Chap. 1

• Hospitality is the relationship between guest and host, or the act of being hospitable
• Hospitality involves providing care and kindness to those in need
• In India, hospitality is based on the principle "Atithi Devo Bhava," meaning "the guest is God"
• A hotel is defined as a place where a bonafide traveler can receive food and shelter, provided they can pay for it and are in a fit condition to be received
• The hospitality industry comprises lodging, food services, recreation, entertainment, amusement, and travel sectors
• Organizations in the hospitality industry offer comfort, entertainment, and guidance to strangers
• The hospitality industry can be divided into commercial or service sector, profit-making or working within a budget, and restricted customer or open to the general public
• Characteristics of the hospitality industry:
• Intangibility: Hospitality products cannot be experienced before purchase
• Inseparability: Both the service provider and the customer must be present for the transaction to occur
• Variability or heterogeneity: Service quality depends on who provides them and when and where they are provided
• Perishability: Services cannot be stored, unsold rooms are perishable
• Fixed Supply: Supply of rooms in a hotel is fixed
• High Operating Cost: Hotels are capital and labor-intensive, resulting in high fixed costs
• Seasonality: Fluctuations in demand due to changes in climate, holidays, and vacations
• History of the hospitality industry:
• Early History: Hospitality concept dates back to ancient Greece, Rome, and Biblical Times
• Middle Ages: Monasteries functioned as inns, providing accommodations and food for travellers
• 16th to 19th Century: Improvement in accommodations, growth of inns along stagecoach routes, and the emergence of luxurious hotels
• Industrial Revolution: Significant progress in inn and hotel keeping, growth of the modern hotel industry in Europe and the USA
• The modern hotel industry saw significant growth in the USA with the opening of City Hotel in New York in 1794
• The first-class hotel, Tremont House, was established in Boston in 1829, offering private guest rooms, doors with locks, free soap, and bellboy service
• Mr. Ellsworth M. Statler started a new hotel chain and opened his first hotel, "Buffalo Statler," on January 18, 1908, with the slogan "room and a bath for a dollar and a half"
• In India, the concept of shelter for travelers evolved from viharas, dharmshalas, sarais, and musafirkhanas to commercial accommodations with the industrial revolution and technological development
• There are 1702 classified hotels in India with a capacity of 110,958 rooms, categorized into star hotels, heritage hotels, timeshare resorts, apartment hotels, guest houses, and bed and breakfast establishments
• Star category hotels in India are classified into Five Star Deluxe, Five Star, Four Star, Three Star, Two Star, and One Star, mainly located in business districts of metro cities catering to business travelers and foreign tourists
• Heritage hotels in India are running hotels in palaces, castles, forts, hunting lodges, etc., classified as Heritage Classic, Heritage Grand, and Heritage based on their construction period
• Budget hotels in India cater mainly to domestic travelers seeking reasonably priced accommodations with limited luxury and special seasonal offers
• Unclassified hotels in India are low-priced accommodations spread throughout the country, focusing on a low-pricing policy as their selling point
• Hotels today offer unique accommodations such as homestays, heritage hotels, boutique hotels, houseboats, tree houses, and luxury trains to provide guests with novel experiences
• Environment-friendly practices in the hospitality industry include using low-energy lamps, recycling water, rain-harvesting, waste segregation, and promoting reuse of linen to preserve energy and water resources
• ECOTEL certification is provided to hotels adhering to energy efficiency, water conservation, employee education, community involvement, solid waste management, and environmental commitment practices
• Customer service is crucial in the hospitality industry, with customer satisfaction leading to loyalty, repeated orders, and a wide range of services used by customers
• Hotel guests can be classified based on trip purpose (pleasure or business), numbers (independent or group), and origin (local or overseas travelers)
• Pleasure travelers engage in leisure activities, while corporate business travelers conduct business-related activities, and free independent travelers make their own travel arrangements
• Group inclusive tours consist of tourists traveling together on package tours with accommodation and meals booked through travel agencies, often budgeting their spending allowance
• Structure of Hospitality Industry first box (RCC) Fod services: Restaurant, Cafeteria, Catering
• Structure of Hospitality Industry second box (HRM) Accomodation: Hotels, Resorts, Motel
• Structure of Hospitality Industry third box Entertainment: (AAC) Amusement parks, Attractions, Casinos