If I started a school of hospitality today, I wouldn’t teach one thing that a robot can memorize or an algorithm can automate. I wouldn’t waste a second on surface level skills that sound good in a classroom but collapse the moment a real guest walks in. I’d build a school that teaches the truth.
Hospitality today is emotional, psychological, cultural, and fast. If you can’t understand people, if you can’t adapt on the spot, if you can’t create moments that make guests feel genuinely seen, you’re done before you even clock in.
The industry has already changed. The education system hasn’t. And that’s why so many graduates walk into their first job already behind.
Here are the top 10 things I’d teach if I built a hospitality school right now:
1. How to understand human psychology so deeply that you can read a guest before they say one word.
2. How to build a personal brand as a hospitality pro, because the future belongs to people who know how to show their value in public.
3. How to make guests feel emotionally safe, because safety is the new luxury and people only spend where they feel understood.
4. How to turn conflict into connection, because the recovery always matters more than the mistake.
5. How to think like a marketer even if you’re nowhere near the marketing office, because every action is brand building whether you know it or not.
6. How to lead without a title, because influence comes from presence, not position.
7. How to innovate in real time, because the best moments in hospitality are never scripted.
8. How to understand cultural nuance, because modern hospitality is borderless and ignorance kills revenue.
9. How to build relationships that turn into repeat revenue, because loyalty is the strongest currency in this business.
10. How to stay curious for life, because if you stop learning, you stop being relevant.
I’d build a school that creates leaders, not employees. A school that prepares people for the world hospitality is becoming, not the world it used to be. And if the industry wants to survive the next decade, it’s time to rethink everything we teach.
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If you like the way I look at the world of hospitality, let’s chat: scott@mrscotteddy.com
