Examples and Tips for Writing Professional Hospitality Cover Letters

The hospitality industry consists of various sectors centered around customer service. From front-of-the-house jobs to catering professionals, there are dozens of fields that help contribute to the hospitality industry. For aspiring professionals, it is important to learn the different titles and their duties in the industry. Therefore, we have collected some common positions in the hospitality industry.

• Front-of-the-House: A front-of-the-house professional like a concierge, will interact with the customers most directly. They are responsible for responding to the customers’ requests.
• Event Planning: Event planning is a crucial sector in hospitality. Ranging from conference organization to wedding planning, a successful event planning professional knows how to arrange various events within certain parameters.
• Hospitality Catering: The production and distribution of food are essential in the hospitality industry. From restaurant dining to food service in events, the food service sector requires different professionals from managerial positions all the way to kitchen assistants.
• Housekeeping: The sanitation of a hospitality facility is always the priority in any hospitality enterprises as the quality of such service affects directly the experience of the customers.
• Porterage and Waiting: These two sectors require direct interaction with the customers. While waiters and waitresses work as customer-service professionals in dining or bartending, porterage professionals are the main support staff in hospitality facilities.

If you’re interested in any of the jobs above, hospitality cover letters are essential as they elaborate on your professional experience and skills.  

More importantly, your cover letters reflect your communication skills. Since the whole hospitality industry is based on constant communication between the customer and the hospitality personnel, a well-written hospitality cover letter is a good way to make a great first impression.

We have included three hospitality cover letter samples for different hospitality jobs. The first cover letter is for hotel receptionists, the second one is for hotel management professionals, and the last one is written for candidates with no experience.

✉️ Hospitality Cover Letter Sample 1

✉️ Hospitality Cover Letter Sample 2

✉️ Hospitality Cover Letter Sample 3

A successful hospitality cover letter usually contains certain key aspects that the hiring manager will pay attention to, and a stylistic practice should always be in place.

Here are five keynotes for those who are trying to compose a high-quality hospitality cover letter:

1. Customize Your Cover Letter for Different Hospitality Jobs

Relevance is essential to a convincing cover letter, and thus candidates should always make sure that your hospitality cover letter speaks directly to the position that you are applying to specific information that is relevant.

2. Highlight Relevant Skills 

Since relevance plays a big part in the success of your hospitality cover letter, the skills that candidates include in their letters should relate to the responsibilities that the position entails. Here are five hospitality professionals and the ten core skills related to each one of them.

3. Use a Standard Cover Letter Format 

Your hospitality cover letter is an official document like your resume, and thus there is a standard format that candidates should incorporate.

Include the following key elements in their hospitality cover letters:

• Information of the Sender and the Recipient 

Be sure to include the details of your personal contact or your social media links as well as the contact details of the recipient at the beginning of your hospitality cover letter.

• A Clear Subject Line (for Application via Emails) 

A good subject line should be concise and straightforward. Be aware of the capitalization of the sentence in which candidates must avoid using all capital letters.

• Greetings

Start off your hospitality cover letter by greeting the recipient. Using traditional “Dear” or “Good Morning”, will do the work. Moreover, pay attention to the pronoun of the recipient in your greetings.

• Body Paragraph(s) 

A good hospitality cover letter should be around a page long since the hiring manager might have other resumes to review, it is better to be concise so the hiring manager can finish reading in a reasonable time span.

• Closing 

The closing part of your hospitality cover letter is where the candidate can conclude the previous paragraphs. This should be the part where the readers are reminded of what they have read. Remember to show your gratitude to the hiring manager by saying thank you.

• Sign-Offs 

Sign-offs like “Sincerely”, “Best Regards”, or “Sincerely Yours” are all very good terms to use in your hospitality cover letter.

• Your Contact Information (for Application via Emails) 

After you sign off, leave your personal contact under your name, so the hiring manager can easily contact you.

4. End with a Compelling Call to Action 

The final few sentences in the closing of your hospitality cover letter are perfect opportunity for you to show your enthusiasm and convince the hiring manager that you are the right candidate for the job.

5. Proofread Your Cover Letter 

Always proofread your hospitality cover letter. Attention to detail is a common soft skill that the hiring manager will care about.

--- Originally written by Jun Mao ---