Hotel Management Certificates: Upgrade Your Career in Hospitality

Hospitality education comes in many forms, from on-the-job training to MBA programmes. When most people think of hospitality education though, the first thing that comes to mind is a Bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from a prestigious hotel school. This is a fantastic option for individuals aspiring to a successful career in hospitality management, but it’s not the only option out there. 

For some people, earning a hospitality management certificate can be an ideal alternative, or even a smart way to work towards a degree as part of a staged-learning journey.  

Is a hospitality management certificate right for you? And if so, which one? 

Discovering AIHM’s Hotel Management Certificates 

At AIHM, the Asian Institute of Hospitality Management, our core educational offering is the Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Global Hospitality Management. The BBA degree curriculum, designed in academic association with Les Roches, allows us to offer a Swiss model of hospitality education in the heart of Asia. We recognise, however, that a degree isn’t for everyone.  

Perhaps you don’t have the time or full budget for a degree at this point in time. Maybe you already have a degree in another field and you’re looking for a way to fast-track into the hospitality industry. Alternatively, you might have substantial working experience in the hotel industry, but you simply haven’t had the advantage of a formal education from a hotel school. AIHM’s hotel management certificates offer you the opportunity to grow in your career and secure the promotions that have been just beyond your reach. 

Demonstrate your potential to current or future employers. AIHM’s certificate programmes allow you to study key components of the BBA degree curriculum. Advance your career by gaining increased self-confidence in your abilities and critical skills in areas such as communication, problem-solving, collaboration and leadership.  

Comparing AIHM’s Hospitality Management Certificates 

AIHM offers two distinct hospitality management certificates: the CIHA (Certificate in International Hotel Administration) and the ACIHM (Advanced Certificate in International Hotel Management). The sections below will help you understand the differences between the two certificates so you can select the path ideal for your needs, ambitions and individual background. That said, the certificates also share some vital commonalities: 

• Both certificate programmes are based upon key components of AIHM’s BBA degree, which offers a Swiss model of hospitality education through a curriculum developed in academic association with Les Roches, one of the world’s top 5 higher education establishments for hospitality and leisure management.  
  

• The CIHA and ACIHM both offer a career-boosting certification upon completion of a 1.5-year programme comprising 1 year of study at AIHM’s Bangkok campus and a 6-month work-based project or internship. 

While the CIHA and ACIHM both prepare individuals for successful management careers in the hospitality industry and share a number of important features and benefits, they are also marked by some important differences as explained below. 

CIHA – Certificate in International Hotel Administration 

The most significant difference between the CIHA and ACIHM is the CIHA’s inclusion of the Practical Arts semester. A key component of hospitality management degrees at the globe’s leading hotel schools, Practical Arts studies give you a powerful, holistic view of hotel operations. In Practical Arts courses, students enjoy a hands-on learning experience, exploring the skills used by hotel employees on a daily basis.  

The Practical Arts help you understand the challenges faced by front-of-house employees across a full spectrum of hotel departments. The goal of the Practical Arts is not to prepare you for a career as a chef, server, housekeeper or receptionist but rather to enrich your management abilities with a comprehensive understanding of hotel operations. If your career to date has primarily been within one hotel department (or if you’re transitioning to a career in hospitality from another industry), the CIHA and its Practical Arts semester will help you understand the processes and challenges faced by departments throughout the hotel. Studying the Practical Arts will make you a better manager. 

While Practical Arts studies are a fundamental component of many Swiss hotel schools, AIHM’s Practical Arts studies offer a dramatic point of difference. By leveraging AIHM’s location within the Avani+ Riverside Bangkok Hotel and adjacent to the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort, you’re able to study and practice in a real-world hotel setting. Rather than modelling real-world settings within the university, you’re able to put your lessons into practice immediately within actual operating hotels. 

When studying the CIHA, your Practical Arts semester is followed by the courses of Hospitality Management 1. You’ll be introduced to topics such as marketing, managing diversity, accounting, data analysis, sustainability and innovation. All these courses are the basis of any business education, but at AIHM, you’ll learn about these management disciplines with special attention to their application in the hospitality industry and with a distinguishing focus on contemporary business needs. We’re training the hospitality leaders of today and tomorrow. AIHM’s hospitality management certificates give you the tools you need to outperform the competition in a continuously evolving business climate. 

Another important component of the CIHA programme is the Integrated Hospitality Project. As a CIHA student, you’ll take part in this project during the same semester as the other courses of Hospitality Management 1. You will work in a team with your fellow students on a real-life project for one of our hotel partners. Essentially, you execute a consulting project for a real hotel client. Together with your AIHM classmates, you perform research, evaluate results, develop a solution, compose a report and prepare a presentation you deliver to the client.  

The Integrated Hospitality Project amplifies your growth and development through a problem-based learning approach; learning comes from collaboration, leadership practice, exploration, application of classroom studies, analysis, evaluation, synthesis and creativity. This course also ensures that certificate students are continuously integrated within the industry. The certificate programme is not just about listening to theory but developing a deep, actionable understanding of how academic lessons in business management apply to real-world hospitality issues. The project’s goal varies from semester to semester but sample projects include creating new welcome processes for a hotel, innovating a new menu offering and proposing a new staff restaurant. The Integrated Hospitality Project prepares you for a future as a manager and leader in which you will have to manage projects while collaborating as a team. 

The CIHA programme concludes with a 6-month internship or work-place project. 

ACHIM – Advanced Certificate in International Hotel Management 

In contrast to the Certificate in International Hotel Administration (CIHA), the Advanced Certificate in International Hotel Management (ACIHM) is more tailored to students who have already been working in the hospitality industry for several years and who fit one of the two following profiles: 

Unlike the CIHA, the ACIHM does not include a Practical Arts semester. Instead, the ACIHM programme features two semesters devoted to Hospitality Management courses. As in the CIHA, you study Hospitality Management 1 while completing an Integrated Hospitality Project aligned to the semester’s courses. Additionally, you study Hospitality Management 2, which delves into further topics such as F&B Management, Revenue & Pricing Management, Leadership, Advanced Communication, and Models for Problem-Solving and Decision-Making. While studying Hospitality Management 2, you collaborate with your fellow students on a second, more complex Integrated Hospitality Project for a hotel client. 

You complete the ACIHM with a 6-month internship or work-based project designed to facilitate your career growth. 

Work-Place Projects: Hospitality Education with a Real-World Difference 

Both the CIHA and ACIHM conclude with either a 6-month work-place project or internship. Certificate students who are sponsored by their current employer generally complete a work-based project at the property by which they are employed. 

You work on a project of your choosing. What would you like to focus on as you return to work? What really motivates you? Your project could be related to customer service or back-of-house activities. Of course, your project must be approved by the management of your hotel, but this is a project you create and take ownership of.  

While working on the project, you’re supported by a project supervisor from AIHM’s faculty. At the completion of the project, you will present your work to both the hotel management and your academic supervisor. 

Hospitality Internships in the Certificate Programmes 

Students who are studying in the certificate programme on their own initiative rather than with employer sponsorship will complete their certificate studies with a 6-month hospitality internship. AIHM’s Internship Office will guide you in exploring internship opportunities and applying for an internship that will support your personal career goals.  

Certificate students may be able to leverage their internships into an employment opportunity. Furthermore, select internships may also be paid. AIHM’s Internship Office will work with you to define your career objectives and identify the internships best suited to your professional ambitions. 

Staged Learning: AIHM’s Hotel Management Certificates as Stepping Stones to a Degree  

AIHM recognises that each student is an individual. No individual’s academic journey will look exactly the same as someone else’s. A hospitality management certificate from AIHM can serve as a stepping stone toward a degree in a staged learning journey.  

Perhaps you desire a degree but don’t have the financial means to study the full 3.5-year BBA degree programme all at one time. AIHM’s certificate programmes can be an ideal solution. Because the curriculum of both the CIHA and ACIHM is based upon AIHM’s BBA curriculum, after graduating with a certificate you’ll already have completed a substantial portion of the BBA programme. Following your certificate studies, you may wish to spend some time in the hospitality industry earning an income and saving for continued studies. When ready, you are invited to return to AIHM to complete the additional semesters for the BBA degree.  

With a BBA in hand, you might even decide to continue onwards to an MBA or other master’s programme. Alternatively, you might decide a staged-learning journey is appropriate for you because it allows you to take study breaks, alternating between college study and employment or other non-academic pursuits. 

Study While Working: Part-time Hospitality Management Studies 

Another possibility for achieving your goals with AIHM is to study with us part-time while you are working. You may choose to work fifty percent of the time while spending the other fifty percent of your productive time studying for one of AIHM’s hospitality management certificates. For example, a student may work each morning and then go to campus to study each afternoon. A hospitality management education from AIHM can be as individual as you. If you have the drive to be one of tomorrow’s hospitality leaders, we’re excited to work with you so you can make your dream a reality. 

Hospitality Education for Today’s Professionals  

AIHM is passionate about offering an unmatched hospitality education. All our faculty members are accomplished hospitality professionals who have decided to devote themselves to empowering the hospitality leaders of tomorrow. We share your excitement for the hospitality industry, and we’re dedicated to helping you achieve your career goals. 

AIHM’s hospitality management certificates—both the CIHA and ACIHM—help you grow in your career by acquiring new skills and knowledge you only gain through formal business education. The two certificates unite academic study with experiential learning, problem-based learning and application of classroom lessons to real-world environments. Through the certificate programmes, you will be able to boost your sense of confidence, improve your communication and presentation skills, acquire leadership capabilities, explore your curiosity about the hospitality field, and develop a greater capacity to analyse business problems and generate creative solutions. 

Whether you decide to register for the Certificate in International Hotel Administration (CIHA) or the Advanced Certificate in International Hotel Management (ACIHM), we look forward to welcoming you and helping you kick-start your career advancement. 

Take Your Career to the Next Level! 

Register for the Certificate in International Hotel Administration or Advanced Certificate in International Hotel Management now.