Hotel Man­age­ment

This course was compiled for a career in Hospitality and Hotel Management. Texts from reference works, business-to-business articles, sector publications and own research, divided into several topics: hotel & environment, hotel sector introduction, hotel management, and finally, challenges confronting the hospitality sector from a compendium future proof.

Slowly but surely ending the second decade of this century leaves the hotel industry with many challenges: how to deal with ever more discerning, critical, sharing customers who are less loyal to a brand as ever, ever more customers sitting, sleeping and walking around in more and more crowded areas.

Requirements: An introductory knowledge in Hospitality and Leisure management is essential for a good start. English minimum B2 level.

Evaluation: 100% oral evaluation.

Course material: Syllabus.

As communication is key in the hospitality industry, the primary aim will be to develop your professional language skills to be able to deal with the main stakeholders (guests, suppliers and staff), both orally and in writing.
In addition, hospitality related articles and videos, combined with a wide range of exercises, will be discussed as a stepping stone to expand your vocabulary and build your language competences.
 

Evaluation:
Exam period January: Oral evaluation 40%
Exam period January: Written evaluation 40%
Permanent evaluation (exam period excluded): Competence test 20%

Course materials: Syllabus

In the first chapter you will discover the tourism market and its providers. The second chapter is a presentation of the hotel sector in France. You will also find the lexicon adapted to the description of the hotel product. The third chapter presents the 'accommodation' department, including reception, concierge services and room service. All professional communication situations from the client's first contact with the hotel at the time of booking until after departure will be dealt with. It will also be dedicated to the meeting and the drafting of a memo / information note. You will find recommendations for effective meetings and for the drafting of meeting minutes. In Chapter 4, we will look at the vocabulary of the restaurant sector and focus on oral expression.

Requirements: B1 proficiency required

Evaluation:
Written exam 40%.
Oral exam 40%.
Permanent evaluation 20%.

Course materials: Syllabus 

Language of instruction: French

The course will start with a general definition, the specifications and limitations of the work field of the facility manager.
Then, the position of the facility manager specific in the hotel industry will be explained and the added value of the facility manager will be looked at.

The main support activities of the facility manager are engineering, maintenance, waste-, energy- and water management.

Due to the service aspect of the hotel industry, the facility manager will always plan and execute work with a focus on the guest's point of view.

As sustainability plays a major role in our society, the importance will be linked to the support activities.

Because there is a large variety of external companies specialised in facilitary tasks, the facility manager will have to analyse the pro & contras of outsourcing.

Evaluation:
100% written evaluation. >

Course materials: Syllabus. 

Topics Rooms Division Management:

1. Planning for quality service
2. Delivering guest service through employees
3. Front office functions and possibilities
4. Front office organisation & positions
5. Revenue management: strategic pricing, the role of value in pricing, differential pricing, forecasting demand, inventory and price management, distribution channel management
6. Management reports and communication between different departments, including the night audit
7. Principles of Housekeeping Management
8. Work schedules planning

As part of the course, a day with guest speaker(s) is organised around etiquette & service in the intercultural context of hospitality

Evaluation:
100% written evaluation 

Course materials: Syllabus 

The students will gain an insight into the basic principles of a Property Management System and this will be done by making practical exercises and learning technical terminology.

In general the course consists of:

• introduction of concepts;
• technical terminology;
• reservations (create, modify and correct);
• check-in and check-out;
• cashier, postings and Rooms Management

Evaluation:
100% tested on the programme on the computer

HOTS stands for Hotel, Operations, Tactics and Strategy. HOTS is a realistic computer game simulating the management of a hotel. The students will take several decisions on a simulated period of three years, in a competitive environment, in real time.

Requirements: Knowledge of finance is highly recommended.

Evaluation:

• Observation 21%
• Paper 20%
• Presentation 20%
• Written evaluation 39%

Active group’s work is demanded. Course materials: Syllabus.

To make the students aware of the importance of the Human Resources role by introducing to them the basis of People Management. The course ‘Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry’ aims at introducing the students to the HR function in a hotel. Moreover this last year’s Bachelor course focusses on taking up leadership and supervision in their future managerial jobs. Apart from the administrative aspects of the HRM cycle (selecting, recruiting, training, rewarding and promoting staff until the exit management), the attention goes to the soft skills students should develop in order to manage their own career as well as the career of colleagues.

Practical examples and testimonies from professionals are shared and exercises for the students are woven all through the course. The Human resources department is often considered the ear and the heart of the hotel. No doubt the staff costs are among the most important in the P&L statement of a hotel. At the same time, those costs are probably the best manageable part. Hence, Productivity management becomes paramount in the total R.O.I. of a hotel. The HRM course teaches how to motivate a multicultural workforce in a fascinating business with all current challenges linked to it.

This is a course for students combining study and internship and staying a full academic year.

The Management Research Project is an investigation done in the company where the student is realizing his/her Management Internship. The student will choose the subject of the Management Research Project.

The subject, a problem, will be formulated and a time schedule will be fixed. The subject should be investigated profoundly. After a clear description, the student starts with desk research followed by field research. The obtained information must be structured and analyzed in order to formulate clear and relevant conclusions. A prototype of the solution will be presented in the company. In a pitch, the student will convince in a creative way the jury of the implementation of his/her possible solution.

Evaluation:

• Paper 70%
• Pitch 30%

Language Support French 1 offers you a unique opportunity to discover Brussels by immersing yourself in the language and culture of this capital. Our hospitality and stimulating atmosphere will allow you not only to find lifelong friends but also to create your future professional network. The required starting level is A2+. After a placement test, you will be meeting experienced teachers, training your skills, using online platforms, and enjoying your own curiosity. The variety of activities will allow you to progress at your own rhythm to submit a portfolio and to pass an oral and written exam.

Requirements: A2+ proficiency needed

Evaluation: to be confirmed (oral exam, written exam and portfolio)

Extra costs: handbook

Language of instruction: French

The aim of the "Survival Dutch" course is to master the basics of the Dutch language, both written and spoken. Starting from everyday situations, you will learn the necessary grammar and vocabulary in order to function in a Dutch speaking environment.

We strongly recommend incoming students to participate in the Survival Dutch course, organized prior to the start of the semester: from September 4th - 14th.

Languages of instruction: English and Dutch

This course is taught by a former journalist/TV-presenter and partly takes place in an audiovisual studio. The book ‘Presentation Techniques’ by Van der Laan provides a theoretical basis. As a group; we visit Belgian television and several tv-productions.

How does tourism change a city and how does a city change tourism? This course counts as an open invitation to immerse yourself in urban contexts from a tourism-recreation perspective. We co-creatively explore the meanings of 'urban', 'urban tourism', 'urban leisure' and 'trends' by approaching it from political-economic and socio-cultural angles. We consider the city as our never finished syllabus: Brussels is our prime go-to laboratory, but we occasionally also shift our focus to other metropolitan contexts. 

At the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of how change in urban contexts tends to work, based on your own experiences and conversations with lecturers, experts and other students.

Evaluation: Portfolio

Extra costs: €70

Language of instruction: English, French & Dutch

Gatherings have been a part of people’s lives since the earliest recorded history. Once humans developed permanent settlements, each town or village had a public meeting area, often called a town square, where residents could meet, talk and celebrate. Nowadays, the MICE market /business events market - or the ‘meetings industry’ as it is generally called - is the ‘backbone’ of the client base for many destinations around the world. The meetings industry represents a significant proportion of domestic and international tourism in many destinations.
Get to know the sector and its stakeholders, become inspired by this fascinating part of the tourism industry!

Evaluation: 100% written exam

Extra costs: syllabus

In the first part of the course, the focus is on different models of cross-cultural research that can be used when working with the manifestations of cultural differences. These models and their concepts are elaborated by using them to discuss differences between Belgium and other European cultures on the one hand, and between Belgium and African, Asian and Arabic cultures on the other hand. In the second part, the focus is on cultural differences relating to specific management contexts. Successively, we focus on human resources management (hiring, motivation, performance appraisal and feedback, rewarding, career counseling), negotiations, business ethics, conflict resolution and leadership, within the context of international management.

Course materials: Manual: Intercultural Skills for International Business and International Relations (Author: S. Paul Verluyten) + study material on Canvas (online school platform). 

In this course students discover, reflect and increase their intercultural competences. Through exercises, discussions, visits and above all, intercultural encounters with the super-diverse population in different Brussels’ neighborhoods, students raise their cultural sensitivity and awareness.

Language skills and an intercultural mindset are therefore indispensable. Students realize and value the importance of good intercultural skills in the tourism sector. Through one or more self-chosen activity(ies), students demonstrate how they have further developed their intercultural attitude, skills and knowledge.

Evaluation: permanent evaluation

Extra costs: € 60

More information coming soon!

How does one orient itself towards the future -or should we say futures-, in an ever-changing world? Through participation in a hands-on futures research project related to your area of expertise, you will gain a better understanding on how to navigate future worlds.  Together we will learn how to give meaning to the many changes unfolding around us and empower you to actively co-create more sustainable futures for all.
At the end of the course you will understand the relevance of futures research for your specific work context and have gained a ‘futures literacy’ skillset which allows you to think about the future in a more rich, resilient, systemic and creative way.

Evaluation: Portfolio

Artificial Intelligence or AI is a buzzword today and remains a concept poorly understood, vague, and often approached with fear of the unknown or with false hopes about what can be achieved. The course "Navigating the world of Artificial Intelligence" aims to introduce non-IT students to some of the basic concepts, principles, and techniques that fall under the umbrella term AI and offers a more nuanced understanding on the topic. This course is specifically designed for students with no technical background. This is not a coding course! Instead this is an introductory course that enables students to think critically, creatively and ethically about the implementation of AI technology.

Through exercises, you will be encouraged to investigate the general impact of AI in your own field to then further conceptualize what that could mean for a specific organization within your field. The students are guided through these exercises via online course material and regular discussions with peers.

This is a course for students combining study and internship and staying a full academic year.

Duration: 8 weeks

The real key to a career in the hospitality industry is a work placement in the field, where the student can put his/her learning experience into practice, and develop transferrable skills, while he/she learns from experienced colleagues.

The student will work with guests, will be able to identify their needs, meet and try to exceed them. He/she will have the opportunity to experience guests’ complaint resolutions and monitor guest satisfaction levels. At the end of the internship, the intern will have practiced etiquette, the organization and the correlation between different departments. The intern will learn to solve problems on his/her own and to take initiatives. He/she will come into contact with new cultures and improve his/her language skills

Evaluation:

• Observation 70%
• Portfolio 30%

This is a course for students combining study and internship and staying a full academic year.

The objective of the Management Internship is to train the intern on all tasks and responsibilities and to give him/her an insight in the organization and management of the chosen department. It is important that the intern, once trained, will take the same responsibilities as a fulltime staff member in order to have a real understanding of the department. He/she will learn to solve problems on his/her own and to take initiatives. The intern will come into contact with new cultures and improve his/her language skills.

The student will learn the standards of the company and other important techniques and will perform ensuring guests’ satisfaction. This course's duration is 16 weeks.

Operational experience in the Hospitality sector is a must.