About Hospitality and Tourism Field:
Hospitality and tourism industry comprises different segments which include food services, lodging, boarding, recreation and travel management. All these segments go hand in hand to attract customers, so that they will come there and spend money. In the market, this phenomenon is known as an upstream effect.
As per the reports of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, money spent by people (local and foreigners) in the U.S. was around 650 billion in 2005. In U.S., hospitality and tourism is the No.3 retail industry. In around 50 states, hospitality and tourism industry constitutes two thirds of the revenue. This industry is growing at the rate of 4 percent per year worldwide.
Hospitality and tourism field suffered a major setback in the year 2001, until 2003. The main reason for this was the 9/11 attack and also the slowing down of economy which decreased business travel as well as car rental segments. But through 2007, this industry showed signs of improvement as economy had started to improve along with the security measures taken by the government. Also decrease in the airfare is one of the reasons for the boom in the hospitality and tourism fields.
As per Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are more than 60,000 enterprises in the hospitality and tourism field which include hotels, motels, RV parks, casino hotels, motels, resorts and boarding houses. This industry offers many careers, and currently around 2 million peoples are working in this industry. Hotels are of many types including commercial, residential, casino and resort. Most of the commercial hotels provide conference facilities for special events and business meetings.
Nowadays, Internet is playing an important role in the hospitality and tourism industry, especially in travel planning and spending. It is predicted that 40 percent of the bookings will be made online by 2011. Internet is also used to find out about travel details. By the use of Internet, consumers are empowered and given an opportunity to compare various packages from home. This industry also has started to rely on electronic systems for their work.
Another important aspect of the hospitality and tourism industry is food services. It may be difficult to offer food to visitors in the huge lodging and recreation territory. There are many companies which offer outsourced food services worldwide. Sodexho and Aramark are the leading companies in this field.
Hospitality and tourism is a vast industry which provides various career opportunities. Refer to the following articles to know more about the hospitality and tourism field: