Explore the Hospitality and Tourism Career Cluster

Do you enjoy travel?
Do you enjoy dining in restaurants?
Do you like to cook?
Do you want to help other people enjoy themselves?
Are you friendly and outgoing?
Would you like to work in a hotel, on a cruise ship, or in a restaurant?
Are you a great athlete?

If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, you might be cut out for a career in hospitality and tourism. You might enjoy a career as a:

• Travel agent
• Hotel manager
• Concierge
• Waiter or waitress
• Bartender
• Chef
• Athlete
• Lifeguard
• Recreation director
• Convention manager

Cluster Definition:

Jobs in the hospitality and tourism career cluster involve planning, managing, and providing lodging, food, recreation, conventions, and tourism, and related planning and support services such as travel-related services.

Career Pathways in Hospitality and Tourism:

A career pathway is an area of concentration within a career cluster. Each pathway contains a group of careers requiring similar academic and technical skills as well as similar industry certifications or postsecondary education. The hospitality and tourism career cluster has four pathways: lodging and housekeeping services, food production and services; recreation, gaming and sports; and travel and tourism services.

Lodging and Housekeeping Services:
This pathway includes all the jobs required for hotels, motels, inns, and resorts to function and serve guests. Jobs include lodging manager, janitorial worker, front desk attendant, bellhop, concierge, and housekeeper.

Food Production and Services:
This is the largest pathway in this cluster, and includes all the jobs in restaurants, catering services, and anywhere else where food is served. Jobs include waiter, waitress, wine steward, busperson, chef and cook, bartender, food safety inspector, dietician and nutritionist, food technologist, institutional food service worker, and restaurant and facilities manager.

Recreation, Gaming, and Sports:
This career pathway includes jobs in amusement parks, sports stadiums, and recreation centers. Jobs in this pathway are quite varied, from professional athletes and umpires to amusement park workers, from lifeguards to blackjack dealers.

Travel and Tourism Services:
This pathway comprises all the jobs involved in planning and booking travel reservations, leading tours, and planning special events. Jobs include travel agent, travel promotion worker, tour director, and convention management.

Click here for a visual representation of the hospitality and tourism career cluster.

Print and Internet Resources:

These Print and Internet Resources offer references for career cluster exploration, including trade, professional, and business associations, government departments and agencies, labor unions, and cluster-specific career Web sites.

Hospitality and Tourism Print and Internet Resources