Hey guys, Nick here, happy new year! As the deadline for UCAS applications is just around the corner, in this post I’m going to spend some time talking about my course, what I like about it, what I don’t and aspects that you might not be aware of.
As I’ve mentioned in my welcome post I study International Hospitality Management and I am on my first year- in case you didn’t know. This course is part of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) a school that Surrey is proud to have as it has high rankings including the recent 3rd place for Hospitality and Tourism Management in the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2021. The school also includes courses such as International Hospitality & Tourism Management, International Tourism Management and Events Management so it covers a wide range of specialties and preferences.
Picture of our school from last summer!
SHTM tends to be selected by many Greek students as tourism is the main industry and source of revenue in Greece. Personally, I have selected to do a sandwich course meaning that as well as the 3 years studying, I get to do an extra year called ‘professional training year’ during which I get the opportunity to do a paid (in most cases) placement anywhere in the world. If you are not interested in this course but got excited with the idea of a placement year don’t worry. With the courses at Surrey you have the choice of a professional training year or not!
What I like most about my course is that it combines both theory and practice. What I mean is that besides lectures and seminars we are doing this amazing practical at the Lakeside Restaurant (a fine-dining restaurant on campus) where we get to serve and cook for actual customers! We are learning under realistic circumstances how a restaurant operates which helps us to develop our management/ teamwork skills, increase our self-awareness, gain experience and prepare for the time when we’ll actually get to work. Other modules refer to business spectrum in general but most of them apply directly to hospitality in different ways e.g marketing, HR, operations etc..
Me and my colleagues having a break before we greet the first guests of the day at the Lakeside Restaurant!
The thing that I didn’t like the past semester was that some lectures were both early in the morning and online so it was difficult to keep up as my laziness was activating and I couldn’t get out of bed! However, as I saw from the timetables all our lectures this semester are face to face so my motivation to study will hopefully increase haha.
In terms of the assignments I have to declare that I enjoyed doing them this semester. In general, the course includes both team work and individual work. All the assignments are on really interesting topics that make me want to learn more and research further every time.
That was my course in a nutshell! If you want you can check the structure of the course and other information regarding that through the university’s website and follow our school’s social media at the links below:
https://www.surrey.ac.uk/undergraduate/international-hospitality-management
Instagram: shtmatsurrey
Facebook: School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey
Twitter: SHTMatSurrey
YouTube: School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Surrey
See you soon!
