What I Tell My GMU Students About the Future of Tourism and Hospitality Careers

Tourism and hospitality careers are changing quickly, but that does not mean the industry is becoming less relevant.

If anything, it is becoming more complex.

Technology, changing customer expectations, labour pressure, new delivery models and increasingly sophisticated operating systems are reshaping what employers need from the next generation of hospitality leaders.

When I look at the industry through both an operating and teaching lens, the opportunity is still substantial. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment for food service managers to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with around 38,800 openings each year on average. Lodging management is also expected to continue growing over the same period.

The careers are there. The bigger question is what kind of skills will matter most.

Operational thinking matters more than ever

Hospitality has always been a people business, but the strongest future leaders will need to understand much more than service delivery.

They will need to understand how the operation actually works.

That means being able to read performance data, understand labour and margin pressures, recognise where a process is breaking down, and connect what happens on the floor with the economics of the business.

Technology will continue to take over more repetitive work, but it will not remove the need for judgement. Someone still has to decide what the numbers mean, what needs to change, and how to get a team aligned around that change.

For students entering hospitality today, I would place as much emphasis on learning how businesses operate as I would on learning how to serve the guest.

Technology should expand your capability, not narrow it

The industry is already far more digital than it was even a decade ago.

Revenue management, delivery platforms, workforce scheduling, CRM systems, automation and increasingly AI are changing how hospitality businesses are run.

That creates an interesting risk for future managers.

It is easy to become highly competent with a system without understanding the operation behind it.

The stronger skill is learning how to ask the right questions of technology.

Why is one location underperforming?

Why is labour running higher here?

Why are guests behaving differently across channels?

What is the system telling us — and what is it missing?

People who combine commercial judgement with technological fluency will be much more valuable than people who simply know how to operate the latest platform.

The best careers will not always follow a straight line

Hospitality can take you in directions you do not expect.

Operations experience can lead into multi-unit leadership, development, technology, entrepreneurship, advisory work, governance or entirely new business models.

My own career has moved across hotels, restaurants, multi-unit operations and emerging foodservice models in different markets.

The common thread has not been a particular format.

It has been learning how to build and lead operations through growth, change and complexity.

That is the opportunity I see for students today.

Do not define a hospitality career too narrowly by the first job title you take.

Build a broad understanding of people, operations, finance, technology and leadership. Those skills travel extremely well.

The industry still needs operators

There will always be new technology, new formats and new ways of serving customers.

But hospitality ultimately still depends on people who can make complex operations work consistently.

For students preparing to enter the industry, that is where I would focus.

Learn the business behind the experience.

That is the skill set that creates options.

Lightwheel Advisors works with established hospitality, food & beverage and retail businesses navigating growth, change and operational complexity.

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