Courtesy BMIHMS: Campus in Australia’s Blue Mountains

You don’t want a desk job. You don’t like the idea of being stuck in one city for the rest of your career. And you like interacting with people. Perhaps hospitality is one path to an unforgettable journey.

“It’s about getting an international career, learning to be a global citizen, taking that career around the world,” says Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School (BMIHMS) CEO Guy Bentley.

And for the South Asian students, going somewhere close enough to home can be an even bigger draw.

Australia-based BMIHMS offers undergraduate degrees as well as postgraduate study in hospitality and hotel management. The two and a half year undergraduate course is followed by a six month job-placement, which can ultimately lead to a full-time role.

“To be successful in the hotel management culture, you have to love people,” says Bentley, who says that there are 42 nationalities on their campus, all of whom learn to get along, building upon a base for a future in an industry which is increasingly culturally connected.

At the School, undergraduate students are taught to build on three pillars: development of technical skills (such as housekeeping, table-setting); academic research (required to pass the degree); and personal and professional development – learning valuable leadership skills, practicing ethical values and growing as a person.

Employment following this intensive course is important, says Bentley – the school maintains a 96% graduate placement rate, he says, and after 5 years most have worked in two to three different countries.

Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School has opened institutes in six other countries: China, Malaysia, Thailand, Chile, Mexico – in partnership with Unitech University, and a presence in Japan is due later this year.