host/hostess
Hosts/hostesses welcome and inform visitors at airports, train stations, hotels, exhibitions fairs, and function events and/or attend to passengers in the mean of transport.
host/hostess hosts/hostesses welcome and inform visitors at airports, train stations, hotels, exhibitions fairs, and function events and/or attend to passengers in the mean of transport. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include distribute local information materials, communicate verbal instructions, provide visitor information, maintain relationship with customers, greet guests.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £28,746 a year for Travel agents (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £25,357 to £37,527 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 6212). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
No official India pay figure is available for this career.
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Food Production
- Psychology
- Computers and Electronics
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Foreign Language
- Administration and Management
What you'd actually do
- Provide guests with menus.
- Greet guests and seat them at tables or in waiting areas.
- Maintain contact with kitchen staff, management, serving staff, and customers to ensure that dining details are handled properly and customers' concerns are addressed.
- Assign patrons to tables suitable for their needs and according to rotation so that servers receive an appropriate number of seatings.
- Speak with patrons to ensure satisfaction with food and service, to respond to complaints, or to make conversation.
- Inspect dining and serving areas to ensure cleanliness and proper setup.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does host/hostess do?
Hosts/hostesses welcome and inform visitors at airports, train stations, hotels, exhibitions fairs, and function events and/or attend to passengers in the mean of transport.
What skills does host/hostess need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include distribute local information materials, communicate verbal instructions, provide visitor information, maintain relationship with customers, greet guests, provide tourism related information. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace host/hostess?
Our AI-durability model gives host/hostess a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.