Both Hotel Management and Engineering are two completely different fields in terms of different backgrounds, syllabus, workings, and career scopes. As both the fields carry distinct values and responsibilities; there is no straight comparison between the two. However, when it comes to choosing one as a career sector, you can relate a lot between the two in several aspects.
With extreme reorganization and huge scopes, the stream of engineering is an evergreen career desire for enormous aspirants. Since always Engineering has taken lead in the list of top career options and due to the evolving era of technology, engineering in computer science is in high demand even at present.
Whereas, Hotel Management is a newly developed industry from a career perspective that has emerged in the last few couple of years. It stands on the 4th position in the list of most desired careers. In order to grab a better understanding of both, let us compare Engineering with Hotel Management in a wider sense.
ENGINEERING
Engineering degree of B. Tech (Bachelor of Technology) is a professional undergraduate program awarded to the candidates after successful completion of four year learning in one of its specializations. It is considered as the gateway for a career in engineering.
In India, there are various streams to pursue a B. Tech degree in engineering. Some of the most commonly desired branches are:-
Civil Engineering | Electrical Engineering | Chemical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering | Computer Science Engineering | Electronics & communication engineering
Throughout India, admissions in B. tech programs usually take place through national or state-level entrance examinations although, some of the colleges also take admission merely on the basis of their own entrance exam percentage or merit. Most prominent engineering entrance exams across the country are JEE Main, JEE Advanced, BITSAT, VITEEE, AMUEEE, and SRMJEE.
HOTEL MANAGEMENT
BHM (Bachelor in Hotel Management) is a three years undergraduate degree course for hotel management studies. The basic program hotel management is integrated for those students who are looking for a perfect beginning of their professional career in Hotel and catering business or the field of travel and tourism.
Besides all the fundamental awareness of the hotel industry, this course comprises its in-depth laboratory and managerial training as well. It holds:-
Housekeeping | Front Office Operation | Food & Beverages department | Significant operational areas of food production | Functional areas of Sales and Marketing | Customer relationship development | Financial Management | HR Management.
Such versatility teaching enables the aspirants to learn all the essential skills and knowledge of the hotel industry and mold themselves for better employment opportunities.
After Bachelor’s degree, there is a Master’s degree also along with various national & international diplomas, to pursue further studies. Some of the top hotel management colleges in India are:-
- Institute of Hotel Management, New Delhi (IHM Delhi)
- Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Chennai (IHM Chennai)
- Army Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (AIHMCT)
- Ananta Institute of Hotel Management & Allied Studies (AIHMAS)
- Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Hyderabad (IHM Hyderabad)
- Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, New Delhi
- NSHM Knowledge Campus, Durgapur
- Institute of Hotel Management, Bangalore (IHM Bangalore)
Remuneration
Though, the salary depends on the employer company, your skills, designation, and experience but from the viewpoint of placement and pay scale, both carry respectable job opportunities.
ENGINEERING
The average starting salary of an engineer lies somewhere between 2.5 to 5 lakhs rupees per annum. However, engineering provides you a handsome amount of salary only if you complete your graduation from a renowned college like IIT Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur, NIT, VIT, or BITS Pilani in such case you can even get a package more than double of the average ones. If you are getting admission in any of such colleges; don’t miss the chance.
HOTEL MANAGEMENT
While a hotel management graduate can annually expect an amount of 1.5 to 3 lakh of rupees at the initial stage. With experience and further studies, the Hotel industry provides a high salary package not only in India but also in the overseas market which eventually keeps increasing with the practice and perfection one keeps on gaining.
Career opportunities
As the education sector is turning into a high money-making business, the quality of studies is diminishing day by day which ultimately results in the production of less-skilled job seekers. Owing to this fact, job opportunities for B. tech graduates are getting low day by day and most of the engineers are either unemployed or underemployed nowadays.
While both Hotel Management and Engineering do offer bright career prospects to the deserving students, Hotel Management is probably the most opted one currently. Career in the hotel industry not merely depends upon the college. Hotel Management is all about skills, which can be learned even from a single learned mentor, a local organization or also from a local Hotel Management institute that provide quality training.
Job opportunities in Hotel Management can be as rewarding as in the engineering sector with the proviso that you hold the passion and interest to learn and grow. Although the present number of admissions in Hotel Management is comparatively less than engineering but it is growing at a fast pace and is likely to exceed.
ENGINEERING VS HOTEL MANAGEMENT
| ENGINEERING | HOTEL MANAGEMENT | |
| Eligibility | 10 + 2 | 10+2 or equivalent |
| Duration | 4 years | 3 years |
| Basic course | Bachelor of Technology | Bachelors in Hotel Management |
| Advance degree | M. tech | Masters in Hotel Management |
| Total course fee | 3 to 15 lakhs rupees | Average 4 lakh rupees |
| Admission process | Merit-based or Entrance-test | On the basis of rank or test |
| Average starting package | INR 3 to 5 lakhs per annum | 2 to 4 lakh rupees annually |
As per my discretion, I will suggest you to take some time and analyze both the fields. Know your strengths and its compatibility with the relevant industry; recognize the ultimate goal that provides you work satisfaction apart from only money as it is about the whole of your life-making career.
Though, nobody can guarantee your success in any industry until you make efforts for it on your own. It merely depends on you to choose from Hotel Management or Engineering and decide where to go. Yet it is highly recommended to make a decision on the basis of your area of interest and your future prospectus.
UNIQUE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOTEL MANAGEMENT AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
The travel and tourism industry simply revolves around serving the guests with a height of maximum ease and comfort. Meanwhile, the businesses of hotel and hospitality have become increasingly popular with the key fact that they contribute 10.4% in the global GDP.
In this present era of globalization, the hospitality industry is indeed getting huge significance due to rapidly increasing consumer demand for excellent quality. Today, it has a count among profitable career providing sectors. There are several Hotel management colleges in Rajasthan that offer diploma and degree courses in hotel or hospitality management to students and assist to attain all the required knowledge and skills for efficiently managing supervisory responsibilities in the Hospitality sector.
Hotel and hospitality industries are usually considered one and the same field in general. Although, both of these are two major sectors of the travel & tourism domain with many similarities, but the attribute to the fact is that they are two different industries that are growing at a fast pace.
Hospitality and hotel management are the terms that are extremely identical and thus it is never surprising that they certainly got interchanged. However, in several perspectives, there is a bit of variations between the two terminologies. With a few of the subtopics, let’s try to encounter some unique differences between ‘Hotel management’ and ‘Hospitality management’ that are surely worth acknowledging.
| Based | HOTEL MANAGEMENT | HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT |
| Meaning of management here | Hotel Management is only concerned with the hotel sector and all other related guest services such as concierge, front desk reception, housekeeping, food and beverage department and maintaining salon, spa, gym and pool. | Hospitality management is concerned with the management of people. It is not just confined to a single industry; instead, it deals in serving different segments of tourism industries straight from hotel to sales & marketing or event management. |
| Wider scope | Hotel management is a branch of hospitality. It only talks about the provision of attending and taking care of paid customers within the hotel premises. | Hospitality is an extensive term that comes with a much wider approach. It includes Hotel management, but not restricted there. Despite the paid guest, it refers to serving all sorts of visitors with complete warmth and delicacy. |
| Job Roles | Here, job roles like hotel manager, front desk manager etc. are driven only in the hotel sector. They focus on operational areas of a hotel such as customer service, Food and beverage production, Front office operation and venue maintenance. | In particular, customer care executives under hospitality are not limited to catering and dealing with guest but they are also responsible for broader departments. Hospitality managers look after the application of management principles in various aspects of the hospitality industry that encompass HR, finance, business development, events, tour or conference organization and so on. |
| Area of operation | Its business areas are bordered up to the management of accommodation and other functioning of a hotel, restaurant, resort, cafe, nightclub and the like ones. | Hospitality is a pervasive service sector; for instance, at hotels, motels, retail stores, multiplexes, banks, in an airline institution, at a workplace or even at home, it could be carried out everywhere. |
| Functioning responsibilities | Albeit in a different setting from hospitality, Hotel management is also responsible for taking care of guests but it emphasizes more on operating and managing only the hotels and their associated establishments. Under hotel management, one has to deliver services in an integral part of the hotel industry. | Hospitality management is all about presenting a warm welcome and delivering an excellent amount of care during the visit of your guest or client irrespective of stars hotel. It focuses to take the customer experience to the next level of comfort and satisfaction at the specified venue or event. |
Nevertheless, both the hotel and hospitality industries work on meeting and greeting the guests ensuring they have a successful visit.
