Alexander Muir | Senior Lecturer & Subject Lead in Hospitality, Events & Tourism
Global Careers: Opportunities for International Hospitality Management Students
An MSc in International Hospitality Management at ARU London is a rigorous, challenging course with high expectations on academic writing as well as professional presentations, case studies, solution-based thinking, and an Integrative Project to complete. Many of our MSc students here at ARU London work in the industry from different parts of the sector and must balance the pressures of study, work, and personal life. The hospitality and tourism industry has seen a strong rebounded post the pandemic and, in many ways, is seeing a revival with a growing demand for graduates with the key skill set developed here at ARU London. Our students develop a strong level of understanding of Cross-Cultural Leadership and Human Capital Management as well as the practical elements of Strategic Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship with the aim to ensure graduates can thrive in their workplace and add value to the business.
United Kingdom Sector Performance
Our graduates are prepared for the sector by critically analysing, understanding, and identifying where the trends will emerge from a range of angles from technology, innovation, staffing, the business environment, and the customer experience. The positivity in the industry can be quantified by figures from the recent year such as an increase in London hotel Revenue per available room (RevPAR) by approximately 21.6% in 2023/2024 compared to the same period in 2019 and an overall increase in the average daily rate of 28% (Savills, 2023). This trend continued to stay the same in 2024, however, the 10% increase in luxury room supply did affect the average daily rates as new many hotels entered the market increasing capacity and ultimately lowering rates. This is a challenge for existing hotel groups to balance but a great opportunity for our graduates as new roles come onto the market. Moreover, we will see an extensive list of new hotel openings across the UK with some notable new additions; The Whiteley London - A Six Senses Hotel, The Chancery Rosewood and The Newman Hotel.
European Sector Performance
International Hospitality Students are graduating and moving into the job market at a positive time across Europe. Many of our graduates speak multiple languages and this is a huge benefit and asset in terms of their job prospects. The French Tourism industry experienced a 13% rise in international tourists in 2024 with a considerable amount of these long-distance travellers from China, Japan and the United States. The General Directorate of Enterprises of France has outlined significant investment and growth in the hospitality sector, and this has been complimented by high investor confidence and increases in compound annual growth rates (GAGR) in the sector. In addition, Tourism accounts for nearly 8% of France’s GDP and supports over 2 million direct and indirect jobs (WTTC,2024).
The Spanish Hospitality sector anticipates achieving record results across all indicators, building on the trend established in 2024. This is expected to result in an average RevPAR increase of 10% in key urban destinations, including Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, and major resort locations such as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, and the Costa del Sol(Cushman et al, 2024). In addition, there is an increasing level of interest in secondary destination assets amongst investors. These transactions demonstrate the strength of the Spanish tourism market, which has proven to be both resilient and highly attractive even across secondary cities such as Alicante, Granada, Merida and Valladolid. One example of this confidence in the European markets is evident with according to Hilton (2024) an expansion of its resort portfolio in Europe, with 10 hotels, totalling more than 1,500 guest rooms, across its Curio Collection by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton and DoubleTree by Hilton brands.
In conclusion, we can see high investor confidence across many key European capitals and countries, with positive hotel investment figures, increases in inbound tourists, and new job opportunities across a range of hotel types and segments.
References
Cushman & Wakefield. (2024). Spanish hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew by 11.5% in 2024, achieving a new record of €118.30. | ES | Cushman & Wakefield. [online] Available at: https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/spain/news/2025/02/spain-hotel-revpar-2024-record.
Hilton. (2024). Hilton Accelerates Resort Growth Across Europe | Hilton News. [online] Available at: https://stories.hilton.com/releases/hilton-accelerates-resort-growth-across-europe.
Parkins, C. (2024). 2024 Paris Olympics: Impact on Tourism and Beyond. [online] Oxford Economics. Available at: https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/2024-paris-olympics-impact-on-tourism-and-beyond/.
Savills (2017). Spotlight: UK Hotels 2023. [online] Available at: https://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/229130/349434-0.
World Travel & Tourism Council (2024). news-article. [online] Wttc.org. Available at: https://wttc.org/news-article/frances-travel-and-tourism-broke-all-records-last-year-wttc-research-reveals