Imagine you've just spent three years studying the ins and
outs of the hospitality industry.
You know what's what you want to do for the rest of your life and
you're entering your senior year ready to land your dream internship.
Then COVID hits, your entire industry experiences its most
devastating year on record. Where do you go from here?
I asked three recent graduates from BU's School of Hospitality about their next
steps. Were they worried?
Did they make the right choice?
And most of all, did they have jobs lined up?
>> COVID hit and then suddenly, you can't travel, the government is telling you,
rightfully so that we need to stay in place for now,
we need to figure out this pandemic.
Naturally, the hospitality industry was the first to get hit.
>> Well, what am I gonna do if all the hotels are closed,
all the restaurants are closed, what now?
>> It was definitely terrifying because it's like well, I just went to school for
four years now for what?
>> So Mackenzie studied the sales and marketing side of hospitality.
It turns out the hospitality industry encompasses a lot more than just hotels,
restaurants, and traveling.
>> My goal is to get within the entertainment industry somehow, so
if I could work with like venue sales, or work on marketing with either a sports team,
or a music venue, or music brand, that's kind of my goal.
>> A PriceWaterhouseCooper study predicted the 2020's drop in global entertainment
and media revenue would be the sharpest fall ever recorded,
estimating losses greater than $120 billion.
>> There is definitely that fear of what will happen now,
was this a mistake, will I ever get a job?
[LAUGH] Am I gonna end up doing something I hate now for the rest of my life?
That's when I kinda decided well, it doesn't hurt to get one more year under my
wing when I can, and why not take a graduate year here at BU?
What better timing than to do it when kind of like the world's at a standstill in
terms of the hospitality industry.
>> And that's exactly what grad student Marut Raval did last year,
Marut decided to study hospitality because it's actually a family business.
>> My grandfather he immigrated to the US in the early 70s,
he was working a lot of wage jobs, I saved up a lot of his money, and he pulled that
together with a few of his business partners that he met here in the US.
And they actually opened up their own independent motel that's still up and running today.
And then he used that money to put my dad to college who actually went to BU
you as well.
So, the way I think about it, is might as well develop a skill set and background
and a formal education within the industry that helped us live the American dream,
and bring us another step forward.
>> So Marut decided to focus on the real estate and
development side of hospitality, I'll let him explain.
>> Basically my program we're looking at is, how to look at hotels as an investment
vehicle, where do we get the money from, how do we build it, what's the design
gonna look like, and then how are we gonna manage it on a day to day basis.
>> A New York Times article published earlier this year stated that more than
900 new hotels opened up in the US in 2020, with another 960 planned for 2021.
Here's how the job hunt was going back in March when I first interviewed Marut.
>> The pressure is on a little bit, it's more so
pressure that I'm applying for myself.
What I've been doing and kind of the best practices I've been taking is a lot of
time spent on LinkedIn looking at job postings.
And a lot of networking through professors here at BU, family members or
anyone I've met at previous jobs and internships.
Right now the biggest issue seems to be timing.
>> So, people wanna be hiring right now but I'm still in this full time program so
it's hard to start right now.
>> Another student from the development side is Solomon Frey, but
he'll be working on the financial side of the equation.
>> So I'll be working for a hotel lender, so if somebody needs to buy a hotel or
build the hotel, they'll come to us, ask for a loan, and we make the decision.
>> You heard that right. He will be working. Solomon landed a job
through an internship with a company he really wanted to work for, but
it wasn't exactly a stress free experience.
>> At the end of the internship they actually said that typically we extend or
return offers a week after, but this year, it's gonna be a little different.
So that was very very stressful hearing the bank saying this year is different,
we're not extending offers.
And they didn't say it quite like that, but that's how we heard it.
When I originally got the call that I was getting an offer, I tried to stay
professional on the phone, but I was dancing, I was doing a big dance.
I was running through the house, and at one point, they're like are you excited?
And I was yeah I'm excited [LAUGH] sorry I've been trying to hold it from you guys.
Something I had hoped for and dreamed for my entire college career
had finally gotten and just knowing I could sit back and relax and
not have to worry about it was a huge relief.
Speaking of jobs, I followed up with Marut to see how the job search was going.
>> I think the last time we spoke I was actually going through the interview
process with a bunch of different firms.
And I just got a full-time offer from a publicly traded real estate investment
trusts out of Philadelphia.
So, I accepted a full-time offer there and I'm gonna be on both the acquisitions and
asset management teams.
>> Looks like Marut's hard work paid off.
Which means that Marut, McKenzie and
Solomon all figured out their next steps despite the pandemic's challenges.
With widespread vaccine availability,
the hospitality industry is showing encouraging signs of recovery.
Boston's major league sports teams opened up their doors at full capacity at the end
of May, bringing in thousands of fans for the first time in more than a year.
New and renovated hotels are opening their doors in Boston.
Business travel is ramping up, people are booking vacations again,
things seem to be looking up.
>> The hospitality industry has a really special way of making people feel good,
and I think that's a really special thing that won't go away.
I'm very, very hopeful for the future.
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