The hospitality industry is one of the largest industries in both global and national contexts. The hospitality industry is defined in this introductory chapter. Additionally, the importance of this huge industry is addressed in this chapter. Lastly, the structure of this Introduction to and Summary of Hospitality Management is described and explained for the reader.
Learning objectives for this chapter include:
1. Being able to define hospitality industry.
2. Understanding the importance of the hospitality industry.
3. Understanding the structure of the text.
The hospitality industry includes cooperative relationships with multiple organizations. For example, hotels are allied with airlines, car rental agencies, other hotels, suppliers, travel agencies, and restaurants. Thus the hospitality industry includes multiple dimensions such as the tourism industry, the restaurant industry, and sundry other industries that are related to these industries. The hospitality industry includes the following segments: lodging (hotels), commercial food service (restaurants and catering), institutional food service, casinos, cruise lines, travel agency services, event services, convention hosting, arena services, sport complex management, resorts, parks, clubs, tourism, and transportation services related to the other segments of the industry.[1]
This complex industry accounts for more jobs, sales, and tax revenues than any other single industry in most countries. The segments of the hospitality industry are interdependent and rely on one another for overall success. Above all, the hospitality industry is a service industry. Customer, or guest, orientation is of supreme importance for success in the hospitality industry.[2] The customer is unwilling to pay high prices for a product that does not include service. Customer service is the only area over which a hotel's product, for example, can differentiated from another's product.[3]...