Hospitality and Tourism Degree Overview

Have you ever received top-level accommodations from staff while traveling, attending an event, or enjoying a meal at a restaurant? These efforts require close, careful management by professionals in the hospitality and tourism business. If you ever considered working in this growing sector, you can pursue hospitality and tourism degrees at various levels.

Coursework in this major covers business and financial aspects of various hospitality organizations, along with marketing methods, legal issues, and property maintenance. Depending on the degree level, graduates can pursue entry-level roles in this field, like front desk associate, up to administrative positions.

In this guide, discover details on hospitality and tourism degrees.

What Is Hospitality and Tourism?

Though hospitality as a human concept has existed for thousands of years, experts date the industry's formal origins to around the 1700s, as Europeans traveled and sought accommodations across the United States.

In modern times, hospitality maintains the same core goal as it did hundreds of years ago: welcome guests and travelers with lodging, services, food, and assistance.

Given the financial, management, and procurement aspects of hospitality, this sector typically exists within the greater subject of business. As such, students can either pursue hospitality and tourism degrees or choose business programs with a concentration in the subject.

Schools offer these degrees at every level, which typically align with career goals. For example, an undergraduate hospitality and tourism degree can prepare graduates for roles as event planners, food service managers, and casino floor supervisors. Graduate degrees prepare students for higher-level administrative roles in the field.

What Skills Do Hospitality and Tourism Programs Teach?

Hospitality and tourism degrees cover hard and soft skills for aspiring professionals. Though the application of these skills may vary based on your position, sector, and employment level, the following abilities can apply to professionals across hospitality industries.

What Are the Types of Hospitality and Tourism Degrees?

Colleges and universities offer hospitality and tourism degrees at every level. Though some roles are available without any formal postsecondary education, a certificate or degree on your resume can bolster your credibility with prospective employers. The following section explores these programs at each level, along with available career pathways.

Is Hospitality and Tourism Better As an Undergrad or Graduate Degree?

Use your professional goals to figure out if you should pursue a hospitality and tourism degree at the undergraduate or graduate level. For example, if you know you want to work in management-level roles in the field, an undergraduate degree can often provide the education you need.

You may want to keep your options open while pursuing a degree — after all, not every student knows their ideal career while still in college. In these situations, it may benefit you to enroll in a business degree with a hospitality and tourism concentration. This way, you can explore the subject without having to commit to a degree dedicated entirely to it.

You can use this same logic in a master's program. If you know that you want to pursue advanced business roles and may explore hospitality, you can enroll in an MBA program. These degrees focus more on business while allowing you to choose tourism and/or hospitality as a concentration.

Similarly, if you're planning to effect change in the hospitality industry, a doctoral program will offer opportunities to educate and conduct research in the field. Doctorates typically require undergraduate and graduate degrees for admission.

Certification is generally not required in this field, so you do not need to consider any education requirements for these credentials.

Common Questions About Hospitality and Tourism Degrees

What is a hospitality and tourism degree?

A hospitality and tourism degree covers coursework relating to travel, vacation housing, dining, and event management. Contingent on the degree level, graduates can pursue entry-level or administrative roles in these fields.

What degree is best for hospitality?

The "best" degree depends on your personal and professional goals. For example, if you intend to work in travel, a tourism and travel management degree may meet your needs. Similarly, if you want to focus on residential spaces, a degree in hotel and motel management can offer the best pathway.

What do hospitality and tourism do?

Professionals in the hospitality and tourism sectors plan, market, and manage businesses such as lodging, travel, and food services. They ensure that customers have welcoming experiences and receive ample accommodations in restaurants, cruise ships, hotels, convention centers, and more.

Is a hospitality and tourism degree worth it?

People interested in lodging, travel, and event management can benefit from hospitality and tourism degrees. For example, the BLS reports that lodging managers earn a median annual salary of $61,910 as of May 2022 — about $15,000 more than the median for all occupations. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry appears poised for growth, with the BLS projecting a faster-than-average employment growth rate of 7% from 2022-2032.