The Hospitality Industry in Context 01

1.      What type of hospitality services would you expect to find in: a.      City Centre b.      Holiday Resort c.       Major Sporting Event

In a city centre I would expect to find the wider range of hospitality services such as, hotels, fitness centres and beauty parlours, restaurants and bars, conference halls and business services as well as entertainment and attractions. In a holiday resort the range would be slightly smaller as vacationers don’t need services such as conference centres etc but the attractions and entertainment features would be more prominent. In a major sporting event, I would expect accommodation, food and beverage and transport services.

2.      Outline three major developments in the 19th century that have had a major influence on the demand for the provision of hospitality services.

The development of the railway has given people the ability to travel safer, faster and longer. That means travel became available to a whole range of customers and created possibilities to travel (i.e. holidays, conventions etc) that were previously unknown. Of course new reasons to travel and a larger customer base are translated to a need for more extensive hospitality services. The second factor that has influenced the hospitality industry is food technology that enabled people to produce and store more food than they could consume therefore had enough to spare for visitors at a price. Variety and abundance in course materials as well as higher demand for restaurant services lead to greater competition and a wider range of products and services available for consumption. The third development would be the industrial revolution that had a major impact on the way of life for the larger population. On one hand it increased the disposable income of the individuals and through a series of social and economic changes reduced the time each person had to spend on his or her employment area. On the other hand it provided businesses with the tools to cater their customers’ needs for example large hotels could use washing machines to provide clean linen for their guests.

3.      Discuss two developments in food technology that have had a major impact on the provision of food for travellers

One major development is the invention of fridges and other preservation methods that allowed large quantities of food to be preserved and transferred from the place or production to the place of consumption. Add to that the wide use of tools such as tractors and fertilisers which have considerably increased the amount of crops available for consumption in the past century food production has changed drastically. When speaking discussing food technology the importance of the railroad although strictly speaking is not ‘food technology development’ cannot be overstated. Without an efficient and cost effective way to move produce from the area of production to the area of consumption, most of the offered products and services available today would not even exist.

4.      Discuss two reasons why there has been growth in the following sectors of accommodation operations. a.      Budget hotels b.      Cruising

In previous centuries only a small percentage of the population could afford leisure travelling and most people’s jobs were usually tied up to one place and with the exception of merchants very little business travel was needed. Lately due to the industrial revolution, a large percentage of the population has time and income to spare. However their disposable income is not that vast. That leads to the growth of budget hotels, cheap fast food style restaurants and budget airline tickets. Although a travel for leisure is now available to a large percentage of the population, their disposable income is still not extensive enough to allow them ‘luxury hotels’ and ‘first class tickets’. Also the concept of ‘business travel’ is relatively new. Before the industrial revolution the only people who travelled for profit were merchants who needed to transfer their goods. In the modern day and age professionals from any sector could be travelling for any number of reasons such as education, conferences etc. The cost of that travelling is covered by businesses with specific budgets and reasons to prefer economy solutions rather than luxury.    The hospitality industry is therefore focusing on the market of ‘economy travellers’ who can afford travel but not the most expensive sort. Cruises offer people a variety of options that other holiday arrangements do not. For starters it allows holiday makers to visit more than one destination. It would be too time consuming and expensive to visit each place separately and travelling arrangements would be much more difficult. Another reason is the opportunities for entertainment that cruise ships usually offer. Those might include dining and catching a show or a movie. Some cruise ships even have casinos on board. That means people can make the most out of their holidays. Add to that the reduced prices that are becoming available and you have a winning combination.

5.      What do you understand by the terms ‘services’ and ‘non – serviced’ accommodation?

Serviced accommodation is provided by hotels and includes a variety of things such as maid service, food and beverage, laundry services, transport and some forms of entertainment. Non – serviced accommodation is provided by lodges, holiday rentals, time - sharing apartments and inns and involves only accommodation.

6.      Explain one wider social trend that may have an influence on food dishes offered by restaurants.

Awareness of the dangers of reckless eating (imbalanced diet) has lead to a trend of healthy living. In the past few decades large amount of resources have been spent on research regarding peoples diets and how they affect their health and quality of their lives. There are a number of diseases and health problems that are associated with imbalanced diets such as obesity. Awareness of these health issues have directed people to opt for healthier living such as low calorie dishes or vegetarian dishes. The menus of restaurants had to take that into account and therefore these latest trends are reflected in their menus by the addition of dishes targeting those people. Salads and vegetarian dishes are now far more widespread than they were a few years ago.