Introduction to Advanced Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism management Co-Op
If you are creative and outgoing, enjoy travelling, and want to explore a career besides the conventional 9-5 corporate job, a career in hospitality or tourism management can be a good choice. A career in hospitality allows you to express your personality at your workplace and grow as a person from the experiences at your work. The hospitality industry has attracted graduates over the years owing to advantages such as meeting new people, multiple opportunities for career growth and chances of visiting exotic locations. Apart from these benefits, you also develop important transferable skills of customer engagement, multi-tasking and teamwork which can fetch you accolades throughout your career. The advanced Diploma in Hospitality and tourism management co-op from the Toronto School of Management (TSOM) prepares you for a successful career in the hotel management industry. You learn important competencies required in the hospitality sector and the latest developments in the field, which enable you to warm up to your customers and give your 100% every day.
  • The diploma lasts for approximately two years. The total duration of the course consists of 48 weeks of classes with 24 weeks of training. The course lasts for 109 weeks including the scheduled breaks between the semesters. The course intakes are scheduled in January, March, May, July, September, and November.

  • To enrol in the diploma programme, you must fulfill the following requirements set by TSOM.
    1. A minimum age of 18 years
    2. A minimum IELTS score of 5.5 for non-native English speakers
    3. A high school diploma equivalent to Ontario Secondary School Diploma as certified by a recognised assessment service such as
      1. World Education Services (WES)
      2. Comparative Education Service, University of Toronto
      3. International Credential Assessment Service of Canada.
  • The syllabus consists of 17 modules spread over the entire duration of the course.
    1. Introduction to hospitality and tourism: The module provides a basic understanding of hospitality and its products. It covers a broad view of the industry including components like travel, culinary arts, and hotel management. You will learn the effects of the industry on a country’s GDP and economic development.
    2. Front office operations: The module covers the systems, procedures and rules and regulations required for the Front Desk operations. It also focuses on the knowledge and skills required to manage the reception of any tourist avenue such as a hotel or a restaurant and ensure customer satisfaction. You will also learn the applicability of different procedures for different hotel outlets.
    3. Housekeeping: Housekeeping is the management of all the services and resources available in a hotel. This module provides an overview of the different components involved in housekeeping, their importance, and the differences in various housekeeping policies in different types of hotels.
    4. Food and beverage operations: This module provides the basics of the operational aspects of running an organisation specialising in food and beverages. You learn about the best practices in a restaurant, servicing styles, basic food and beverage hygiene, how to satisfy a domestic and international clientele, and management policies involved in running a restaurant.
    5. Food sanitation, safety and health: Building on the hygiene part of food and beverage operation, the module emphasises on the maintenance of hygiene in a hospitality organisation. You become familiar with the crucial elements of current legislation governing food and beverage hygiene, best practices for ensuring cleanliness and safety, and various issues associated with food safety.
    6. Hospitality accounting: The module aims to provide knowledge on the skills and techniques that help in the decision making processes in any hospitality institution. You gain knowledge of the process and practices of a hotel business and the skills required for accounting and finance in a hotel business set up.
    7. Customer service: Customers are the most important aspect of any tourism business. The module offers a different perspective of the traditional policies involved in customer services and customer satisfaction. It also emphasises on the skills important for handling various customers and customer related situations.
    8. Organisational behaviour in hospitality industry: The module gives a primary introduction to the concepts involved in organisational behaviour. You learn about the different behavioural levels, and how to balance the responsibilities at each level.
    9. Facilities and maintenance management: The module introduces you to the balance and importance of generic management skills, the values of maintenance of facilities and services, and how to ensure quality in delivering services and facilities to the customers. It also focuses on the operational skills involved in managing various hospitality spaces such as resorts and hotels.
    10. Meetings, incentives, conferences, and events: The module focuses on the business and leisure events organised in tourism spaces. Every event is separately discussed and its needs, marketing approaches and impact on the hotel industry are explained in detail.
    11. Food and beverage management: The module lays emphasis on the operational analysis of hospitality centres and determines the best policies and practices required for effective management of these spaces. The topics cover organisation of food and catering operations, marketing, menu designing, facility designing, layout and equipment handling, costing and pricing strategies, budgeting, and training hotel resources.
    12. Human resource management: The module offers an in-depth understanding of the approaches required to train and organise the people working in hospitality establishments. It focuses on performance and reward management of employees, best practices to improve their productivity and ensure customer satisfaction. You will pick up different HR management theories and styles and be learn personnel development planning to improve the professional skills of the employees.
    13. Marketing in hospitality and tourism: The module covers the importance of marketing in the hospitality sector. It also provides a broad understanding of the different marketing approaches employed in the industry.
    14. Issues in hospitality and tourism: This module covers the major issues in the tourism industry and their impact on the sector. You understand the significance and approaches for tackling these issues.
    15. Resort management: This module focuses only one form of hospitality space—resorts. It covers the principles of resort management including food quality and safety, hygiene and management of various facilities on the premises, customer services, and policies for revenue and pricing. The module also focuses on sensitising you to a sustainable approach for resort management.
    16. Niche and specialty management: With this module, you can study new forms of tourism that are trending. It covers several specialty or niche tourism forms such as art tourism, culinary tourism, medical tourism, and adventure tourism. You will learn to differentiate between different hospitality strategies suitable for different tourism forms.
    17. Work placement: This component takes place at the end of the course. Work placement requires you to complete 480 hours of work in an approved hospitality environment. You can work in any establishment such as a hotel, restaurant, club, convention centre or resort. This working internship allows you to learn practical knowledge by applying your classroom learning to real-life situations.
    You must complete this internship and submit a written report outlining your experiences at the end to graduate from the course.
    You must complete all the 17 modules without any backlogs to obtain the advanced diploma.
  • The assessment of each module is conducted as per the criteria mentioned below. You must score the minimum percentage to pass the module. On failing a module, you can re-enrol in the course and attempt the module exam in the next sitting.
    1. Individual assignment or class test: 50%
    2. Final exam: 50%
    3. Placement report for work placement:100%
  • The fees of the course is set at 20,000 Canadian dollars (CAD) or ₹ 1,076,886. However, as a part of a special promotion, the course fees have been reduced to 12,500 CAD or ₹ 646,132. The promotional prices are limited to the intake of November 2019 only.

Why opt for an advanced diploma in hospitality and tourism management co-op?

Since the hospitality sector is one of the fastest growing industries in this century, it makes sense to pursue a degree that prepares you for its dynamic nature. Obtaining an advanced diploma from the Toronto School of Management has the following advantages.

  1. Combining this course with another major such as art, history, or sports allows you to target the niche markets in hospitality such art tourism, sports tourism, and historical societies.

  2. The course develops your core management skills such as marketing approaches, operational strategies, and optimal performance, and people management skills such as client engagement and customer services.

  3. The course also focuses on developing accessory skills such as leadership teamwork, empathy, patience, punctuality and organisational skills that help you achieve the best ratings from your clients.

  4. The co-op diploma includes a practical approach to teaching by including on-the-job training, supervised practical work, industry visits, and case studies, to offer you a chance to apply your knowledge to real-life scenarios.

  5. The course is taught by a group of excellent faculty and industry experts who are readily available for checking your progress and clearing your doubts.

  6. The course is taught from TSOM’s campus in downtown Toronto. Toronto is known for its varied student diversity, and is a hub for existing and upcoming businesses from all sectors.

Who should apply for the diploma in hospitality and tourism management?

This diploma is apt for the people who enjoy thrive in fast-paced workplaces and enjoy a challenging career. It is also suitable for creative people and out-of-the box thinkers since the field requires employing novel approaches to solving an issue. You can also apply for the job if you enjoy talking to people from different cultures and enjoy learning about them.

Scope and future of the course

Since the hospitality sector is a booming industry, there are a plethora of interesting careers that let you enjoy the work you do. There are many diverse and high paying jobs that can enhance your professional life.

Since tourism is a new industry as well, there are many jobs that are constantly being created. The hospitality sector encompasses different departments such as finance, marketing, and human resources and niches such as sports and culinary arts. Hence you can also pursue the diploma to switch to the industry, if you have work experience in a different sector such as finance.

Career prospects after pursuing the course

Upon completion of the degree, you can pursue a career in any sector of the hospitality industry. Here are some interesting career options in the hospitality sector.

  • Tour operators: Being a tour operator helps you ensure your customers’ holiday memories are unforgettable. Tour operators accompany customers on long and short tours and ensure that they get the best of services. The job requires you to be knowledgeable about different places, resourceful, and diplomatic while interacting with tour members.

  • Restaurant managers: If you love food and interacting with people, you can become a restaurant manager. They are responsible for the general and back-end operations of a restaurant. You must be able to keep a cool head in emergencies and patient to deal with upset customers.

  • Event planners: As an event planner, you will be responsible for planning and implementing small to large-scale social and business events on behalf of your clients. Event planners plan parties, weddings, fetes, college fests, and conferences. You must be able to handle several responsibilities simultaneously, be good at multitasking, calm under pressure, and resourceful.

Apart from these, there are other interesting positions that you can explore including that of a guest service manager, travel bureau manager, catering manager, hotel manager, or a front desk manager.