If you are looking to advance your management career in the hotel, tourism, restaurant or overall hospitality sector, then the MBA in Hospitality will enable you to advance into management roles from an existing position, or prepare you to enter a new role at a management level.

The MBA in Hospitality is one of the specialisations in our international MBA programme offered at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences in Apeldoorn to full-time and part time students from the Netherlands and around the world.

An international team of lecturers and business leaders has been designed this MBA for those ready to make the climb into management roles, either from an existing job or graduates with some work experience who are aspiring to become managers. Together with the traditional MBA building blocks, this MBA in Hospitality Management offers additional modules with a particular focus on leadership and management roles in the hotel and restaurant and overal hospitality sector, and issues specifically facing hospitality companies and organisations, nationally, and internationally.

Programme Overview:

The programme is designed for those in hospitality and tourism functions who are aiming to enter managerial roles, as well as students from other sectors interested in the sector.

Throughout the Wittenborg MBA, we take a strategic perspective on business and management, in this specialisation specifically from within the hospitality industry, always from an international viewpoint, and help you to develop the skills to contribute to major decisions made by your current or future organisations that will help shape their future.

We welcome students from any academic or working discipline background to apply for this programme. Many entrants to our Wittenborg MBA programme do so with a science or technology background - it is not necessary that you have studied business or management before - the first semester equips you with all the tools you require to specialise further on the MBA in Hospitality Management programme.

• Further develop your current skills and experience to a management level;
• Extend your interest in financial decision making;
• Develop a strategic perspective on business;

MBA Enhancing Your Career!

MBA graduates are often fast-tracked into senior management positions and this MBA programme has been designed for those who wish to pursue senior management positions or as preparation for further study in business, such as a DBA, or a PhD.

The MBA will further the careers of:

• Dutch or other EU graduates who are working in an organisation, managing people or processes, and are looking to improve their career opportunities within their current employment position. These students are supported by their employer and can study the programme part-time;
• Dutch, or other EU graduates who have been working in an organisation, managing people or processes, and are looking for a full time MBA programme that will increase their employability chances in an international market; 
• International graduates in the Netherlands, who have a completed a Bachelor degree and have worked in an organisation with responsibility managing people or processes, who are looking to improve their career opportunities, either at their current employer or in the search for a new opportunity;
• International students worldwide, from business or non-business fields, with a proven number of years managing people or processes within an organisation. These students are looking for an English-taught, internationally orientated MBA programme that can allow them to improve their career prospects in the job market either at home or in the Netherlands, either at their current employer or at a new organisation, and possibly continue their studies at a higher level.

Career Overview:

Some specialized career options for MBA in Hospitality Management graduates would be:

Restaurant or catering manager: Restaurant managers ensure their establishment operate efficiently and profitably. They are responsible for a variety of tasks, including business performance, recruiting and retaining skilled members of staff who have a knack for sales as well as ensuring high standards of food, service, health and safety.

Hotel manager: A hotel manager is responsible for the day-to-day running of a hotel - whether a small, boutique hotel or a larger establishment. He or she would have frequent meetings with heads of departments such as catering, household, security and maintenance. Among many other tasks, the hotel manager will also analyze sales figures and devise marketing and revenue strategies, ensure compliance with licensing laws, deal with serious customer complaints or welcome VIP’s. All in a day’s work.

Service consultant: Many managers in the hospitality sector, after gaining considerable experience, move gradually into consultancy while others feel equipped enough to start immediately as a freelance consultant or joining an established consultancy firm. As a service consultant you might develop training manuals, create and implement service protocols, develop marketing strategies and improve the culture of service within the organization.

Entrepreneur: The hospitality sector affords a host of opportunities for starting your own business - whether as a transport service provider, accommodation owner, restaurant owner, hotelier, marketing specialist or wine producer.

Educator and researcher: With their in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge of the hospitality industry, graduates of the master program can follow a career as lecturer at a wide range of institutes offering training in this field or pursue further studies such as a DBA, or in some countries a PhD.

“An MBA qualified Business Administrator is specifically able to manage a number of complex and integrated business operations within an international or a local setting, at both a tactical and strategic level, using skills and competencies that require a capability of inter-disciplinary thinking. They will show the ability to combine solid research and critical analysis skills to develop an organisation’s corporate strategy within its business and cultural domain.”