How to Become a Guest Relations Specialist

If you love dealing with people and love the hotel industry, you may be excited to learn about the possibility of becoming a guest relations specialist. Many hotels have this position open for those that love solving problems and helping people.

What Is a Guest Relations Specialist?

A guest relations specialist is a person employed by a hotel, spa or other hospitality institution to ensure that guests are happy and taken care of. While the responsibilities of a guest relations specialist may vary depending on the location, the guest relations specialist is usually responsible for answering all of the questions a visitor might have, directing them throughout the location and getting them anything reasonable that they request.

How to Become a Guest Relations Specialist

A guest relations specialist is usually an hourly worker that is assigned a shift on location.

A guest relations specialist needs to be helpful, happy and motivated. It can be a very difficult but very rewarding experience, and a guest relations specialist may need to be logical and solve problems that would otherwise plague a guest.

A guest relations specialist may also need to escalate issues if the client is not satisfied and may sometimes need to call upon their manager for additional aid. Guest relations specialists may need to take in complaints as well.

What Does a Guest Relations Specialist Do?

A guest relations specialist is usually an hourly worker that is assigned a shift on location. Throughout their shift, the specialist will answer questions and will help their guests with any requests they might have.

This may require that the specialist become very proficient in the software system of the hotel or hospitality institution and that the specialist be very aware of how the hotel works and what the procedures are for certain occasions.

The hotel specialist will need to remain happy and cheerful regardless of the guest and the issues that are presented to them. Guest specialists should know when the problems exceed their grasp and when a manager or assistant manager should get involved. A guest specialist that performs well may have many opportunities for advancement within the hospitality industry.

How Do You Become a Guest Relations Specialist?

Guest relations specialists may enter the job as an entry-level career option, though they will need to have either an Associate’s Degree or prior experience within the hospitality industry. Otherwise, the field of guest relations specialist usually only requires some moderate on the job training before you can start.

Guest relations specialists usually do not require higher level degrees but higher level degrees can be used as opportunities for advancement if so desired. There are many jobs within the hospitality industry, according to O*Net Online, and those that are interested in becoming a guest relations specialist may be able to move between any of these fields into the service.

How Do You Advance as a Guest Relations Specialist?

Those with multiple years of service within the hospitality industry may eventually become an assistant manager, shift manager or even general manager within a chain. Many hotel chains and spas hire from within, which can make this a very good option for a motivated individual.

Those interested in eventually ascending to management may wish to get a Bachelor’s Degree in either business or hospitality, as this will make them extremely competitive. Guest relations specialists can also move into related fields such as administrative services.

Administrative services managers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, usually only require a high school diploma and one to five years of experience.

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