1

Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Objectives
students will get knowledge about
 The definition, origin, evolution and growth of hospitality industry
 The different form and type of tourism available to the hospitality industry
 The role of hospitality industry in global economy

 Hospitality is the term generally associated

with hotels and restaurants.
 Hospitality is derived from HOSPICE
meaning “house of rest for travelers”.
 The word "hospice" comes from the Latin word
hospes: meaning to host a guest
or stranger.
hospitality industry definition
The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within service industry that
includes lodging, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and
additional fields within the tourism industry. ..The hospitality industry is a broad
group of businesses that provide services to customers. It's focused on the satisfaction
of customers and providing specific experiences for them.
HOSPITALITY - ORIGIN, EVOLUTION AND GROWTH

The hotel industry is undergoing many changes the demand for hotels is affected as the
economic fortune of countries, region, cities rise and fall. Each year companies and
hotel change ownership and new companies & brands enter the market place. Brand
names that are popular today may not be there in the next decade. For example: the
popular ITDC chain of hotels has been diluted over time with change of ownership and
new brands taking over.

Origin

No one knows exactly when the first inns opened: but certainly the first inns were
private homes that offered accommodations to travelers. By 500 BC ancient cites in
Greece, Egypt, China, had a number of establishment that offered food and drink as
well as beds to travelers. In France, large building that had rooms to let by the day,
week, or longer were called ‘hotel garni’. The word ‘hotel’ was first used in England in
about 1760. In 1794 the first hotel in the United States opened – the 70-room city hotel
in Broadway in New York City. Over the decades, names like, Cesar Ritz (France),
Ellsworth Statler, Conrad Hilton, Ernest Henderson (of the Sheraton chain), Kemmons
Wilson (of the Holiday Inn chain) are anonymous with the growth and development of
the hotel industry.
 2
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

While development were in full swing in the new world, India still under the British rule
was ignorant to all these progress but for one man. JRD Tata founded the first hotel in
India with the opening of ‘Taj Mahal’, Mumbai in 1904. MS Oberoi on the other hand
launched the Oberoi chain and in independent India chains such as ITC Windsor
Sheraton, the Leela group, ITDC, The Park, The Grand, Clarke group; Mahindra
hospitality pioneered the hospitality sector.
Evolution & growth

In 1960’s the development of new locations fueled the expansion of the hotel industry.
Prior to that time hotels were built primarily in city center and resort areas as commerce
and industry spread from urban center’s to rural suburban and airport locations, hotel
companies like Hilton, Sheraton, Marriot recognized opportunities to develop their
brands in these new location.

In the 1970’s intense competition among established and emerging hotel chains created
a need for chains to better differentiate their product. Some did this with architecture
and décor. For example, the atrium lobby became the Hyatt’s signature of its regency
brand. Hotel company adopts distinctive motifs- Ritz Carlton décor was traditions,
Hyatt’s was contemporary.

Pampering the hotel guests was the strategy of the 1980’s, room and bathroom
amenities specialties soaps, sewing kits, ,mouth wash, shampoo, and a variety of other
personal care items could be found in most hotels whatever the rate category. Of
course the higher rate hotel provided the most elaborate amenity package. Some first
class and luxury hotels set aside one or more guest floors as club area. For higher rate
club guest could enjoy a number of special services including an exclusive club desk for
check in and checkout and complimentary, afternoon tea, evening cocktails and before
bed snacks served in the clubs private lounge. Exercise room even complete spa
facilities were added to many hotels to satisfy travelers growing interest in physical
fitness. Hotels with predominantly business traveler markets added business centre to
provide secretarial and translating services as well as computer and fax facilities.

In the early 90’s the concept of quality service as a differentiating factor came to the
forth. Hotel companies implemented quality assurance program and referred to the
quality of service in their advertising, as the 1990’s progresses, the industry emphasized
innovation and new business strategies. Segmentation was one of the most important
strategies implemented by many hotel chains to increase their market share.

At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, mergers, acquisitions and
joint ventures changed lodgings competitive environment globally. In India for example,
The Oberoi tower in Mumbai tied up with Hilton International.

Complementary roles with other industry

Hotel industry in India
 3
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

India‘s hospitality industry is all set to roll with big players entering the budget hotel
segment. Due to a huge demand- supply gap, this segment holds enormous business
potential. India is one of the world‘s most dynamic economies today. So with the rapidly
growing trade the number of inbound, outbound & domestic tourist has also increased.
India is on track to capture 01% of the global trade in the near future. In fact the world‘s
GDP of India is expected to rise from 6% to 11% by 2025. So, with a growing number of
wealthy Indians as well as an expanding middle class, the number of Indians traveling
within the country has nearly doubled in the past decades to about 450 million. It means
that there is a huge domestic tourist market in India itself, including business & leisure
travelers. An estimated 300 millions tourist trips annually are there, on average, which
may also include those traveling for social & religious purpose. The industry expects a
boom in tourism in the domestic sector in India, & a growth of 10% to 15% over the next
few years. A growth in tourism will certainly mean a boom in hotel & restaurants & in
turn focus on its service sector &the human resource manning those services. The
hospitality industry has grown at 23.7% in 2005-2006 & now the focus is shifting
towards domestic travel, which is the real driver of hotel business in the country in past,
Foreign tourist arrivals in our country has been hovering around 2.5 million but in 2003,
with 2.72 millions tourist, growing was at 14.3%. in calendar year2004, foreign tourist
arrivals reached the figure of 3.37 million, showing a growth of 23.5% & India crossed
the magic figure of 03 million foreign tourist for the 1st time
And in an effort to encourage foreign investment in the real estate sector for hospitality
industry, the Indian government has changed its restrictive laws in February 2005, to
allow 100% foreign direct investment to develop new housing, commercial properties,
hotels & hospitals. The international tourist arrival in Delhi for the year 2010 is
forecasted at 18 lakh & of domestic tourist being 35.8 lakhs in the same year.

Demand of manpower in hospitality industry

The growth of the hospitality sector in India is immensely contributing and is projected

to grow in the next decade. In today's context, the demand for hospitality professionals
is also growing, and the sector is expected to come up with more trained professionals
in the coming decade
With hotels expanding at 20 to 25% per year, the shortage of skilled manpower is felt
not just at the upper rungs, which are more difficult to fill, but even at the lower ones.

Hotel industries GDP contribution in an Indian economy.

The contribution of the entire travel and tourism sector in India to Gross Domestic
Product is estimated to rise from 8.8% (USD 118.9 billion) in 2010 to 9.16% (USD 335.7
billion) by 2020.
Tourism in India is important for the country's economy and is growing rapidly. The
World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated ₹16.91 lakh crore
(US$240 billion) or 9.2% of India's GDP in 2018 and supported 42.673 million jobs,
8.1% of its total employment.

Role of Hotel management Courses in Hospitality Sector

 4
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

India has great caliber for growth & development in the tourism sector. The growth of
the hotel management is linked closely to this sector. Manpower requirement for hotels
is on the rise. Star hotels require specialized trained staff for their various departments
like Food & Beverage, Food Production, Housekeeping & Front office, Public relation,
Account section & other services. These jobs have become increasingly challenging &
sophisticated in recent times. The employment opportunity in hotels varies within the
industry & is largely dependent on the size of the hotel. Human resource required by the
hotel industry by 2001 is predicted to match the extension of room space, likely to be
almost an additional 124,000 rooms. Each room in a 5 star hotels needs 03 person &
jobs with direct responsibilities, while many more persons indirectly assist the core
group.

Contribution to global economy

Dynamics of the Lodging Industry
If there is one constant in the lodging industry, it is that everything changes. For
example, changes in transportation technology brought about an increase in both hotel
supply (number of rooms available to rent) and demand (people who want to rent rooms
on use services). More people began traveling more frequently than ever before. With
the rise in demand came an influx of new supply - hotels judiciously located and
designed to service guests.

The Influence of Economic Fluctuations

Generally throughout history, when economies expand, so do supply and demand. The
healthy economy at the beginning of the twentieth century ushered in the Golden Age of
hotels, during which time a number of large hotels were constructed in the United
States. On its heels came the Great Depression, a time when banks failed,
unemployment skyrocketed, and travel sharply decreased. Many of the hotels that
survived the depression are now highly familiar – Statler, Ritz-Carlton, and Hilton, to
name a few. Another major economic boom occurred in the 1980s. Tax incentives to
investors, expectations of higher demand, and a growing economy helped fuel
extensive hotel development. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, further
development was reduce and the industry was seriously hurt by excessive room supply,
economic recession, and elimination of tax incentives. In recent years, there have been
more hotel rooms available than guests to fill them. The lodging industry is steadily
emerging from this crisis situation. An economy recovery, an increase in domestic
demand and international travel, and a slight but significant upturn in occupancy rates
are all expected to help return the lodging component of the hospitality industry to
profitability.
The report on Indian Hotel Industry provides an in-depth view of the sector in general
and important aspects of the sector. The report starts with the global hotel industry to
give a perspective of the Indian hotel industry in the global context. The report covers
the hotels industry structure, major players, regulations, growth drivers, issues and
challenges, critical success factors and foreign direct investment trends. An analysis of
the industry performance was made on critical business parameters like Occupancy
rates, Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) and Average Room Rates (ARR) and
 5
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

compared with global trends. The report also analyses the performance of the industry
across major markets, and profiles the major players in the industry.

Contribution to Indian economy

Introduction
The Indian tourism and hospitality industry have emerged as one of the key drivers of
growth among the services sector in India. Tourism in India has significant potential
considering the rich cultural and historical heritage, variety in ecology, terrains and
places of natural beauty spread across the country. Tourism is also a potentially large
employment generator besides being a significant source of foreign exchange for the
country. In 2019, FEEs were US$ 29.96 billion registering a growth of 4.8 per cent year-
on-year and reached US$ 5.40 billion during January-February 2020.
According to WTTC(World Travel & Tourism Council ), India ranked third among 185
countries in terms of travel & tourism’s total contribution to GDP in 2018. India was
ranked 34th in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 published by the
World Economic Forum.
Market Size
India is the most digitally advanced traveller nation in terms of digital tools being used
for planning, booking and experiencing a journey, India’s rising middle class and
increasing disposable incomes has continued to support the growth of domestic and
outbound tourism.
During 2019, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India stood at 10.89 million, achieving a
growth rate of 3.2 per cent year-on-year. During January-February 2020, Foreign
Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) were 21,33,782.
In 2019, a total of 29,28,303 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa registering a growth of
23.6 per cent.
As of 2019, 4.2 crore jobs were created in the tourism sector in India which was 8.1 per
cent of total employment in the country. The number is expected to rise by two per cent
annum to 52.3 million jobs by 2028.
International hotel chains are increasing their presence in the country, as it will account
for around 47 per cent share in the Tourism & Hospitality sector of India by 2020 & 50
per cent by 2022
Investments
India is also the third largest globally in terms of investment in travel & tourism with an
investment of US$ 45.7 billion in 2018, accounting for 5.9 per cent of national
investment.
During the period April 2000-December 2019, the hotel and tourism sector attracted
around US$ 14.42 billion of FDI, according to the data released by Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Government Initiatives
The Indian government has realised the country’s potential in the tourism industry and
has taken several steps to make India a global tourism hub.
Some of the major initiatives planned by the Government of India to give a boost to the
tourism and hospitality sector of India are as follows:
 Ministry of Tourism launches Audio Guide facility App called Audio Odigos for 12 sites of
India (including iconic sites).
 6
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

 Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi urged people to visit 15 domestic tourist destinations
India by 2022.
 Statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, also known as ‘Statue of Unity’, was inaugurated in
October 2018. It is the highest standing statue in the world at a height of 182 metre. It is
expected to boost the tourism sector in the country and put India on the world tourism
map.
 The Government of India is working to achieve one per cent share in world's
international tourist arrivals by 2020 and 2 per cent share by 2025.
India’s travel and tourism industry has huge growth potential. The tourism industry is
also looking forward to the expansion of E-visa scheme which is expected to double the
tourist inflow to India.

Definition of Tourism
There are a number of ways tourism can be defined, and for this reason, the United
Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) embarked on a project from 2005 to
2007 to create a common glossary of terms for tourism. It defines tourism as follows:
Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of
people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or
business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either
tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their
activities, some of which imply tourism expenditure (United Nations World Tourism
Organization, 2008).
Using this definition, we can see that tourism is the movement of people for a number of
purposes (whether business or pleasure).
Forms of tourism
There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and
outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following
additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international
tourism
International Tourism
When people visit a foreign country, it is referred to as International Tourism. In order
to travel to a foreign country, one need a valid passport, visa, health documents, foreign
exchange, etc.
 7
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

International tourism further divides into two types; Inbound Tourism & Outbound
Tourism.
Inbound Tourism
This refers to tourists of outside origin entering a particular country. When people travel
outside their host/native country to another country, then it is called inbound tourism for
that country where he/she is traveling. For example when a tourist from Indian origin
travels to Japan then it is  Inbound tourism for Japan because foreign tourist comes to
Japan.

Outbound Tourism
This refers to tourists traveling from the country of their origin to another country. When
tourists travel a foreign region than it is outbound tourism for his own country because
he/she is going outside their country. For example when a tourist from India travel to
Japan then it is outbound tourism for India and Inbound tourism for Japan.

Domestic Tourism
The tourism activity of the people within their own country is known as domestic
tourism. Traveling within the same country is easier because it does not require formal
travel documents and tedious formalities like compulsory health check and foreign
exchange. In domestic tourism, a traveler generally does not face much language
problems or currency exchange issues.

Internal tourism: Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism,
that is to say, the activities of resident and non-resident visitors within the country of
reference as part of domestic or international tourism trips
National tourism: National tourism comprises domestic tourism and outbound
tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors within and outside the country
of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips

Types of Tourism in India

 8
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Tourism in India has emerged as the fastest growing industries in the last decade and is
still in its growth phase. The diverse flora and fauna, climatic conditions, historical
heritages and cultural diversity in India have made it the first choice of the tourists
across the world.
The major reason behind the success of tourism industry in India is the availability of all
aspects of tourism at a single country, whether it be nature, wildlife, cultural diversity,
ecological biodiversity, adventure and many more. In addition to that, the hospitality of
India is famous worldwide giving it an additional edge to attract the tourists from
different countries.
There are various types of tourism branches in India that can be enjoyed at different
tourist destinations of India. The major of them are:

Types of Tourism
1. Mass Tourism: It is the most recent phenomenon of the modern tourism. This
concept emerged along with the concept of paid holiday. It focuses on more no.
of tourists instead of selective or elite tourists. The development of air ways and
sea ways has helped to travel many people at once. Many travel agencies focus
on package-tourism due to many people.
2. Village and Urban Tourism: In village tourism, all activities are concerned within
village. A village is selected as a model village. A few guest room and kitchen are
developed without disturbing the village                                                 
environment. Urban tourism focuses on city tourism where big hotels and
restaurants are developed.
3. Cultural Tourism: It is related to the tours to culturally rich places. The tours are
arranged to provide knowledge on culture, religion, beliefs, attitudes, social
behaviors and so forth.
4. Adventure Tourism: It involves three basic components; an element of risk,
higher level of physical involvement, and specialized skills to participate. For e.g.
rafting, trekking, bungy-jumping etc.
5. Conference Tourism: Big business-homes, multi-national companies,
government etc organize meetings, conventions, conferences that make people
visit different places and countries.
6. Eco-Tourism: This type of tourism is the need of modern era. This type of
tourism is organized in natural environment and the tourists observe man-nature
relationship.
7. Recreational Tourism: It concerns with recreational activities, mostly centralized
in big cities. For e.g., casinos at Los Angeles, Night Clubs at Bangkok etc.
8. Health Tourism: This type of tourism was in more demand in late 19 th century.
People visit different places for better health and refreshed mind.
9. Sustainable Tourism: This concept emphasizes on public participation. It does
deal with the study of carrying capacity of the earth.
10. Historical Tourism: It focuses on visiting historically important places like
museums, monuments, archaeological areas and so forth.
 9
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

11. Domestic and International Tourism: Domestic tourism focuses on earning

local currency while international tourism focuses on earning foreign currencies.
12. Ethnic Tourism: This type of tourism is concerned with organizing tours to visit
many indigenous communities and native people of the places.
13. Business and Leisure Tourism: Business category includes tourists visiting for
business purposes while that travel for holidays are the leisure travelers.
Classification of Tourist
1. Classification according to the region covered
 Domestic tourist: A domestic tourist is a person who travels for a purpose other
than exercising a gainful activity or settling at the place visited by him. He travels
within his own country and does not leave her boarders at any point of time
during his tour. A person from Pune going for a holiday to kerala is a domestic
tourist.
 Foreign tourist: Those people travelling from one country to another country,
crossing national boarders or through immigration check points. International
tourist may be inbound or outbound
 Inbound tourist: - this refers to incoming tourists or tourists entering a country.
For example, Malaysian citizens travelling to India would be considered as
inbound tourists for India and outbound tourists for Malaysia
 Outbound tourist:- this refers to outgoing tourists or tourists leaving their country
of origin to travel to another country

Different motives/purposes of tourism

1. Physical Motives: Many people travel due to physical consciousness. Their tour
is connected with their bodily health, well being and physical relaxation.
2. Pleasure: Many people travel to be free from the monotonous daily routine life.
They need pleasure for some time.
3. Relaxation, Rest and Recreation: People travel in order to get relaxed, rest
their mind and body, and to get recreation and rejoice.
4. Heath: Many people travel to get fresh breath and body for good health. The
development of spas during the Roman period was result of people to seek good
health.
5. Curiosity and Culture: Man always loves travelling and is curious in order to
know other’s culture, tradition and religion.
6. Ethnicity and Family: A large no. of people travel to visit their family, friends and
relatives, and also new people.
7. Participation in Events/Festivals: Many people travel to take part in meeting,
conferences and conventions. Some travel to celebrate festivals and ceremonies.
8. Spiritual and Religious Motives: Visiting religious places, pilgrimages etc have
been one of the most important motives of people.

Top Trends in Hospitality industry

The following are a few trends that will show in the hospitality industry
 10
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

1. Automated Hotels – Is it possible to have automated hotels? Would it be nice to

have a hotel where you are greeted by Robots speaking hundreds of languages.
Henn na Hotels in Japan are pioneering this concept of automated hotels with robot as
receptionists . While this might look like a pilot project but self service kiosks at hotels,
automated check in, eye scans and other technology disruptions always pushed
towards this move.
2. Growth of hospitality industry
While this is obvious, we thought we will back it up by some statistics. Speaking of
hospitality industry trends, the growth is most obvious and will include growth in Hotels,
travel, events and transports. It was recorded that the hospitality industry saw a
significant growth in 2018. This trend is going to continue in 2019. This forecast was
given by the Tourism Economics. The occupancy rate will increase by 0.8% in 2019.
3. Technology as one of the top hospitality industry trends 
Technology has affected us all tremendously. You might be reading this article on your
smartphones or tablets on the go. Technology is transforming the hospitality industry  in
multiple ways.
From virtual reality to customer service experience related software; hospitality industry
has it all. At the time you are reading this, you are already able to pay from your phone.
How about entering your room through an image code sent to you by hotel upon
booking? No hassles of collecting keys or anything.
4. Consumer Facing Technology as one of the top trends in hospitality industry
This is an extension of the previous point but with a greater focus on customer facing
technology.
When the world is being disrupted by technology innovation, why should hospitality fall
behind. Currently the Information technology spending in hospitality industry is a bit low.
The new trend in hospitality is taking strides to make hospitality industry more tech
savvy. Consumers are using various software and applications that help them find the
best hospitality services.
Have you seen self service check ins and kiosks in hotels. Do you use the vending
machines for your drinks and snacks while travelling? Do you use hospitality
aggregators for finding the best prices of hotels and flights online?
Do you check in to your flight carrier online and make hassle free online payments?
There is  much more to be seen in the travel and hospitality industry in the future as
 11
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

spending on consumer facing technology will be coming up as a top trend in the

hospitality industry.
You would be able to select rooms online, will have access to e-menu, can have virtual
travelling experience and much more in future.
This particular trend has been on peak in the past and will continue to strengthen.
These technologies greatly influence customer behaviour.
The hospitality industry will strengthen as these technologies make travel easier and
cheaper.
5. Direct bookings as one of the trends in hospitality industry
Smartphones will be used more than ever and thus become crucial trendsetter for
hospitality industry.
The concept of travel agencies is not unfamiliar. Many customers make direct bookings
through these agencies. These agencies make a lot of money by taking a reasonable
percentage of commission from what the hotels earn.
This trend in the hospitality industry is going to stay strong for 2019 as well. Research
shows that a single customer visits at least 38 travel agency websites before deciding
on final purchase.
Travel agencies must come with strategies that will stop the customer on their website
and hopefully make a direct booking through them.
Expedia.com, Hotel.com, makemytrip.com, booking.com, goibibo.com and many similar
websites are competing against each other fiercely yet growing at a rapid pace..
6. Niche Marketing as one of the top trends of hospitality industry
Travel agencies are becoming very popular. Even more so, as they dive into niche
marketing. It will stay among the trends in hospitality industry.
They are willing to cater to customers with specific needs and demands.
Niche marketing in the hospitality industry is set to continue in 2019. One such example
of this concept is ‘Bud and Breakfast’. They cater to customers use marijuana and want
to travel to a place where they can enjoy their habit without any legal constrictions.
Similarly, there are niche hospitality segments for retired personnel, health enthusiasts,
extreme sports and so on. This trend is set to stay strong in 2019.

Technology in the hospitality industry

 12
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Technology is advancing at a faster pace than ever before, and this is

changing both the expectations of patrons as well as the way in which
the hospitality industry conducts its business.
Wi-Fi infrastructure
Nowadays, hotel guests who travel with devices such as phones, tablets and computers
no longer see Wi-Fi as a perk, but as a must-have when they check in at a hotel.
Hotel guests expect to be able to connect to the internet seamlessly and without too
many interruptions, leading hotels to invest in better, faster Wi-Fi infrastructure so that
people can do business and use their technology devices with ease when they book
their stay.
Digital conference facilities
Besides being able to offer high density Wi-Fi for conferences and meetings, hotels also
need to be able to offer access to audio-visual (AV) and digital facilities for conferences.
While the amount of AV and digital equipment that goes into a typical conference room
is fairly minimal, staging companies are often hired for various projects in order to equip
the facility as required.
Mobile communication and automation
In many airports, it’s no longer necessary to stand in a queue to check in and people
are expecting the same kind of easy, technology-driven check-ins at hotels. Guests
want to be able to do everything from checking in at a venue’s automated kiosk to
ordering room service with a digital device instead of standing in queues and moving
around the hotel premises to order food.
NFC technology
Near field communication (NFC) technology is the short-range high frequency wireless
communication technology that gives users the ability to exchange data between
devices. Communication between NFC devices can transfer data at up to 424
kbits/second and the communication is enabled when two devices touch each other,
which makes mobile payments (by touching the smart phone to a credit card) an instant,
secure process. This technology is also ideal for self check-ins by guests at hotels as
well as the next trend in this article: smart room keys.
Robots and infrared sensors
Some hotels are already offering more futuristic experiences, with robots delivering any
items ordered through room service to a guest’s door. A boutique hotel that is nestled
between Apple’s headquarters and other tech companies, called Aloft Cupertino, has a
robot butler called Botlr that is able to move between the various floors of the hotel in
 13
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

order to take items such as toothbrushes, chargers and snacks to guests. These types
of digital systems not only make it easy for hotel staff to deliver items to guests, but it
also offers a forward-facing digital experience to people who stay at the hotel.
Smart room keys
Hotels will increasingly install smart room access systems that allow guests to unlock
their doors by simply swiping their phones across a keyless pad on the door. Starwood
(owner of the Sheraton, Weston and “W” hotel chains) has already upgraded 30,000
room locks across 150 hotels with this system and Hilton will be implementing a similar
system at 10 of their US properties this year. In 2019, they will be deploying the smart
room key technology globally. This technology will mean that guests don’t have to worry
about picking up keys and front desk staff won’t have to issue new keys in the event
that a guest loses their room key.
Feedback on social media
Technology has infiltrated almost every aspect of our lives and hotel developers need to
realize that almost any person checking in at a hotel, resort, spa or lodge, will have a
smartphone in their pockets.
Many companies in the hospitality industry are already using social media to their
advantage as guests check-in on location-based social media apps, tweet about their
experience on Twitter and share their holiday photos with friends and followers on
Instagram and Facebook. This trend will continue and hotels can expect to see even
more social media engagement from guests who use these platforms to give feedback
about their experience, complain and give compliments about their stay. Hotel staff are
also expected to provide feedback and address and complaints or queries from guests
in real-time.
Cloud services
Being able to provide entertainment on tab and mobile content has led to the trend of
hotels investing in cloud services. While hotels want to be able to offer digital content,
they don’t necessarily want to invest in IT infrastructure and IT staff, making cloud
computing the ideal solution. Hardware is expensive. Also, it takes up a lot of space,
which is a big commodity in the world of small hotels. So you need to keep it simple.
You need to keep all your software tools in one, centralized location that everyone can
access.

Tourism minister of India. Prahlad Singh Patel

Tourism minister of kerala. Kadakampally Surendran

Course Outcome

After reading this unit, students will be able to:

Describe the origin, evolution and growth of hospitality industry
 Describe the different form and type of tourism available to the hospitality industry
 14
Module 1 THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Know the role of hospitality industry in global economy