The hospitality industry is a vast and complex sector, with many different components that make up its whole. From food and drink to accommodation, travel and tourism, and entertainment and recreation, the industry is segmented into four main sectors. Each of these sectors has its own unique characteristics and offers a variety of services to customers. The accommodation sector is all about providing people with a place to stay.
This can range from small local bed and breakfasts to hotels, hostels, and shared houses such as AirBnB and Couchsurfing. Depending on your budget, destination, and needs, you can choose from a variety of accommodation options. The food and beverage sector makes up 26% of the hospitality industry. This includes restaurants, bars, cafes, and any other food market where people gather to socialize, eat, and drink.
As consumer demands change, more innovative concepts are emerging to keep customers entertained. Travel and tourism are often grouped together in one sector, but they are actually two distinct business areas. Tourism is a broad term that is often used in conjunction with hospitality. Many degrees in the field are called Hospitality and Tourism Management.
The tourism sector includes tourist offices, destination management companies (such as Visit London or Visit New York), and tour operators that allow travelers to explore their destination in different ways. The entertainment and recreation sector is not just about activities that require identification for people over 18. It also includes attractions for younger audiences that often host entertainment activities. The hospitality industry is a large group of companies that provide services to consumers. Airlines and other modes of travel, accommodation, and food and beverage services are the three main parts of the hospitality industry.
As it is not a necessity of life but rather an experience for leisure or enjoyment, hospitality services allow hotel brands to create many more customer contact points with their target markets and gather more information to help them create an ecosystem of services that could benefit from each other. The global impact of the coronavirus on companies in the hotel industry has meant that fewer people can travel due to imposed travel restrictions. This has had an effect on the number of available jobs in the hospitality industry. However, many employers still advertise vacancies on different platforms and channels for those looking for careers in hospitality management.
In order to be successful in this field, it is important to develop skills such as cultural awareness, multitasking, customer service, and communications in order to effectively deliver outstanding customer experiences. Additionally, many large corporations are choosing to eliminate single-use plastics from their daily operations in order to be more sustainable - something that the hospitality space is also doing. Hospitality is derived from the Latin word “hospes” which means host - one who provides accommodation or entertainment to a guest or visitor - and has been around since ancient times. To learn more about different careers in hospitality, read “An Overview of Different Careers in Hospitality” for a breakdown of the most common positions available with descriptions of what each job entails.
