International Hotel Management Personal Statement Example

The hotel industry is a vibrant and complex sector in need of well-trained employees. It is my goal to become one of them. My interest in tourism began when I was 13 years old – I was asked what my dream job would be, something I had not thought about until that moment. The first thing that came to my mind was “I want to work in a hotel”.

When later on I was asked why I studied tourism management, I would always reply that it seemed like the perfect mixture of business and languages (two of my main interests). After my first work experience in a hotel I finally knew what I liked so much about tourism: making people smile.

During my bachelor’s programme in Tourism Management in Vienna, I have further specialised in Hotel Management. This focus helped me to understand the main processes not only in theory but also in practice, as our coursework has been supplemented by various fieldtrips to some of Vienna’s upscale hotels as well as smaller family run businesses. Furthermore, during my studies in Vienna three of my colleagues and I had the chance to organise a weekend-trip for 20 of our classmates. This experience improved my ability to work in a team as well as my leadership and project management skills. As my team members voted for me to be the project leader I was responsible for distributing the different tasks, managing the budget and presenting our results.

Aside from my studies I worked in a small family run hotel for two months in the summer of 2015 and I am currently doing a 6-month internship in Nice, France. During my time at this small hotel I have learned to be autonomous and showed great commitment and readiness for action. As a sign of the trust I have received from my employer, I was given complete charge of the hotel for several hours after just three weeks in the position. The combination of new responsibilities and cultural engagement has made the internship in Nice challenging and inspiring at the same time. Using French in professional contexts with my colleagues and guests can sometimes cause misunderstandings, but despite the occasional language difficulties I learn very fast and have clearly become part of the team. As the team consist mainly of interns it is my duty to train the newcomers and pass on my knowledge. The organisation and all the “back-stage” processes of a hotel fascinate me and I love my work – I enjoy serving breakfast as well as dealing with reservations and handling the check in and check out as well as customer complaints.

Being the eldest of seven children with an age difference of 20 years between my youngest sister and me taught me to deal with change as well as to take responsibility. I want to be someone my younger siblings can look up to and feel inspired by. I want to make them proud and show them that it is possible to make one’s dreams come true, if you believe in yourself, work hard and are relentless in your pursuit.

The reason why I chose to do my postgraduate degree at the University of Surrey is that I believe that the programme “International Hotel Management” will enable me to work in international hotel companies like Hilton, Accor or Mandarin Oriental to name only a few. The institute’s good reputation and its numerous professional contacts within the industry will clearly facilitate my career. Further, doing a postgraduate degree is the logical consequence of my prior studies. During my undergraduate degree in “Tourism Management”, my specialisation in “Hotel Management” has inspired and interested me the most and therefore I am striving to deepen my knowledge in this area.

I have chosen to study at the University of Surrey as I want to leave Austria for my postgraduate degree. Leaving my friends and family as well as the culture I am used to will help me broaden my horizon and contribute to my personal development, as my current internship in Nice has shown me. When I picture myself in ten years, I do not know where exactly I am going to be, but I know that I want to be in a management position, working in an international hotel company with a team from all over the world. Therefore, I want to prepare myself for my future career by gaining as much international experience as possible.

Most of the time I am probably too cautious – too afraid I might fail, if I try something new – but it is time to leave my comfort zone. I fell in love with the University of Surrey and its international, inspiring student body the first time I saw it on the internet. I immediately knew that this is the place to be. This is the place where I can live my passion for hospitality and tourism management. This is the place where I can grow not only professionally but also as a person.