Like any major industry over the last thirty years, the hospitality industry has seen its share of ups and downs along with the larger global economy. In a recent review of the outlook of the Travel and Hospitality industry, Deloitte estimated that American hotel gross bookings grew by approximately 60% – from $116 billion to $185 billion – between 2009 and 2017. In that same time frame, gross revenue from restaurants in the US grew by about 44% – from $401 billion to $577 billion. Clearly there is a lot of money to be made within the hospitality management industry!

But at least a couple of trends made the hospitality industry – and by extension, expertise in hospitality management – a particularly hot commodity. As globalization continues to fuel economic growth and production across the world, it has continued to fuel travel – both for business and pleasure. Furthermore, the digitization of everyday life has transformed the way we interact with every facet of the hospitality industry. From finding photos of people’s favorite foods on Instagram to Uber making it easy to get from point A to point B to corporations like United, Marriott, and Enterprise creating their own online applications to help users book flights, hotels and rental cars, interacting with the hospitality industry is as easy as touching the screen of your iPhone.

In spite (or perhaps because of) the tremendous growth in the industry, there is serious demand for talent with MBAs in hospitality management. There are over 1 million job openings within the industry that need to be filled, with employers looking for highly skilled individuals to help them tackle the strategic and operational imperatives that come with immense and speedy growth. To stand out among the masses, those interested should seriously consider an Online MBA in Hospitality Management.