hospitality, however, it’s important to first focus on building your soft skills in order to stand out to employers and progress in your career.

Here are of the most important soft skills to focus on before pursuing a career in the industry:

Communication skills

Most of the daily responsibilities when working in the hospitality and industry sectors are customer facing, making effective communication skills key. You’ll be interacting with people from a range of backgrounds and ages so it’s important to be able to effectively present information to them and understand their needs. These skills can be a make or break in the industry and are ultimately what will keep your customers coming back for more.

Emotional intelligence

While industries today are becoming increasingly digitised, it is human contact that lies at the heart of hospitality and tourism, making it a relatively stable field to pursue. As a service-reliant industry, a lot of your job will involve dealing with customers’ complaints or issues. Being able to resolve these issues in a calm and timely manner will help you develop a top-rated customer experience.

Teamwork

The hospitality sector is fast-paced and ever-changing, meaning that you will need to work closely with your team if you want everything to run smoothly, especially during peak season. Excellent teamwork skills improve performance with your team and encourage you and your co-workers to excel, even on the most challenging of days. These interpersonal skills also help to provide a positive customer experience. You are more likely to keep your clients using your service again if you are shown to be running a tight ship with a team of organised and helpful employees.

Time management

Careers in hospitality and tourism will often require you to work on several tasks at once, especially during peak season. Having the ability to keep calm under pressure and manage a heavy workload through good time management will help you go far in this fast-paced industry.

A positive attitude

Positivity is infectious. Having a can-do attitude towards the tasks at hand will not only give you more fulfilment in your day-to-day role, but it will rub off on your co-workers too. Maintaining a positive attitude is also central to customer service and will help you build a loyal relationship with your clients. It’s important to remember that customers are everything in this sector. Your guests are ultimately the ones ensuring your business survives, so providing a positive customer experience is paramount.

Want to launch your career in the dynamic hospitality industry? An MA in Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management from the Berlin School of Business and Management (BSBI) is the ideal first step.

The international tourism management degree will provide you with a solid understanding of the hospitality industry while boosting your managerial and problem-solving skills. Click here to learn more.

BSBI offers industry-relevant programmes, tailored to training the business leaders of tomorrow. Students can choose to study online, on campus or via blended learning. Click hereto find out more.