Issues in Tourism and Hospitality PDF

**Issues in Tourism and Hospitality** The people pursuing careers in tourism and hospitality must have the knowledge about the challenges confronting the industry. Some have been issues for many years, but no final solutions have been laid out. The various kinds of challenges confronted by the tour...

**Issues in Tourism and Hospitality** The people pursuing careers in tourism and hospitality must have the knowledge about the challenges confronting the industry. Some have been issues for many years, but no final solutions have been laid out. The various kinds of challenges confronted by the tourism and hospitality industry revolve around *[Economic Issues]*, *[Operating Issues, Marketing Issues]*, *[Technological Issues]*, *[Consumer Affairs Issuef]* and *[Legal Issue]*. 1\. **[Human Resources:]** Shortages of human resources and their impact on the industry in almost every geographic location are consistently among the most difficult challenges noted by hoteliers. In many communities, hospitality expansion is limlted not by capital, but rather by human resources. A shrinkine labor force is the number one challenge facing the global hospitality industry, according to the International Society of Hospitality Consultants. The problem of attracting and retaining qualitied workers, once an issue only in an isolated number of markets, is increasingly becoming a giobsl challenge. Demography, wage levels, failure to adequately address worker satisfaction and a repuuation for long hours and low pay are all cited as contributing factors. - **Sexual harassment**. Sexual may be defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and any other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature. - **Employee Empowerment**. In some tourism and hospitality institutions, supervisors have established [guidelines and regulations that personnel must follow.] These include directives such as strict rules for checkout time of guests, rules prohibiting guests for free refills on coffee, strict limits on the number of hand towels per guest, or directives prohibiting substitutions when ordering foods on special dinner menus. These may affect the overall impression of a guest regarding a specific food service or lodging enterprise. - **Employee Assistance Plans.** Employee Assistance Plans or EAPs are included in some businesses as part of their guidelines in taking care of their employees. This is actually a benefit for the employee wherein the managements can help their personnel and staffs in problems such as psychological, family issues, financial problems, legal issues, health and education. The development of EAP can nurture loyal workforce and can reduce employee turnover. - **Employee turnover**. [Employee] is one of the *major issues confronting managers* of tourism and hospitality industries. With turnover rates, managers are always faced with the problem of losing experienced employees and hiring less-experienced employees as replacements. 2. **[Cost Containment]**: Hospitalities are increasingly challenged to find ways to reduce costs without sacrificing the quality standards imposed to consistently meet guest expectations. 3. **[Increased Competition]**: Hotels everywhere indicate that their community is overbuilt; there are too many available hospitality rooms relative to the guests desiring to rent them. The resulting competition, which often involves price cutting in efforts to provide greater value to guests, reduces still further the profits generated. 4. **[Smoking/Nonsmoking Areas]**: As more and more customers of tourism and hospitality entities demand smoke-free areas for dining and smoke-free sleeping accommodations, the industry will continue to exert efforts to meet these demands. This is specifically true in places in which legislation orders that appropriate facilities be made available. Hence, restaurants apportion sections of their dining facilities to accommodate the requests of nonsmokers. 5. **[Sanitation and Public Health]**: A very important issue in food service sanitation. Everybody agrees that all steps should be taken to prevent illnesses that are caused by the manner in which food is handled or to the food itself. Proper food handling has always been an issue in the industry. 6\. **[Recycling Solid Waste]**: Recycling and proper waste disposal must be observed by tourism and hospitality industry. One of the major contributors in the garbage and waste are the hospital industry majority is from the guests and food waste. Follow laws for proper waste disposal. B. **Marketing Issues** Most expensive to be allocated budget 1. **Market Segmentation and** Market segmentation is increasing as lodging chains focus on a specific niche of travelers. Additionally, brands overlap. Some industry observers are concerned that franchisers may expand their number of brands to the point that investors who purchase from the same franchiser will be in direct competition with themselves. 2. **Increased Guest Sophistication:** Consumers have become more sophisticated and, as a result, so have the types of products and services that they desire. Amenities, including business centers, exercise and recreational facilities, and guest-room innovations, increase costs but, if not carefully selected, may not appeal to many guests being served by a specific property. 3. **Changing vacation patterns:** Citizens of industrialized countries are changing their vacation patterns The traditional once-a-year vacation of two weeks is declining in popularity. For a growing number of people, vacations are becoming shorter and more frequent. 4. **Frequent Guest Programs:** Because of the proliferation of properties and the increasing competition among them, some lodging operators have begun to develop programs to gain repeat business. These plans give credits to regular guests giving the, reduced rates, free upgrade, free or discounted accommodations, free meals and other amenities. 5. **Consolidation in the Commercial Lodging Industry:** Some experts are predicting that in the future some of the largest lodging companies will decrease in number and that small number of firms will dominate the lodging industry by acquiring smaller chains of regional or national properties. This will enable successful companies to obtain the funds required to expand their operations internationally. 6. **Changing demographics:** Population of developed countries are aging, older people have different preferences from younger generations. Service providers have to adjust their service products to be able to evolve with the changing preferences. There is increase in the number of single-parent households thereby reducing their disposable money for leisure travel. Other demographic changes include the continuing growth in the number of people traveling for personal rather than for business travel and the growth in the number of international travelers. C. **Technological Issues** The challenges of keeping up with the fast pace of technology is difficult and expensive. 7. **Interactive Reservation Systems**: Guests can now use the Internet\'s interactive reservation systems, and hospitality companies are sometimes criticized for the (alleged) large number of keyboard clicks required to make a reservation. The number of reservations made via the Internet continues to increase. Surveys show that good number reservations are made through the Intemet, and this percentage is increasing every year. With such high percentage of reservations cone through the Internet, hospitality cannot afford not being connected. If the potential guest cannot book online, a reservation will be made at the competitor\'s web site. 8. **Guest-room Innovations**: With Wi-Fi connectivity, mood based lighting, choice of music, multiple telephone lines, interactive opportunities for ordering room service, modern amenities and guest-room check-out are examples of amenities that guests increasingly desire, but that are very expensive to install and implement. a. *[Data mining]*. This technology allows marketing and sales personnel to find new ways to use guest-related data. (Data mining: using technology to analyze guest and other related data to make better marketing decisions) b. *[Yield Management]*. This computerized process allows managers to match guest demand with room rates (high demand means higher rates because of lessened discounts; low demand result in higher discounts). (Yield management: demand forecasting systems designed to maximize revenue by holding rates high during times of high guest-room demand and by decreasing room rates during times of lower guest-room demand). 3. **Communications**: Business travelers frequently change their itineraries to suit their changing requirements. Much time at present is lost in making alternative arrangements through vendors or distributors from payphones, hotel rooms or secretaries\' phones. Portable communication data units(PCDUs), a portable telephone or computer, allows a business traveler to communicate with any travel entity from any place. 4. **Elimination of tickets:** There is no longer a need for the traveler to carry an actual document for an airplane seat or hotel reservation. D. **Economic Issues** 1. **Dependence upon the Notion\'s Economy:** When the natlon\'s economy is good, business travel generally increases. Hospitality occupancy rates and rack rates increase, which results in higher profit levels. The reverse is also true: business travel slows when the economy slow. Then occupancy and rack rates decrease. Discounts to increase occupancy are offered, which yield lower revenues and profit decreases. 2. **Globalization**: Globalization impacts the lodging industry dramatically because it influences the extent of which people travel both within the country and around the world. Therefore, it is not only the economy of the nation, but also the economies of individual countries, that play an increasingly larger role in the financial success of lodging properties. To compete, they must pay closer attention to the trends of globalization. The industry must reflect the requirements of the global village in many aspects of its operations, including food, services, amenities, staffing policies and training. E. **Consumer Affairs Issues** The consumer affairs issues are flre safety, truth in menus and diet. 3. **Fire safety**: Fire safety has always been an important issue in the tourism and hospitality industry. During the 20th century made improvements in their lodging\'s design and constructlon such as installing of fire control systems in their building and sprinkler systems. 4. **Truth in menus:** For food services operators, preparing truthful menus is an ethical practice that should never be violated. However, some still produces menu that are not accurate indicators of the food served in their establishments. That\'s why some countrles have passed consumer production laws that implies violation of the said law could result to risk fines and loss of licenses. It is important ethically to have truth in menus to maintain trust and loyalty of the customers to the establishment. 5. **Diet, Nutrition and Health:** Today, the people are becoming more health conscious and so they are being picky in the foods that they are taking in, and so they changes their food choice with lesser fat and lesser calories. The tourism and hospitality industry must evolve with the change and must adjust their menus to the changing publlc tastes and demands. The trend to healthier dining will surely continue and to be successful food service operators the managers must give great importance and attention to nutritional content of food in their menus. F. **Other Issues** 6. **Green Hospitality**: A.K.A Sustainable or Eco-friendly hospitality Sustainable Development Calls for green hospitality. Going green is a burgeoning issue in the hospitality industry. People are keen to look at sustainable solutions in a whole new way. There has been a change in the perception of green; it has gone from a fringe movement to mainstream.The basis of sustainable hospitality operation is a three-part balance, expressed as \"profits, people, and planet.\" By taking those three elements into account, thus, a sustainable green hospitality development program becomes economically viable, as well as beneficial to the community and environment. 7. **Higher Education**: Tremendous changes are taking place in hospitality industry which poses several challenges for transformation of the whole educational process including educational curricula, learning materials, instructional practices and education stakeholders. 8. **Labor Cost Issues**: Labor expenses continue to remain amongst the large expense items for hospitality managers, accounting nearly about 40-45 percent of total operating costs. Thus, any trend or issue that could potentially impact labor costs needs to be taken seriously by hospitality owners and managers alike. 9. **Multicultural Issues:** The newest trends and topics surrounding hospitality research and development is the management of multicultural talent in the hospitality industry. With the development of globalization, multicultural issues are facing and disturbing the industry operators. Bringing the far corners of the world together is part and parcel of what the hospitality sector does. Blending amenities to cater for the needs of the world\'s different cultures is central to success for large, international hospitality chains. Globalization can also be simply described as the movement of goods, ideas, values, and people around the world. The term was first used in the early 1950s to recognize the increasing interdependence of economies and societies around the world. Globalization, however, has existed for centuries by way of evolving trade routes, including the slave trade, colonization, and immigration. Today, we are divided into separate countries, each looking out for their own national self-interest.At the same time, other entities such as multinational corporations\' cross borders, which leads to global economic and political integration. Many benefits can result from global integration and interdependence,but we also need to heed its negative effects. We can look at the relationship between globalization and tourism in several ways, for example,the impact of tourism and travel on **globalization**, and the impact of globalization on tourism. We can assess the impact of globalization on tourism from a number of perspectives such as: a. global mobility and ease of travel; b. population and demographic trends; c. terrorism, safety, and security; d. increased awareness of new destinations; and e. poverty.