Breda University of Applied Sciences
speciality: Tourism & Hospitality

Looking back, I have mixed feelings about my decision to study Leisure & Event Management. I invested a significant amount of time and energy in a degree that I expected would provide me with a solid foundation for my future career. Now that I am looking for opportunities outside the leisure, events, and hospitality industries, I am finding it difficult to see how my degree translates into the qualifications employers are looking for.

Many vacancies require a specific bachelor’s degree, for example in business administration, economics, IT, or engineering. Although Leisure & Event Management appears to be a broad degree, it does not automatically meet the requirements for many positions in other fields. In my opinion, this is an important consideration that should be communicated much more clearly to prospective students.

What I particularly missed was a realistic picture of the career opportunities available outside the traditional industries associated with this degree, as well as the skills that employers in other sectors actually value. A degree may be interesting and cover a wide range of subjects, but that breadth has limited value if, after graduating, you struggle to explain how your qualification is relevant to other roles or discover that employers do not consider it a suitable educational background.

Based on my experience, I would strongly advise prospective students to look beyond the content of the degree itself and investigate the actual career paths graduates pursue. What options do you have if you discover after a few years that the industry is not right for you? How easy is it to transition into project management, operations management, or another business-related field? These are questions I wish I had explored more thoroughly before making my decision.

My personal advice is to choose this degree only if you are genuinely certain that you want to build your career in the leisure, events, or hospitality industry. If you are unsure about working in these sectors, I would strongly recommend considering a degree that provides more direct access to a wider range of career opportunities. Do not assume that a degree is versatile simply because its subject matter covers many different topics.

I am not suggesting that it is impossible to build a successful career with this degree. There are undoubtedly graduates who have established rewarding careers and gained a great deal from their studies. However, I wish I had been given a more realistic understanding of the limitations I might face when trying to move into a different industry.

My advice to future students is to research not only the degree itself, but also the jobs graduates actually obtain, the qualifications employers require, and how easily you can transition into another sector. Do not base your decision solely on the broad nature of the programme. Look closely at the concrete opportunities it offers and consider whether those opportunities align with your long-term career goals.