Moving around to work is seen by many as a unique opportunity, but if you talk about the world of hospitality, you come across a wall. In the collective imagination, working in a restaurant or in a hotel is like being a slave, and is a bad life to live.
We all know that working in the hospitality world means rolling up our sleeves and making sacrifices, but what are the positive aspects that can attract this generation?
Generation Z is different from the others generations. This generation has not yet experienced moments of tension or conflicts on a world level, so it has a different conception of sacrifice than other generations. I am part of this generation since I was born in 1997. For me, the world of hotels is something that has always belonged to my family, and the love for Hospitality too.
I want to tell you my story in a few sentences because I want to share my experiences with you and I hope that it will help you! My grandfather, who had been the director of many 5-star hotels in Italy, passed to me the passion for this job.
I started working in this world when I was 17, facing my first season in Sardegna. I worked for 4 months as a porter, from six in the morning until ten at night. I slept with five other boys in a basement. If you stop only at these two sentences you may think it was a hell, but it wasn’t.
I worked a lot and I sweated a lot but I grew as a person and as a man. I have met people who will remain in my life and who I always call even today. I learned to work, which I think is important for a person. Nowadays, I realized how much money is worth and how hard it is to earn it. I understood the important values of life.
After this experience I decided that this was my world! I enrolled in a university for tourism in Italy and completed my studies last march. It was a huge satisfaction for me because I could add many skills to my background and I could increase my love for Hospitality.
During these 3 years I have faced other experiences that have turned me into a person and a professional. I spent six months in Austria learning German and then I moved back to Sardegna for 5 months to work in a 5-star luxury resort, Grand Hotel Poltu Quatu.
From my first experience, where I was simply a porter, I managed to get to the front office and the Sales and Marketing department. From a normal role I managed to improve myself in a couple of years and I became an excellent professional in this world.
To improve myself further I chose the best university that could give me the opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge:
Hotel Institute Montreux!
This university is one of the best in the world in this area and by studying here I can have access to many opportunities. This institute is training me as a professional and as a man, giving me the chance.This university is located in Montreux, Switzerland, the motherland of the hospitality world. The study environment is unique because all students come from all over the world. This university is the cradle of the Z generation, because it turns kids into future hotel managers.Being able to study and grow in this structure is a huge fortune. For those of us who want to make the world of hospitality their own life, this is the right path.
After reading my story and my experience, do you think you understood something more about this world?
We, the Z generation, are the basis of change in the world. We can change the rules of the world of Hospitality, improving it and taking it to new horizons.You can think that I say this because I lived in a family that has shared to me the love for Hospitality, and maybe for me is easier to say, but now that I’m studying at Hotel Institute Montreux I can see that these opinion is shared from a lot of people here. I’m studying with a lot of motivated people, and I can feel that they want to change the game, they want to change the rules of this world because they love their life.
These concepts apply to the world of hospitality, because we are the future managers of this sector. One day we will have to concentrate our thoughts, our actions and our passion on a job that really satisfies us. The world of hospitality can be a precious friend to live a complete life, made of satisfaction but also of hard work and sacrifices.
So what are you going to do now? Do you plan to start your adventure in this world? As you can see there are the possibilities to have a magnificent life, to study in large institutions like Hotel Institute Montreux, to be able to realize your dreams! For me, choosing the world of hospitality was the best possible choice! Thanks to this, I am now happy and I feel more and more accomplished as a person and as a worker.
The world of hospitality is the last place where we can find magic!
I hope my story and my advice can help you in your life choice. As I like to say, the world of hospitality is the last place where we can find magic! The magic lies in falling in love with one's work and experiencing a different story every day! If you are part of Gen Z and you are in High School, and you need some advices for your future, it will be a pleasure for me respond to your questions. Leave a comment with all your questions about it and it’ll a pleasure for me to respond you. I have been inspired by Ms Selina Huilin Pan and her article that inspired me to write my article in a motivational way.
Author: Gabriele Panni, Hospitality Bachelor Student at Hotel Institute Montreux (HIM), from Italy