Unit 9
Travel and Hospitality Industry
Text A
The Tourist Industry
The tourist industry has been one of the fastest growing industries in modern times. Indeed,
the growth rate of tourism has generally exceeded the growth rate for the worldwide economy.
Sometimes it seems as though a new resort area springs up every day wherever there are sun and
sea. The shores of 1the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas and 2the Pacific coastlines of Mexico,
3
Florida, and 4Hawaii are only a few of the areas that have been intensively developed in recent
years.
The purpose of tour and travel varies. Some people travel entirely for the purpose of
recreation or pleasure; they are people on holiday. Some people travel for reasons of health. Other
people travel to visit friends or relative, a reason that has become more important because of
increased mobility throughout the world. Still others travel in order to educate themselves in
accord with the old precept that travel is broadening. All of these people are generally considered
tourists since the primary reason for their trips is recreation. Tourist statistics also include people
who are traveling on business. Among them are business people and government officials on
specific missions, as well as people attending meetings or conventions, who often combine
pleasure with their work.
The marketing approach for the two major divisions among tourists—recreational and
business travelers—is somewhat different. The recreational travelers respond to a greater degree to
lower fares and other inducements in pricing and selecting the destination for their trips. In a
technical phrase, 5they make up a price elastic market. The business groups, on the other hand,
make up a price inelastic market. Their trips are not scheduled according to lower fares, the
destination is determined in advance, and the expense is usually paid by their employers. They are
looking for dependable rather than inexpensive service. Business travelers also make more trips to
large cities or industrial centers than to resort areas, although many conventions are now held at
resort hotels. It should be noted, however, that some large cosmopolitan cities are themselves the
most important tourist destinations in the world. Because of this, it is difficult to separate pure
recreation travel from business travel.
The development of tourism as a mass industry depends on modern means of rapid and
inexpensive transportation. For example, the greatest growth in international tourism has
paralleled the growth of air transportation. Industrialization has produced the other conditions that
are necessary for tourism. Among them is the creation of a large number of people with an amount
of disposable income — income above and beyond what is needed for basic expenses such as food,
shelter, clothing, and taxes. Another important condition is urbanization. Generally, residents of
the big population centers take more holiday trips than residents of rural areas. Long weekends
and paid vacations are among other important conditions for the development of modern tourism.
In some countries, the cost of the holiday for employees is subsidized partly or wholly by
government, unions, or employers.
Tourism benefits not only airlines, hotels, restaurants, and taxi drivers among others, but also
many commercial establishments and even the manufacturers of such varied items as sunglasses,
cameras, film, and sports clothing.
One of the principal reasons for encouraging a tourist industry in many developing countries
is the so-called multiplier effect of the tourist dollar. Money paid for wages or in other ways is
spent not once but sometimes several times for other items in the economy, such as the food and
housing that tourist employees need. Another attraction of the tourist industry for the developing
countries is that it is labor-intensive, a common feature of service industries. Indeed, the tourist
industry is not a single entity, but one that consists of many different kinds of enterprises that offer
different services to the traveler, including transportation, accommodations, catering, guiding and
interpretation.
Text B
Hospitality Industry
Size and scope of the industry
1
The hospitality industry is probably the world’s fastest-growing, job-creating profession,
employing one in ten people worldwide. In the UK alone, the industry employs over 1.8 million
people. It is estimated that the industry will require 30,000-35,000 trained people at management
and supervisory level year on year until 2010, if it is to fulfill its potential. There are currently too
few students taking college and university courses in hospitality to sustain this requirement. You
can imagine, therefore, that there is enormous scope for those who want to pursue a career in the
industry, plus a huge range of employment opportunities across the varied subsectors. You might
want to manage a hotel, run a restaurant or maybe your interests lie in accountancy or information
technology. You may want to start your own business or be part of an international one. Whatever
your talents, the hospitality industry offers variety and opportunity.
Structure of the industry
Hotels －2range from small, independent country hotels to luxury five-star hotels. There
are around 48,000 of them in the UK and they employ some 250,000 people at all skills levels.
That’s 17% of the total number of hospitality workers. According to Caterer & Hotelkeeper,
December 2005，hotel occupancy leveled off in October 2004, but the rise in room rates will allow
UK hotels to achieve the forecast annual growth in the coming year .
Restaurants － this subsector includes take-away food outlets, fine dining, ethnic
restaurants and coffee bars. 3It remains relatively resilient, as even in an economic downturn,
people still enjoy eating out and their taste in food is eclectic. There are around 106,500 outlets,
employing more than 500,000 full and part-time staff. 70% of businesses are owner-operated with
the other 30% owned by groups such as 4the Restaurant Group and Whitbread. The larger groups
offer management training schemes to graduates.
Pubs, clubs and bars - the licensed retail sector is worth £20 billion and it currently
employs over 900,000 people in total. There are around 64,000 on-licensed premises in the UK.
They range from small, country pubs to large, city nightclubs and bars. Labour turnover is high
mainly due to the large number of students employed and there is a high proportion of part-time
staff. However, promotion can be quick and branded chains can offer excellent management
opportunities.
Contract catering－any 5catering business unit that is separately operated and managed.
Some of the outlets supplied by contract caterers are schools, hospitals, local authority and
in-company catering and food services. It is a rapidly expanding subsector of the industry and is
dominated by a handful of large players. The newest of these to emerge is Baxter Storey, which
was created in 2004 and now forms the fifth largest contract caterer in the UK.
Hospitality services — incorporates all those working in establishments where hospitality
is not the main function and is not contracted out. Areas include medical, educational, industrial,
retail, culture, sport, public administration and transport. Future growth is linked to the strength of
the economy and, therefore, the demand for in-house services, although this could be offset by an
increase in outsourcing to contract caterers.
Graduate recruitment
6Degrees in a hospitality-related discipline are preferred but many employers will accept
candidates from other disciplines so long as they have experience in a hospitality environment.
Most hospitality degrees develop experience through industrial placements and many students can
gain relevant experience through part-time and vacation work. Whilst language skills can be a
bonus when applying.
Of course, degree classification is important but it is the work experience and
understanding of the sector alongside key skills that employers seek most. It is unlikely that high
emphasis is given to 7A-level grades when recruiting.
A feature of most schemes is that employers want their candidates to be mobile,
particularly in the early years of career progression. This is to gain a greater understanding of the
business and to gain as wide an experience as possible.
Many of the larger employers run specific graduate recruitment schemes but there are also
opportunities with smaller businesses, e.g. exhibition venues and events management companies,
and independent restaurants, bars and hotels. These areas also provide scope for self-employment.
Text C
HOTEL
The hotel of today is a highly organized commercial entity. Both in its operational
departments and supporting departments, and teamwork is essential in the running of a good hotel.
Therefore, its employees must be cooperative with one another and loyal to the management. 1The
aim of a hotel is to create a home away from home for all the traveling guests who need rest, food
and drink.
The Front Office
The Front Office of a hotel is not only its “shop window” but also its “nerve center”. The
Front Office staff’s efficiency and personality are of great importance to the realization of the
hotel’s aim. 2It is within this department that the guest’s vacation or business, and indeed, the
hotel’s operation itself are made or ruined. The Front Office staff seem to do it all—receive
reservations, register guests, assign rooms, distribute baggage, store guests’ valuables, provide
information, deliver mails and messages, exchange foreign currencies, check room occupancies,
check guests out and so on. Besides, Front Office staff should encourage and settle the guests’
complaints. That will soothe an unhappy guest and reveal the hotel’s problems so that the
operation can be bettered. In order to fulfill these tasks, the staff must have a neat and smart
appearance, good manners, adaptability, a knowledge of languages and a head for figures. The
most important of all the qualities is a real liking for people and a warm desire to help them.
The Housekeeping Department
The Housekeeping Department is the backbone of a hotel. In a sense, it is possible to say that
a clean and attractive guest room is one of the products that the hotel sells. Its main duty is to see
to the cleanliness and good order of all rooms and public areas in the hotel. The laundry and valet
service and many personal services are also parts of its jobs. And the staff must coordinate the
work closely with the Front Office. This department as a whole is required to make the guest’s
stay comfortable and pleasing. Any reasonable request must be fulfilled. But good service means
more than fulfilling requests. Whenever and wherever possible, the staff should offer to do extra
things for the guests. What is more, whenever there is an opportunity to “sell”, the staff should
take it and suggest that guests use the hotel services as much as possible. They should make sure
that they are selling what the guest really wants to buy. The most important characteristic in the
Housekeeping staff is the willingness to serve and please the guests. They can do a great deal to
assure a high 3business repeat rate and a high 4occupancy rate, not only through the efficiency in
their jobs but also through their heart-felt warmth in serving the guests.
The Food and Beverage Department
More and more hoteliers come to realize that food and beverage service is a major factor in
hotel operation. In many large hotels, it brings in more income than room rentals. The Food and
Beverage Department involves many people working together as a team. So 5group cohesiveness
is of particular significance there. There are a number of different areas offering a variety of meals
and services all within a hotel—the restaurant, 6grill room, different bars, cafeteria and coffee shop
as well as room service, lounge service and banqueting. The operation of a restaurant is a complex
mixture of components in a total system. Moreover, the Food and Beverage Department
employees can play an extremely important role in creating a pleasant atmosphere, which is one of
the services the hotel sells. The initial contact with the customer can be a vital contribution to the
success of his meal.
High quality service is dependent on every staff member, having a love for his job and a
knowledge of its work right down to the last detail. 7The hotel will enjoy greater financial success
only with the greater satisfaction the guests receive from the “home away from home.” Satisfied
and happy guests keep the whole hotel industry healthy.