Unit 1
Introduction to hospitality industry
Introduction
Hospitality is the act of kindness in welcoming and looking after the basic needs of customers or strangers, mainly in relation to food, drink and accommodation. When we talk about the “Hospitality Industry”, we are referring to the companies or organizations which provide food and/or drink and/or accommodation to people who are “away from home”.
Characteristics of hospitality services
Intangibility: service cannot be conceptualized or perceived by the five senses before purchase. Customers will have no way to evaluate their meals at a restaurant until they have experience the food and service.
Inseparability: providers are part of service experience because providers and customers must be present simultaneously for the transaction to occur. The attitude of flight attendant will influence customer’s ratings on their overall experience with the airline. Customers themselves may be part of the service experience because of their greater involvement in the production process. Customers that use automated check-in and check-out service provided by the hotels must understand the system in order to have a satisfactory experience. The presence of other customers may become part of the service experience. The presence of loud customers in a restaurant will influence the experiences of other customer
Variability: Quality of services is likely to vary (i.e. lack of consistency) because of the provider, location, timing, etc. Service quality in a restaurant during peak and non-peak demand periods may vary. z Service quality provided by hotel A in Hong Kong and Singapore may vary.
Perishability: Services are not durable and only last for a short while; they cannot be stocked as inventory for future sales or use. An empty seat on a flight cannot be inventoried. z Hotel rooms that are not sold today cannot be saved for tomorrow (i.e. lost revenues for today cannot be recaptured tomorrow).
Growth of hospitality and hotel industry
Development of hotel industry (international)
The hotel industry grew with travel as people needed places for shelter and food along the routes they travelled whether by land, water or air. The introduction of the hotel industry is traced back to the 6th century BC and there is no doubt that it is perhaps one of the oldest commercial endeavors. The earliest inns were private homes of husband and wife teams who provided large halls for travelers to roll out their own beds and sleep on the floor. Many early innkeeper didn’t kept the rooms clean. Several travelers had to share the same room and sometimes even same bed. The innkeeper also provided wholesome food like cheese, vegetables and a variety of cakes and buns, and meat when available. They provided the thirst quencher like wine and ale. The host’s wife or his wench provided the entertainment and recreation by performing folk songs and dances. An essential part of early inns was to provide stabling.
At the time of Roman Empire, 320 BC inns were common place, because of need for political, administrative and military travel.
Grand tour, 1660 until 1840 was a tour of Europe taken by young upper-class Englishmen as a way of completing their education which also further boosted the hotel industry.
16th and 18th century
Emergence of stage coach creating a further demand for traveler’s accommodation. Facilities at the larger commercial inns were improved particularly as a result the increase wealth of clientele brought by the industrial revolution. The 17th century saw the introduction of coffee and then chocolate into Europe. They were served in coffee and chocolate houses which became popular meeting palaces for artists, poets, lawyers etc. The real growth of the modern hotel industry took place in USA, beginning with the opening of City hotel in New York in 1794. New York was a busy seaport with a population of 30000 people. This was the first building specially built for hotel purpose and had 73 guest room. This eventually led to great competition between cities and resulted in frenzied hotel building activities. first came the exchange coffee house in Boston followed by the second city hotel in Baltimore, then the mansion house in Philadelphia and the Adelphi hotel in New York. These soon became the centers of social activity in their respective cities. At best these were ordinary lodgings for the middle class.
19th century
The advent of emergence of the railways with further demand for hospitality away from home giving rise to railway hotel. The railway and the newly developed motor car vastly increase the number of people who could experience the health-giving properties of the sea. Seaside hotels and boarding houses sprang up at every suitable resort. By the end of 19th century clubs, large hotel and some independent restaurants were offering dinning out facilities. Such establishments were high-class, sophisticated, and expensive and became very popular. This expansion of eating out was a very significant development for the catering industry as the expertise required to organize and run which was imported from the continent. A further development at this time was a demand for less expensive eating places for people who could not afford these restaurants. This led to the creation of cafes and tea shops and eventually to the less exclusive cheaper commercial restaurant.
In 1829, the Tremont house in Boston had the distinction of being the first luxury hotel in America. It was offer private rooms with licks, a wash basin, pitcher and soap. It had a French restaurant and uniformed service personnel. This signaled the development of luxury of hotels in the USA during the 1800s. The Grand pacific in Chicago, the Palmer house and Sherman House in St. Louis and the Paxton House in Omaha were such luxury pre-runner in luxury hotel development.
In 1874, William Chapman Ralston established a super luxury property called the palace hotel in California during the gold rush. It was built on the lines of a European Palace with domed glass roof, marble floors, own water supply, fire sprinkler system and air-conditioning. It had 800 plus rooms spread over seven floors.
20th century
In 1908, Ellsworth M. Statler saw the need for providing accommodation for a new segment the business traveler. He credited the Statler hotel in Buffalo, New York, built specifically for the commercial sector. It involved big investment big profits and trained professionals to manage the business. The Statler hotel provided private baths and full-length mirrors in each room. His engineering, architecture and service ideas became the standard for the future commercial hotels. The Statler went into chain operations and can be credited to be first hotel chain. In 1927, the Stevens Hotel, a 3000 room hotel (later named as Conrad Hilton).
The depression in 1930 had a disastrous effect on the effect hotel industry. 85% of the hotels went bankrupt. It was felt that the industry would never recover. One of the hotelier who kept afloat was Conrad Hilton who made the Mobley, Cisco, Texas a profitable venture. The outbreak of 2nd world war brought a tremendous upsurge. This prosperity continued through the war year into the fifties when two new concept emerged motel and international chain.
Scopes of hospitality industry
“Guests” means those who are away from their homes and it therefore, has generated a perception that the hospitality industry should include or overlap with the tourism industry to a certain extent. Without a clear definition about the scope of the hospitality industry, some suggested that it should not only cover all lodging and food service operations but other tourism related operations, such as airlines and theme parks. Besides, there were also some who considered putting hospitality and tourism into one industry.
