introduction to hospitality industry essay

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What Is the Hospitality Industry? Your Complete Guide

What does hospitality mean? What is the hospitality industry, exactly? Where and how did it begin? This post answers all those questions and more as we explore the past, present, and future of hospitality. As we dive deeper into what the industry entails, you’ll discover how hospitality impacts employers, employees, economies, consumers, the environment, and so much more. 

Whether you’re curious about which businesses are part of the industry, what they do, or how to start a career in hospitality, you’ve come to the right place.

What is the hospitality industry? 

The hospitality industry is a massive business sector. Casting a broad umbrella, it encompasses all economic and business activities that rely upon or contribute to travel and tourism. 

Hospitality-focused businesses like hotels and travel agencies contribute directly by providing essential services that enable travel and tourism. Suppliers, transportation services, and catering companies may indirectly contribute by delivering the goods and services necessary to keep the industry running; however, they do not solely rely on hospitality for their revenue.

Because the hospitality industry is so expansive, it includes a diverse spectrum of companies, businesses, and experts. Even with so much variety, most hospitality businesses fall into one of four categories.

1. Travel & tourism (T&T)

Although many people think travel and tourism are synonymous with hospitality, that’s not quite the case. More accurately, T&T is a specific category within the hospitality industry. It includes airlines, shuttle services, travel agents, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) , and other businesses or services that help facilitate the physical travel necessary for tourism. Those working in T&T help drive tourists, workers, and businesses to new destinations.

2. Accommodation 

One of the largest and most diverse parts of the hospitality industry is the accommodation sector, which includes everything from lodging to event grounds and special event venues. Numerous different types of hotels and venues fall into this sector, including:

• Chain hotels
• Extended stay properties
• Boutique hotels
• Conference and convention centers
• Wedding venues
• Casinos/casino suites

3. Food & beverage (F&B)

Most hotels and resorts offer their guests some form of food or dining option. Whether operating a café, buffet breakfast, or full-service restaurant, food and beverage services are integrated directly into many hospitality-based businesses. Stand-alone F&B providers, like restaurants or food trucks, operate independently, but they also have a part to play in the local hospitality scene.

Event catering, quick-service establishments, full-service restaurants, and limited-service F&B are powerful revenue drivers contributing to the hospitality industry. In addition to serving in-house hotel guests, F&B is a critical component of meetings and events, from private parties, like birthdays or weddings, to large-scale corporate events .

4. Recreation & entertainment 

Because businesses in the hospitality industry often rely on consumers’ disposable income, they market to customers’ desire for entertainment that refreshes the mind, body, and spirit. In addition to lodging, travel services, and culinary delights, hospitality is full of indoor and outdoor recreation.

Bars, nightclubs, theaters, stadiums, museums, zoos, and other attractions often act as special event venues and tourist attractions, helping to drive a destination’s economy . Spectacular outdoor spaces, including our national and state parks , attract travelers from near and far to feed their local markets.

Whether providing a memorable meal or a relaxing day at the spa, the true purpose of hospitality is to ensure that the customer has an enjoyable experience —whatever they do.

But how did it all get started? How far back do the roots of the hospitality industry actually go? 

When did the hospitality industry begin? 

Although hospitality doesn’t have a designated start date, its traditions date back thousands of years. Ancient symbols of hospitality exist worldwide, with the oldest signs discovered in French caves dating back to 15,000 BCE . Historians and archeologists believe early humans designed the caves to welcome guests and greet visiting tribes.

Xenia, a phrase translating to “the sacred rule of hospitality,” is another early sign of the tradition. In ancient Greece, the custom expressed the law or expectation that hosts would offer protection and kindness to strangers . The Greeks understood that a satisfactory hospitality experience relied on hosts respecting their guests and vice versa. Furthermore, they believed displaying proper hospitality was “fundamental to human civilized life.” 

Modern hospitality may not look like it did thousands of years ago, but its purpose remains the same.

Is the hospitality industry growing?

In our primarily post-pandemic world, the hospitality industry and its partners remain massive global employers. 2022 brought 22 million new jobs to the sector, representing an almost 8% increase since 2021. In 2023, the hospitality positions accounted for one of every ten available jobs .

Although many hospitality-focused businesses (e.g., hotels and restaurants) still face staffing shortages , the industry remains one of the largest global employment sectors. From 2022-2023, the international hospitality industry’s value grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7% . The rebound illustrates consumers’ desire to travel again and return to in-person events after restrictions were lifted. 

Paralleling this demand increase, the World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the hospitality industry will create 126 million more jobs by 2032 .

How does the hospitality industry impact the environment? 

In 2022, the hospitality industry was responsible for approximately 1% of global carbon emissions . Single-use plastics, high water consumption, energy usage, and excess waste are just a few ways hotels negatively affect their local environment and the overall climate.

To demonstrate a commitment to sustainability , social responsibility, and shifting consumer preferences, the industry is becoming greener through robust global initiatives and innovative day-to-day practices, like these eco-friendly hotel ideas . As consumer attitudes towards environmental conservation and sustainability strengthen, being eco-friendly is no longer optional for most businesses; it’s necessary.

Why work in hospitality? 

If you enjoy making other people happy, hospitality might be right for you. It’s an industry where employees work together to create a welcoming atmosphere, satisfy customers, impress hotel guests , and create an exceptional visitor experience. With hotel, events, dining, planning, travel, custom service, and a wide variety of other roles available, there’s an opportunity for every worker and every personality type.

Hospitality is also a dynamic, fast-paced, and ever-changing field. Just as every guest is different, so is every day working in the industry. Whether working in a hotel or nightclub, you get to encounter diverse types of people with varying backgrounds from all over the world. As you connect with various guests and strive to meet their needs, you’ll get exposed to new cultures and expand your life experience.

Additionally, hospitality offers more flexible scheduling than many other industries, as hospitality businesses often operate outside of traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. office hours. Many young people flock to hotels, restaurants, and similar businesses because of the work-life balance they provide. Working in the industry also comes with a diverse range of perks, such as discounted travel, competitive pay rates, and numerous opportunities to advance your career. 

Become an expert on all things hospitality

How do you get a job in the hospitality industry?

There are many different paths you can take to begin a hospitality career. While some employees start at an entry-level position and work up the ranks, others translate their past professional experience into a hospitality-focused career. Increase your chances of building a successful career in the hospitality industry by:

1. Identifying which hospitality sector best suits you

The hospitality industry includes diverse careers and professions, making it an excellent sector for workers with various skills and personality types. Whether you’re an introvert who prefers to work alone or a bubbly, conversational individual, hospitality has something for everyone. If you want to work in a hotel, consider which department or position best fits you.

• Front desk: Front-facing, customer-focused positions, great for outgoing personality types
• Housekeeping: Back-of-the-house positions, perfect for task-oriented or meticulous employees 
• F&B: Front-facing and back-of-house positions available, often working in a busy, high-stress environment 
• Maintenance: Skill-based and goal-focused positions that require big-picture thinkers with excellent task-management skills 
• Meetings and events: A range of primarily forward-facing positions available for event planners, organizers, coordinators, and more

2. Knowing where to look 

As customer service lies at the heart of hospitality, it’s common for professionals to turn to members of their local network for references, recommendations, and referrals. Many entry-level hospitality jobs are shared through local and employee referrals, the hiring manager’s professional network, or an individual’s social media accounts.

If you already know where you want to work, get to know the people there. Introduce yourself to the management team at hotels, restaurants, and other venues that interest you. If you’re not sure where to start, there are a variety of hospitality employment resources available, including:

• Online advertisements. Online job ads are especially beneficial if you’re new to the industry or a particular destination. If you lack first-person word-of-mouth recommendations, breaking into your local industry may feel intimidating. Keep an eye out for online ads on job boards, local news sites, and search engine results to streamline your search.
• Social media pages. Follow venue Facebook pages, join local hospitality groups, and keep a close eye on the Instagram pages of the hotels or destinations where you want to work. Regularly check social media, scanning for links to external job sites or brand listings.
• Hospitality Online
• iHireHospitality  
• Hospitality Crossing
• Hospitality Confidential
• Wyndham Careers  
• Hyatt Careers
• Marriott International Careers
• Jobs at Hilton
• IHG Careers
• Accor Careers  
• OYO Careers
• Staffing agencies. Staffing and temporary work agencies are fantastic resources for helping individuals get their foot through the door. Although there are various hospitality-specific staffing agencies, like Hospitality Staffing Solutions , it’s also common for local staffing agencies to work directly with nearby hotels as they help fill entry-level positions in guest service, housekeeping, maintenance, and other departments.

3. Expanding your hospitality knowledge

Become a go-to person for all things hospitality, from industry trends to the latest marketing techniques. Stay current on the latest to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive field.

4. Keeping up with industry certifications

Having credentials can significantly impact how quickly you land your dream travel job. Show other hospitality professionals that you’re serious about a career in the industry by holding various certifications, like HubSpot Academy’s Inbound Marketing Certification , a certificate in hospitality revenue management (CRHM), or ServSafe certifications for those involved on the F&B side.

5. Determining your career path 

After exploring the wide and wonderful world of hospitality, pick a career path you’re enthusiastic about. Instead of thinking about where to start, consider where you’d like to go in the industry. Visualizing where you want to end up can help determine which steps you should take to advance your career down a path that speaks to you.

Now you know what the hospitality industry is and why it matters! 

With a better understanding of how far hospitality extends and its immense influence worldwide, it’s easy to see why the industry is growing. To learn more, join us as we examine the most significant trends impacting the hospitality industry in 2023 .

Kim Campbell

Kim is a full-time copy and content writer with many years of experience in the hospitality industry. She entered the hotel world in 2013 as a housekeeping team member and worked her way through various departments before being appointed to Director of Sales. Kim has championed numerous successful sales efforts, revenue strategies, and marketing campaigns — all of which landed her a spot on Hotel Management Magazine’s “Thirty Under 30” list.

Don’t be fooled though; she’s not all business! An avid forest forager, post-apocalyptic fiction fan, and free-sample-fiend, Kim prides herself on being well-rounded.

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The Origins Of The Hospitality Industry And What Lies Ahead

August 19, 2018 •

3 min reading

A brief history of the hospitality industry

Away from home, surrounded by strangers and yet you feel welcome. The original idea of hospitality has remained unchanged since the creation of the word itself. Derived from the Latin word “hospes”, meaning both visitor and stranger, hospitality has its roots in ancient history.

Thousands of years ago, when road networks were scarce and traveling was cumbersome strangers arriving in a foreign land had to rely on either their camping skills or a local’s kindness when looking for shelter. During the age of pilgrimage and the development of major trade routes throughout Europe, it was mostly inns and taverns offering primitive rooms to weary travelers. The idea of a hotel built for the sole purpose of hosting guests did not exist in Europe until the 18 th century, when technological progress and the introduction of faster and more reliable modes of transport made long distance travel available to wider public. With the influx of large numbers of foreigners into major cities, the need for accommodation led to the opening of the first hotels in the modern sense. Since then, the sector has known a nearly unbroken run of growth and international expansion.

Travel industry industry growth

Over the last two decades, international departures have more than doubled from around 600 million to more than 1.4 billion in 2016.

Thanks to this immense potential, a network of service providers has developed that caters to nearly every desire imaginable. Hospitality has gradually become one of the largest and most diverse industries, employing hundreds of millions spread over different sectors.

Today, businesses in the industry can generally be divided into four categories:

• Food & Beverage
• Recreation 
• Travel & Tourism

Every category under the umbrella of the term “hospitality” further contains many different sub-sector and operators. The mere global scale of the industry makes it difficult to provide a conclusive overview without taking up hours of your time. Travel, for instance, encompasses all modes of transportation available to travelers, including coaches, airplanes, vessels, taxis etc. While all sectors are interconnected and reliant on each other, each one of them is facing unique challenges and opportunities in the future.

The importance of innovation in hospitality

Going forward, the key for companies looking to defend or expand their current position in the market will be to keep up with the pace of innovation.

The emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) , means that providers are now faced with the challenge of moving their offer into the era of digitalization.

The availability of extensive data on each individual guest will make it possible for companies to tailor their offers at a bespoke level, leading to closer and more immersive client interaction.

Hotel rooms that automatically adjust the lighting and the temperature to each traveler’s personal preferences can enhance guest experience and thus make it more likely for them to return. Traditional check-in and guest interaction procedures at hotels will likely see a fundamental overhaul.

The introduction of voice recognition software, for instance, will enable hotels to automate tasks that would traditionally be performed by a human.

This will result in more efficient processes at properties all around the world. While procedures are being streamlined, vehicles, amenities and buildings become smarter and more interactive.

The challenge for providers will be to keep alive the human touch that has made hospitality establishments so successful. At the same time, adapting to and using these new technologies will be crucial in the fight for customers in one of the most competitive markets in the world.

Need more resources on Hospitality Industry trends? Check these articles out:

• High-tech hotel wars: Sleeping in China just got more futuristic - CNN
• New Technologies Will Revolutionize The Hospitality Industry - Forbes
• Hospitality Industry: All Your Questions Answered - Hospitality Insights

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Introduction to Hospitality (MGMT 100): Industry & Career Resources

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The Six Industry Segments

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1. Overview of the Hospitality Industry

Introduction & Overview

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4. Entertainment and Media Communications

• Specialty Tourism Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
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• Convention and Trade Show Organizers Encyclopedia of American Industries
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• Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals Encyclopedia of American Industries
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• Farm Management Services Encyclopedia of American Industries
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6. Managed Services

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Introduction to the hospitality industry

The Hospitality industry is the industry that is responsible for providing primarily food services and accommodations in places such as hotels, resorts, conference centers and theme or amusement parks. The catering industry, which overlaps with the hospitality industry, primarily provides food services to institutions (such as schools, hospitals, or governmental operations), private industry (such as corporate cafeterias or motion picture studios), and private parties. And also in a much boarder view, non-commercial institutional provide food and lodging.

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Hospitality Experience: An Introduction to Hospitality Management

2015, Journal of Tourism Futures

Related Papers

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Bob Brotherton

International Journal of Hospitality Management

Trâm Nguyễn

Kate Purcell

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Failure adequately to define or understand hospitality as a commercial phenomenon has created a fragmented academic environment and a schizophrenia in the industry that has the potential to limit its development as a global industry. This article suggests that, by redefining hospitality as behaviour and experience, a new perspective emerges that has exciting implications for the management of hospitality businesses. A framework to describe hospitality in the commercial domain is proposed.

International Journal of Tourism Research

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Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development

This paper presents a critical review of the results from a pilot study designed to explore the validity of a data collection instrument and procedure, based upon the use of associative and metaphorical projection techniques, as a vehicle for generating hotel guest perceptions of the physical and service aspects of hospitality within given hospitality environments. The pilot study was undertaken in two case-study UK hotels where 89 face-to-face interviews were conducted using a pre-designed questionnaire. The results from this include the words guests most associate with ‘hospitality’ in genera, the colour, animal and season of the year they used to describe both the physical and service aspects of the hospitality they encountered in the case-study hotels, and the reasons why they chose these. In addition, the results also explore whether any relationship between these choices and a range of respondent variables, e.g. gender, age, educational level, ethnicity, occupational type, nature of stay, etc., should be hypothesized and tested in future studies. The results are also examined in relation to the operational definition of hospitality posited by Brotherton (2002) that suggests the hospitality concept is comprised of four basic dimensions – physical, temporal, behavioural and spatial.

This is a conceptual paper that explores the issues of the uniqueness, or otherwise, of the hospitality concept, the lack of any systematic theoretical framework to explain and predict the incidence and nature of hospitality in both temporal and spatial contexts and the identification of the key dimensions of the hospitality concept. In doing so it presents a theoretical and logical justification for the separation of hospitality from tourism and/or leisure using the General Systems Theory concepts of necessary and sufficient incidence, postulates a general theoretical model of hospitality that identifies the key variables comprising the model and proposes that the concept of hospitality per se can be operationalised through the use of four main dimensions to facilitate comparative analysis of hospitality occurences both spatially and temporally.

Tourism Today

This paper critically explores the extant literature associated with the rather convoluted journey that the hospitality academy has taken over the past few decades in its attempt both to realise a universally acceptable definition of hospitality and establish the 'boundaries' of the hospitality phenomenon. To both these issues credible solutions are proposed in an attempt to end this seemingly endless endeavour. From the proposed definition of hospitality its fundamental dimensions are established and articulated to form a basis for further conceptual development and empirical enquiry. In addition, the revolutionary and evolutionary forces, or 'tectonics', lying behind the manifestation of similar and divergent 'Hospitality Morphologies' are identified and discussed in relation to the development and use of theoretical concepts and approaches to establish a more robust 'comparative' theoretical approach to explain temporal and spatial similarities and differences between the incidence of alternative empirical hospitality morphologies.

Debashish Dasgupta

Hospitality and Society

Peter Lugosi

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Chapter 1. History and Overview

1.6 Conclusion

As we have seen in this chapter, tourism is a complex system that is built up of industry sectors including accommodation, recreation and entertainment, food and beverage services, transportation, and travel services. It encompasses domestic, inbound, and outbound travel for business, leisure, or other purposes. And because of this large scope, tourism development requires participation from all walks of life, including private business, governmental agencies, educational institutions, communities, and citizens.

Recognizing the diverse nature of the industry and the significant contributions tourism makes toward economic and social value for British Columbians is important. There remains a great deal of work to better educate members of the tourism industry, other sectors, and the public about the ways tourism contributes to our province.

Given this opportunity for greater awareness, it is hoped that students like you will help share this information as you learn more about the sector. So let’s begin our exploration in Chapter 2 with a closer look at a critical sector: transportation. Before you get started on Chapter 2 test some of your knowledge to-date by taking this short summary quiz.

• British Columbia Government Travel Bureau ( BCGTB) : the first recognized provincial government organization responsible for the tourism marketing of British Columbia
• Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) : a national railway company widely regarded as establishing tourism in Canada and BC in the late 1800s and early 1900s
• Destination BC: the provincial destination marketing organization (DMO) responsible for tourism marketing and development in BC, formerly known as Tourism BC
• Destination Canada: the national government Crown corporation responsible for marketing Canada abroad, formerly known as the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)
• Destination marketing organization (DMO):  also known as a destination management organization; includes national tourism boards, state/provincial tourism offices, and community convention and visitor bureaus
• Diversity: a term used by some in the industry to describe the makeup of the industry in a positive way; acknowledging that tourism is a diverse compilation of a multitude of businesses, services, organizations, and communities
• Excursionist : same-day visitors in a destination. Their trip typically ends on the same day when they leave the destination.
• Fragmentation: a phenomenon observed by some industry insiders whereby the tourism industry is unable to work together toward common marketing and lobbying (policy-setting) objectives
• Hospitality:  the accommodations and food and beverage industry groupings
• North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) : a way to group tourism activities based on similarities in business practices, primarily used for statistical analysis
• Social Exchange Theory : describes how tourists and hosts’ behaviours change as a result of the perceived benefits and threats they create during interaction
• Travel : moving between different locations, often for leisure and recreation
• Tourism:  the business of attracting and serving the needs of people travelling and staying outside their home communities for business and pleasure
• Tourism Industry Association of BC ( TIABC) : a membership-based advocacy group formerly known as the Council of Tourism Associations of BC (COTA)
• Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC): the national industry advocacy group
• Tourism Supply Chain : The combination of sectors that supply and distribute the needed tourism products, services, and activities within the tourism system
• Tourist:  someone who travels at least 80 kilometres from his or her home for at least 24 hours, for business or pleasure or other reasons; can be further classified as domestic, inbound, or outbound
• United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) : UN agency responsible for promoting responsible, sustainable, and universally accessible tourism worldwide

Test your terms knowledge

• List the three types of tourist and provide an example of each.
• What is the UNWTO? Visit the UNWTO website , and name one recent project or study the organization has undertaken.
• List the five industry groups according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Using your  understanding of tourism as an industry, create your own definition and classification of tourism. What did you add? What did you take out? Why?
• What is the difference between Tourism Services and Travel Trade?
• Describe how the phenomenon of tourism can still happen even when tourists have gone back to their origin.
• According to UNEP, what are the four types of negative environmental tourism impact? For each of these, list an example in your own community.
• What major transportation developments gave rise to the tourism industry in Canada?
• Historically, what percentage of international visitors to Canada are from the United States? Why is this an important issue today?
• Name three key events in the history of BC tourism that resonate with you. Why do you find these events of interest?
• Watch the Tourism Pays video feature on Richmond. Now think about the value of tourism in your community. How might this be communicated to local residents? List two ways you will contribute to communicating the value of tourism this semester.
• Choose one article or document from the reference list below and read it in detail. Report back to the class about what you’ve learned.

ACE Aviation. (2011).  ACE History and Background . ACE Aviation.

Air Canada. (2007).  Air Canada Increases Boeing 787 Order to 37 Aircraft; Becomes North America’s Largest Dreamliner Customer . Air Canada.

Air Canada. (2016).  Air Canada to Purchase Bombardier C Series as Part of its Fleet Renewal Program . Air Canada.

Brewster Travel Canada. (2014). About Us – Brewster History . Retrieved from http://www.brewster.ca/corporate/about-brewster/brewster-history/

British Columbia Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training. (2013a). BC Stats: Industry Classification . Retrieved from http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/StatisticsBySubject/BusinessIndustry/IndustryClassification.aspx

British Columbia Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training. (2013b). Bill 3 – 2013: Destination BC Corp Act . Retrieved from https://www.leg.bc.ca/39th5th/1st_read/gov03-1.htm

Canadian Geographic . (2000, September). Flying through time: Canadian aviation history . Retrieved from http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/so00/aviation_history.asp

Canadian Tourism Commission. (2014). About the CTC. Retrieved from http://en-corporate.canada.travel/about-ctc

CBC News. (2009).  Flaherty Appoints Ex-Judge to Mediate Air Canada Pension Issues . CBC News.

CBC News. (2019).  Transat Shareholders Approve Air Canada Takeover, Deal Now in Regulators’ Hands . CBC News.

Chaney, Edward. (2000). The evolution of the grand tour: Anglo-Italian cultural relations since the Renaissance . Portland OR: Routledge.

Cox & Kings. (2014). About us – History. Retrieved from http://www.coxandkings.co.uk/aboutus-history

Destination BC. (2018).  2018 Value of Tourism: A Snapshot of Tourism in BC . Destination BC. Retrieved from https://www.destinationbc.ca/content/uploads/2020/03/2018-Value-of-Tourism_Feb-2020_Final.pdf

Destination Canada. (2019).  Tourism Snapshot . Destination Canada.

Dawson, Michael. (2004). Selling British Columbia: Tourism and consumer culture, 1890-1970 . Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Discover Hospitality. (2015). What is hospitality? Retrieved from http://discoverhospitality.com.au/what-is-hospitality/

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Hospitality Experience: An Introduction to Hospitality Management

Journal of Tourism Futures

ISSN : 2055-5911

Article publication date: 16 March 2015

• Hospitality management
• Service quality
• Guest experience
• Service stylesHospitality Experience: an Introduction to Hospitality Management

Lashley, C. (2015), "Hospitality Experience: An Introduction to Hospitality Management", Journal of Tourism Futures , Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 160-161. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-12-2014-0008

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Conrad Lashley

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial & non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Frans Melissen, Jean‐Pierre van der Rest, Stan Jospehi and Rob Blomme, Noordhoff Uitgevers bv Groningen/Houten 2014,

Keywords: Hospitality management, Tourism, Leadership, Service quality, Guest experience, Service styles

This is a first rate introductory text to hospitality, and the management of hospitality experiences. Indeed it is, in my view, the best book to be published aimed at providing an introduction to the sector and the management issues relevant to it. The content of the book is well informed and informing. It is academic in tone and thought, yet presented in a way that never looses sight of the needs of its target readership. This review first comments on the overall layout and presentation of the book, and then goes on to explore the contents of the text.

The layout of each chapter is interesting and visually engaging – appropriate as an introductory text. Key points opposite sections of text aid easy discovery, lists of sections in each chapter, a brief overview of each chapter, helpful diagrams and pictures where appropriate, case studies give concrete examples, and a chapter summary, all aid student comprehension. The “Food for thought” sections, concluding each chapter, assist with revision and review, as do the suggestions for discussion/presentation topics that both students and lecturers can employ. Most importantly, this edited text is delivered in a clear and consistent style appropriate for an introductory level.

The concept of hospitality and hospitableness is well handled. It addresses the contemporary debates that hospitality is used as a word to describe a variety of sectors initially motivated by a public relations need to cloud over the commercial nature of hotels, restaurants, and bars. That said, it is a little vague about the nature of genuine hospitality and the potential array of motives for offering hospitality to others. This really has to be at the heart of an understanding of hospitality experiences and the recruitment, retention, and rewarding of those who create the guest experiences that are the foundation of any competitive advantage. This aside, I particularly like the anonymous quote (p. 12) that says, “Hospitality is about making your guests feel at home, even though you wish they were.”

Adding value to the customer experience introduces some useful insights into the basic concepts associated with service presentation and delivery. It is a worthy introduction for students in that it helps to develop an understanding of some of the difficulties associated with defining the nature of the guest experience that are essentially intangible, and dependent on a “unique” encounter for each guest. A potential flaw in this chapter is that it tends to consider all host/guest as uniform when the occasions that guest use any one facility may change their expectations and assessment of what has been successful or not.

The chapter describing the hospitality experience is first rate and comprehensive in that it explores the delivery of host/guest experiences that extend beyond obvious sectors where provision of accommodation and/or food and/or drink is the primary business activity. The definition of the sector needs also to consider some of the small firm providers operating bed and breakfast accommodation, or a guest house, where the domestic and commercial aspects of hospitality and hospitableness overlap. Also, we must not forget that there are considerable career opportunities for graduates in sectors such as, industrial catering, school meals services, and hospital catering; to name but a few.

The chapter recognizes hospitality as a metaphor for receiving people into non‐hospitality industry spaces. Table 4.1 provides a really good example of the extensiveness of the application of the guest/host metaphor. One shortcoming is that it misses hospitality where it is secondary activity in the public sector and the workplace. Perhaps it needs an appreciation of the metaphor being essentially about hosts welcoming guest into their space; whatever that might be?

The future of hospitality needs to be considered both in the immediate and in its metaphorical setting. The immediate industry has been undergoing a worldwide trend of McDonaldization, whereby, labor cost reduction through the increased use of technology, decreasing service levels, and increasing customer self‐service are applied across all sectors of the immediate hospitality industry. More recently, however, here have been some adverse customer reactions to this trend that has resulted in some organizations returning to service personalization as a way of gaining competitive advantage. On the more metaphorical level, it is debatable whether the wider application of hospitality experiences as a service strategy will survive beyond the life of a short‐term fad. It is highly likely, in my view, to be yet another “flash in panaceas” – a good idea, suggesting some genuine benefits but which will not survive short‐termism and the pre‐dominant drive for profit.

Designing the guest experience is interesting and comprehensive in content. I particularly like the section on segmentation because it does touch base with differentiation formats and dimensions. It might perhaps have provided a few more concrete examples of occasionality segmentation so as to reinforce what is a powerful concept for hospitality management teams, and their definitions of the customer experiences.

Service quality management is a key issue for all those being developed to work as managers in the sector. This chapter sets out a valuable introduction to the issues and is appropriate for the students at an introductory level. It could be a little more analytical about the difficulties facing managers in a context where the guest encounter is intangible, though also involving tangible physical items such as room decor, food and drink quality, and facilities function. While the tangibles can be subject to tight specifications, the intangibles present some genuine difficulties. At root there has to be an active concern by business owners to operate with accountabilities that actively audit customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction.

Competencies and leadership, interesting chapter well written and provides a nice discussion of different theories of leadership and the variety of models to explain leadership styles and approaches. That said, the chapter does not make much of the potential overlap between management fit with service styles. The nature of the guest encounter requires different performance from employees and thereby differences in the style that best fits with the management of staff. For example, the uniformity required of McDonalds Restaurants allows less scope for participative management than in a more relationship dependent service offer, say as in a Sheraton hotel.

While the forgoing has made some critical comments, these do not detract from my overall assessment that this is a first‐rate book, well written, and presented in a manner that is highly appropriate as an introductory text.

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Employee Turnover in Hospitality Industry Essay (Critical Writing)

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
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Introduction

Bibliography

Employee turnover has been of both academic and corporate interest due to its evident cost association to business. Extensive research has been done to measure the true cost of measurement of employee turnover. Employee turnover is expensive from the view of the organisation. Voluntary quits which represent an exodus of human capital investment from organisations and the subsequent replacement process entail manifold costs to the organisations.

Researchers have devoted a great deal of time to the study of employee turnover, with much of this work focusing on determining its causes (Rosse and Noel). In particular, research has examined antecedent variables such as personal characteristics, satisfaction with overall job and job facets, aspects of the job including scope, workgroup cohesion, chances for promotion, and attractive job alternatives ( (Hinkin and Tracy; Lin, Huang and Lee). Overall, this research has provided the field of personnel psychology with a clearer understanding of the causes for employee turnover.

Hospitality industry and employee turnover have been widely studied due to the high rate of attrition in the sector. This paper focuses on studying a model developed by Timothy R. Hinkin and J. Bruce Tracy to calculate the cost of turnover in hospitality industry (Hinkin and Tracy). The paper will evaluate the model thus developed vis-à-vis other research and theories developed in this area.

Attrition is a necessary evil and is desirable which is the belief of many academicians’ (Hinkin and Tracy). But when the turnover rate becomes excessive it is a sign organizations need to ponder on. Employee turnover (the article considers only voluntary turnover may be defined as an employee’s voluntary desire to terminate employment relationship with an employee (Shaw, Delery and Gupta). the study of turnover costs have various measures to calculate the cost of turnover. First, the paper discusses the approach as described by Hinkin and Trace and then we review the studies which are similar to the approach the authors have taken and the studies which are unlike the approach under consideration.

Hinkin and Tracy developed software to calculate the cost of turnover. They separated the cost of turnover in terms of separation, recruitment, selection, hiring and loss of productivity cost (Hinkin and Tracy). The components which are included in the calculation of separated costs which may be defined as the costs associated when the employee leaves, like the cost of exit interviewer, employee exit interview, paperwork processing, and severance pay.

The cost associated with recruiting and attracting was calculated as advertising, search and agency fees, internal referral fees, managerial pre-employment administrative functions, applicant travel, recruiter travel, HR employment and a few other miscellaneous costs. The selection costs were calculated from the costs associated with the HR interview, managerial interview, applicant travel, background and reference check, medical exams, HR administrative functions, and managerial administrative functions.

Hiring costs include costs associated with HR administrations, orientation, induction, formal training, security, etc. And last is the loss of productivity cost which includes components like vacancy cost, pre-departure productivity loss, learning curve, errors and waste, supervisory disruption, etc. This is in the same line of cost estimation by early researchers who had measured cost in terms of separation (e.g. exit interviews), replacement cost (e.g. advertising and selection cost), new hire training (Greenberg) and general administration (Dess and Shaw; Dalton and & Todor) costs.

Hinkin and Tracey (2000) estimate turnover costs exceeding $12,000 per hospitality employee. Like Hinkin and Tracy, other researchers found that the negative consequences of turnover include an increase in recruiting, hiring, assimilation, training, and closing paperwork; and the disruption of communication, productivity, and satisfaction among employees who stay (Dess and Shaw; Dalton and & Todor).

Typically, exit interviews are conducted by staff from the organization’s human resources department. In calculating the costs associated with the exit interview, some researchers (Hinkin and Tracy) have suggested the exit interview is a combination of two categories: costs, based on time, associated with the interviewee and costs, based on time, associated with the interviewer(s). The costs associated with the interviewee are based on the number of hours the departing employee spends at the exit interview (Cascio).

The number of hours is then multiplied by the interviewee’s hourly pay rate to determine the cost. The costs associated with the interviewer(s) are obtained using the same approach. Specifically, the costs associated with the interviewer(s) include the time spent preparing the interview, performing the interview, and evaluating the interview results (Cascio; Hinkin and Tracy). Advocates of exit interviews often encourage more than one interviewer to be present which adds to costs as does the time to review notes or transcribe the interview.

Their research findings showed that the difference in the total cost of attrition in the four hotels they studied was largely due to the difference in the salary in these hotels. They segregated the costs into hard and soft costs. The former consisted of all costs for which there were direct monetary components associated. The latter is the soft cost which comprises of the hidden costs of lost efficiency. Their study reveals that the hidden cost associated with employee turnover constitutes almost 50 to 69 percent of the total cost of employee separation. These findings are similar to other research in the area.

Gustafson (2002) argues that turnover includes other costs, such as lost productivity, lost sales, and management’s time, estimating the turnover costs of an hourly employee to be $3,000 to $10,000 each. This clearly demonstrates that turnover affects the profitability of the organization and if it’s not managed properly it would have the negative effect on the profit. Research estimates indicate that hiring and training a replacement worker for a lost employee costs approximately 50 percent of the worker’s annual salary (Johnson, Griffeth and Griffin) – but the costs do not stop there.

Each time an employee leaves the firm, we presume that productivity drops due to the learning curve involved in understanding the job and the organization. Furthermore, the loss of intellectual capital adds to this cost, since not only do organizations lose the human capital and relational capital of the departing employee, but also competitors are potentially gaining these assets (Stovel and Bontis).

Therefore, if employee turnover is not managed properly it would affect the organization adversely in terms of personnel costs and in the long run it would affect its liquidity position. However, voluntary turnover incurs significant costs, both in terms of direct costs (replacement, recruitment and selection, temporary staff, management time), and also (and perhaps more significantly) in terms of indirect costs (morale, pressure on remaining staff, costs of learning, product/service quality, organisational memory) and the loss of social capital (Dess and Shaw).

The cost estimations by Hinkin and Tracy are especially the replacement cost does not include elements for example, search of the external labour market for a possible substitute, selection between competing substitutes, induction of the chosen substitute, and formal and informal training of the substitute until he or she attains performance levels equivalent to the individual who quit (Sutherland).

Addition to these replacement costs, output would be affected to some extend or output would be maintained at the cost of overtime payment. The reason so much attention has been paid to the issue of turnover is because turnover has some significant effects on organisations (Denvir and McMahon). Many researchers argue that high turnover rates might have negative effects on the profitability of organisations if not managed properly (Hogan).

Hinkin and Tracey (2000) indicated advertising expense are oftentimes more costly for high-skill jobs or management positions and for organizations where the local pool of eligible employees lack the necessary skills and background to fill organizational positions.

Other elements such as the costs associated with appointing a new hire, are often non-existent in entry-level positions but are common practice when replacing managers and directors. In contrast, interviews and reference checks are common practices in most agencies and the costs associated with these procedures can be determined. This has been supported by the findings of Cascio (2000) who delineated replacement costs into seven elements. Taken together, these elements represent the costs an agency accrues when finding a replacement employee. Furthermore, certain elements are prone to high variance due to the nature of the job.

Hinkin and Tracy concentrate on hidden costs and estimate that they comprise more than 50 percent of the cost estimated. Philips (1990) calculated hidden cost, which he termed as invisible costs are the result of incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with departing employees and positions being filled while vacant. And all these affect the profitability of the organisation.

On the other hand, turnover affects on customer service and satisfaction (Heskett, Jones and Loveman). But a study of the calculation elements of these hidden costs reveals that some of the elements are overlapping in a few estimates like the applicant travel cost and HR administrative cost. These have been estimated twice.

Hinkin and Tracy defined hidden costs as the costs which are often created by two or more cost objectives, making it difficult to clearly identify the source. The indirect costs of turnover are often difficult to accurately determine and have been defined in the research as a loss or reduction of productivity as well as overtime work and compensation to the remaining employees (Hinkin and Tracy). The difficulty in determining these costs, Hinkin and Tracey (2000) found that most managers they interviewed believed indirect costs of turnover to be high and an important component of turnover.

Furthermore, Hinkin and Tracey’s findings from research using four hotels in Miami and New York identified loss of productivity to be one of the largest costs of turnover, ranging from $3,395 to $7,144 per employee. Support for quantifying the indirect costs of turnover is also made by Tziner and Birati (1996) who advocated for a costing model that seeks to capture the whole picture, in terms of negative and positive consequences, of turnover. When a worker whose performance was poor leaves an organization voluntarily, it provides a chance for the organization to hire a better-level of performer who can enhance the productivity (functional turnover).

In contrast to functional turnover, dysfunctional turnover occurs when a good worker leaves the organization and as a result, the turnover creates a negative impact on the organization. In proposing a turnover framework, Tziner and Birati (1996) identified direct and indirect costs associated with dysfunctional turnover. The potential loss includes loss of productivity and overtime compensation, or wages paid to temporary workers who need to cover the work of the voluntarily departed employee.

Although quantifying the loss of productivity is difficult to do relying often on estimates, Tziner and Birati (1996) advocated for the inclusion in turnover costing models due to the potential magnitude. These factors as highlighted by Tziner and Birati have been overlooked by the estimates of Hinkin and Tracy.

Hinkin and Tracey’s (2000) rationale and method for identifying and measuring turnover costs has been regularly accepted and adopted for research of this type (Cascio). According to the findings of Hinkin and Tracy asserts that according to their estimations, most of the hotel companies underestimate the cost of turnover. Further their research shows that the cost is substantial even at the entry-level turnover. The findings of the research show that the cost of turnover varies directly with the level and complexity of the position of the employee (Hinkin and Tracy).

Their research findings clearly indicated that the reasons behind the employee attrition were primarily poor supervision, poor work environment and poor compensation. These reasons have been outlined in studies trying to ascertain the reason of turnover. This has been supported in the study of Guerrier and Deery (1998) and that of Lin et al. ( (2007). Their study showed that the working environment in many sectors of tourism is such that labour turnover is higher than in other sectors of the economy. The additional costs that accompany high levels turnover, namely there are relations between employee retention and profitability.

Moreover, Hinkin & Tracey (2000) indicated the staff in most full-service hotels comprises a large number of people, and turnover is frequently high. Most importantly, the costs are substantial even in entry-level positions for relatively simple jobs. Therefore, to narrow the gap between schooling and industry that can abate staff un-agreeableness and then to decrease turnover rate (Lin, Huang and Lee).

Hinkin and Tracy also showed that turnover affects service quality. This finding has been supported by other studies done on the various service industries. Low employee turnover was found to be high customer satisfaction and thus high level of service quality. Research shows high customer satisfaction leads to high quality of service and low turnover thus high customer satisfaction (Heskett, Jones and Loveman).

According to the estimates of Hinkin and Tracy, the cost of turnover was estimated to be around 30 percent of the annual salary of the organization. But other research shows that their estimate was low. Estimates of the dollar cost of turn-over vary but all are high in absolute amounts. Conventional wisdom places the cost of losing a managerial employee at about 150% to 200% of annual salary (Gustafson). Therefore, if a firm loses a person earning $50,000 they can expect to be “out of pocket” by $75,000 to $100,000 before the new person is in place and functioning.

The reason for the variation in estimates is probably due to the difficulty of calculation. Turnover costs are spread out among the various accounts on an income statement. For example, they might be seen in increases in unemployment insurance, advertising, medical examination costs, and higher overtime for existing employees and interview expenses. The cost might also include a loss in revenue due to deteriorated service or product quality. Since the costs are not “flagged” on the income statement, they tend to be overlooked. Attention is attracted only when the problem becomes so large as to threaten the business.

An estimation that the study overlooks is the estimation of turnover that organizations make and the cost of hiring the extra number of employees as reserve to counter this attrition. For instance, in a restaurant chain employing 10,000 people and incurring a 140% turnover (Maynard) would expect to hire and train 14,000 new people every year. At a “lowball” estimate of $500 per person, that firm would be incurring $7 million in costs that would otherwise fall to the bottom line. A more realistic but still conservative estimate of about $750 per person would send the annual cost to over $10 million. This area of the cost incurred by organizations due to a high turnover rate has been overlooked by Hinkin and Tracy.

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IvyPanda. (2021, September 26). Employee Turnover in Hospitality Industry. https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-turnover-in-hospitality-industry/

"Employee Turnover in Hospitality Industry." IvyPanda , 26 Sept. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/employee-turnover-in-hospitality-industry/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Employee Turnover in Hospitality Industry'. 26 September.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Employee Turnover in Hospitality Industry." September 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-turnover-in-hospitality-industry/.

1. IvyPanda . "Employee Turnover in Hospitality Industry." September 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-turnover-in-hospitality-industry/.

IvyPanda . "Employee Turnover in Hospitality Industry." September 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/employee-turnover-in-hospitality-industry/.