Careers in Travel and Tourism
Travel includes air, sea, rail, and automobile, and tourism includes the attractions and places that people visit. The airline industry has a number of career opportunities for college graduates. From the flight deck to operations, from marketing to accounting and finance to flight attendant, there are plenty of career opportunities. Ticket agents range from $18,000 to $31,200 annually. Operations managers receive a salary of about $65,000. Station managers range from $50,000 to $75,000 annually, and airport managers range from $50,000 to $130,000 annually.

Careers in Restaurants and Managed Services
The restaurant industry employs over 12 million people in 878,000 locations and continues to grow. It is projected that in the year 2010 the industry will have one million locations and employ 13+ million people. Due to the number of restaurants careers, are readily available. The typical restaurant careers leads to kitchen manager, bar manager, restaurant manager, general manager, vice president, president, and owner. Another aspect of the restaurant industry that appeals to many is the career of kitchen manager or chef. Since the food served in restaurants is the primary reason guests continue to patronize the restaurant, it is up to the chef to be sure that the guests receive a meal that meets or exceeds their expectations. The salary of chef greatly depends on the location and type of restaurant he or she works in. Chefs in high end restaurants can make as much as $58,000, with executive chefs in very famous restaurants earning much more, up to and over $100,000. Restaurant mangers and general managers can earn from about $55,000 to $150,000 depending on the size, volume and amount of bonus. Restaurant general managers can advance to regional managers or director with salaries of about $60,000 to $175,000. Vice-Presidents and Presidents can make from $75,000 to over $300,000. Managed Services are a $25 billion industry that serves more than 19,500 sites nationwide. They are unique in that they prepare very large batches of food to be consumed in a fixed period of time. They include airlines, military, elementary and secondary schools, colleges, universities, health care facilities, business and industry; and leisure, recreation, and assisted living communities. The typical salary of an assistant food service director is between $30,000 and $37,000 plus benefits.

Careers in Lodging
There are about 3.5 million hotel rooms in thousands of hotels in North America, and more abroad, so you can imagine that there are several career paths in the lodging sector of the hospitality and tourism industry. The salaries levels for the trainee management program are from about $34,000, assistant department managers make about $38,000 and department manager's range from $38,000 and $54,000, foods and beverage managers range from $44,000 to $55,000 and food and beverage directors range from $65,000 to $90,000, depending on the size of the hotel. The salary levels for the rooms division have a wide range. A reservations manager makes about $35,000 to $40,000, a front office manager $40,000 to $55,000, an executive housekeeper $45,000 to $70,000 and director of rooms division $70,000 to $90,000 depending on the size and location of the hotel. Sales managers receive a salary of about $44,000 to $55,000 and director of marketing $75,000 to $100,000 plus. Directors of human resources receive salaries of about $55,000 to $75,000 and directors of accounting or finance $65,000 to $85,000.

Careers in Club Management
Club managers share many of the same responsibilities as hotel managers. They are in charge of preparing budgets and forecasting future sales, as well as monitoring restaurants on the property and the various internal departments such as human resources and making sure maintenance work is done properly. The difference from hotel management is that guests at the club are members and typically pay for their membership. Country clubs are the most common. Entry-level club positions range from $27,000 to $33,000. Club managers receive bonuses based on performance; the managers base salary is $100,000+ PLUS 5-15% bonus. The highest paid country club general manager makes more than $350,000 annually.

Careers in Conventions and Expositions
Convention planners coordinate meetings, conventions, and special events for very large groups of people. The average annual salary for a convention planners between $35,000 and $60,000. Several make $90,000 or more, and a few are in the $150,000 or more category.

Careers in Meeting Planning, Event Management and Catering
The job title of meeting planner can go under many headings, including event planner, meeting manager, conference coordinator, and convention planner. The meeting planner's duties may include establishing a site for an event; making travel, hotel, and food arrangements; and planning the program and overseeing registration. Depending on the level of responsibly and the years of experience, the salaries for these jobs can range from $34,000 starting out to over $100,000 for executive directors. Many different careers fall under the category of event management. Two of the most popular and well known are wedding and party planners. On average wedding and party planners charge 10-15% of the total cost of the wedding or party.

Careers in Recreation and Leisure, Amusement and Theme Parks, and Gaming
Recreation leaders are in charge of daily operations within recreation programs. Senior recreation coordinators receive salaries of about $45,000 and deputy park and recreation directors make between $75,000 and $112,000. Parks and recreation managers make between $95,000 and $175,000. The theme park industry provides a wide variety of jobs to employees with varying skill levels. Salaries for theme park front-line managers range from $20,000 to $50,000 per year. Middle managers earn up to $75,000 and general managers earn up to $100,000 annually. In the past 25 years the gaming industry in the United States has seen huge growth. General managers in the gaming industry earn a starting average of $72,800 annually. Casino operators begin at about $36,000 and marketing and sales employees start at $50,000. Positions typically include full health benefits and yearly bonuses and other compensation, depending on the casino.

Careers in Allied Areas
Supplier of the goods and services. Many companies are supplying the hospitality organizations. Imagine, someone has to supply all the food, beverage, furniture, furnishings, and equipment for new hotels, restaurants, resorts, stadiums, clubs, cruise ships, airlines and so on. One advantage of a career in allied sector of the hospitality industry that your evenings and weekends are mostly yours to enjoy as you wish. Some people work in the hospitality industry for a few years and then move into the allied area because of the more normal working hours. Salaries in allied are vary from starting salaries of about $25,000 to over $100,000.