The Hotel Career Expo – led by the accommodation industry and backed by Australia’s peak accommodation body Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) – will take place on Monday May 7 at Sofitel Wentworth Sydney.
This will be the second time the Expo has been held with the last one in 2016 attracting around 1,000 attendees from secondary and tertiary institutions.
The Hotel Career Expo is aimed at anyone who is interested in a career in hotels. From high school students and university students, right through to existing hotel staff who are looking to upskill. Parents and carers are very welcome to accompany students. Teachers and career advisors are also welcome, on their own or with their student groups
NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Adam Marshall, will officially open the Hotel Career Expo. Attendees will have the opportunity to attend seminars and meet with representatives from 22 participating hotel groups for insights on how to start their own hotel career story, with dedicated interactive career zones for Sales, Marketing & Events; Finance & IT; People & Culture; Accommodation Management; Engineering & Maintenance and Food & Beverage.
There will also be a number of interactive presentations including canape and mocktail making and an appearance by Shangri-La Hotel’s celebrated pastry chef and MasterChef star, Anna Polyviou.
“The Hotel Career Expo is a chance for secondary and tertiary students and young professionals to investigate career paths in the hotel sector and for industry to showcase opportunities beyond the traditional hospitality skill sets,” says TAA CEO, Carol Giuseppi.
“Those studying a business, marketing or economics degree for example, can combine their skills with an industry that offers excellent career progression, the potential to travel and a diverse range of interesting brands and products with international appeal.”
Australia’s $40 billion tourism industry is expected to be a major contributor to the country’s future economic growth. Yet despite the positive outlook for the industry, the Australian Tourism Labour Force Report 2015-16 highlighted a need for 123,000 skilled and unskilled workers by 2020 to meet rising demand.
The hotel sector, being one of the major employers in the industry, has also identified the need for a skilled workforce. More than $8 billion is being invested in the hotel industry, equating to 34,702 rooms currently under construction, approved for development or in advanced planning stages across Australia. In Greater Sydney alone, 57hotels and over 10,000 rooms are in the pipeline – all of which need staff in operations, finance, marketing, engineering and hospitality to create world class hotels.
The Hotel Expo is free to attend. Click here to register.