The Contemporary Hospitality Industry: Types of Businesses, Contributions, Departments, Roles and Skills

This report explores the different types of businesses in the hospitality industry, their contributions to the local, national and international economies, the operational and functional departments in hotels, the operational roles within the industry and the skills required for different roles. It also highlights the current skills shortage in the industry.

The Contemporary
Hospitality Industry

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Different type of business in hospitality industry with the products and services that they
offers.......................................................................................................................................2
Contribution of hospitality industry to the local, national and international economies........4
Different range of operational and functional departments in this businesses.......................5
Operational roles which within this sector.............................................................................7
Skills which are required for the different roles in this industry and current skills shortage.8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry in the present time have become one of the most growing industry
which is generating good revenue. This industry has helped in the growth of economy of several
countries and this is the reason why government gives some benefits to hospitality industry.
Considering all other sectors hospitality industry is the independent one in which there are
around more than 200,000 hospitality establishments in UK(Franzoni and Pelizzari, 2021). This
has helped the people in providing them the employment opportunities of around lakhs of
people. Hospitality sector includes many small businesses which cover pubs, hotels, restaurants
and many others. This industry covers many other services also in which it includes
accommodation, event planning, transportation. Britannia Hotels is hotel group which is having
its headquarter in Hale, England and was started in 1976. The hotel is having around 61 hotels
across the country and provides around 10,000 bedrooms. This report will cover different types
of business in this sector, contribution of hospitality industry, operational and functional
departments, different operational roles and the skills required for roles.
PART-1
Different type of business in hospitality industry with the products and services that they offers
The hospitality industry is a collection of different types of business which is based on different
business models. This provides different types of services to their customers as this industry is
dependent on consumers. Hospitality industry generates huge revenue and they are majorly
dependent on the disposable income, satisfying the needs of consumers and their leisure time.
There are different types of businesses which is covered under this industry and those are
explained below-
 Food and beverages- This business which is majorly known by the name as F&B is the
huge segment of this industry. Food and beverages covers different types of business and
that includes cafes, bars, restaurants and others. In the present time, people are more into
eating different types of food with good quality and different flavours(Bouichou, Wang
and Feroz, 2021). This industry provides different types of foods which includes meals,
snacks and the beverages. Food and beverage involves different types of services which
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includes the quick services which includes offering snacks to people rather than the full
services which provides meals to people. Businesses in UK are around 10,990 of this
sector and those restaurants provides that food which can satisfy the needs of consumers
and they also provide different and unique flavours.
 Travel and tourism- Travel and tourism business relates with moving from one place to
another and they encourage the people to travel. Without tourism industry it would not be
possible for people to travel to other places. But with this it is also required to go on a
business meeting or some official work which cannot be done without this
business(Wang, Fu and Wang, 2020). It will cover the buses, planes, ships, cabs which
helps the people to move from one place to another. Mostly this business is used for the
leisure travel in which individuals spend their money for the food, stays so that they can
spend best time.
 Entertainment and recreation- Recreation is an activity which provides the people a
sense of relaxation and some enjoyment which helps in relaxing their mood. The main
aim of providing recreation is to refresh the mood of people which in the present time
gets overburdened with the work pressure or any other factors. Entertainment business is
also related with the recreation in which it depends majorly on the disposable income
which covers cinemas, museums, sports activity etc. This business also helps in providing
employment opportunities to people.
 Accommodation- Accommodation includes that type of business in which people have
the facility to spend their days in other places. Accommodation will comprise of hotels,
hostels, motels which is very important for those who will be going to other places for
any purpose. This business is one of the most demanding and useful one as it earns
revenue mostly during the time of their peak season depending upon the type of places in
which people will be visiting the places(Luu, 2021). It is important for the business in
accommodation sector to locate themselves in those location where the chances of
gaining guests are more with this they have to work on their ambience as well.
Contribution of hospitality industry to the local, national and international economies Contribution in local economy- Hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing
industry in the world which makes an important contribution in the economies of
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different nations in a variety of ways. Local economic growth is important as it give rise
to the income feasibly and improve their lives in a well defined area. The biggest
contribution of hospitality is increment in the employment sector which makes the
economy of a country by creating a host of new jobs. The hotel industry has employed
378,800 workers, accounting for 1.2% of total employment in UK and many more which
made the hospitality industry as the fourth biggest employer in the UK in 2019 (How has
the UK hotels sector been affected by the fissuring of the worker- employer relationship
in the last 10 years? 2019).
 Contribution in national economy: Hospitality industry has a great contribution in the
national economy as it refers to food and accommodation service industries like
restaurants, cafes, pubs, hotels etc. there is a huge growth in the employment sector. This
will result in the growth of GDP nationally in hospitality department.
This statistic shows the turnover rate of firms in food and beverage industries inUK from 2017 to
2019. Restaurants generated highest income with a rate of approx 42 billion British pounds in
2019. Other sectors include beverage service activities like pubs, bars etc. which provides total
4
Illustration 1: Turnover of enterprises in the food and beverage
serving industry in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2017 to 2019,
by sector

revenues of 78.1 billion British pounds on 2019 (Gross value added (GVA) of the hospitality
industry in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, 2019).
 Contribution in international economy:
Hospitality sector describes greatest contribution in the international economy as it understands
the socio- economic impact of hospitality sector which has increment in employment ,
improvement in their living standards, greater tax revenues to state and local governments and
growth in local retail sales (Le, McDonald and Klieve, 2018). In UK, hospitality has returned
the highest level of productivity growth of labours which is double of growth rate of overall
economy of UK. This industry contains various facilities like hotel, recreational facility etc.
which is growing very fastly with the increment in demand for their service. It is reached at 100
billion Euros in 2018 with the continuation growth in 2019 and nowadays they are providing
more than 330,000 employment opportunities (UK hospitality industry growth analysis, 2019).
Different range of operational and functional departments in this businesses
There are different operational and functional departments which Britannia Hotels has and those
are explained below-
Operational departments-
 Housekeeping department- This is one of the most important department and specially
for the hospitality business. Hotels are considered to be good when they are having good
ambience but with this they are considered to be luxurious when they are working on
cleaning(Jia and et. al., 2019). Housekeeping department is the most important one
because without this it would be difficult for the hotel to maintain their goodwill. They
ensures that the common areas, lobbies, restrooms, guest rooms and all the areas are
important.
 Food department- Hotels have food department which prepares the food according the
type of guest which come to visit their hotels. Food department is the essential one
because with the rooms which are most important, food also has their unique position
which is essential to be maintained by the manager. Food taste and quality also matters
because without this there are chances that consumers will give bad reviews about their
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hotel(Ayachit and Chitta, 2021). Britannia Hotels has the best food department which
provides all the type of cuisines satisfying the needs of people. Front office department- Front office department is also the most important one in
which it tackles all the work which are related for providing all the information to the
consumers. They are the one one with by which guests interact initially and are
welcomed by the people of front desk only (Chen, 2019). There work is related with
providing room keys and allotting it to the guest. If any of the guest is facing any issue
then they are responsible of solving the issue.
Functional departments-
 Marketing department- Marketing department is the most important one as they have
the duty of promoting the business with as much uniqueness as they can. They have the
responsibility of identifying the target market so that they can target the right customers.
Britannia Hotels always uses those methods in which they can communicate with the
people directly so that they can connect themselves with the business(Wen and et. al.,
2018). There promotional and advertisements strategies are different and unique and this
is the reason why the hotel have expanded the business in other countries.
 Human resource (HR) Department- The HR department of a hotel carries on many
works in which the most crucial one is to recruit right number of people and with right
ability (Sutrisno and Jazilah, 2019). They have the responsibility to identify the vacant
positions which are there in the hotel and to fill it with those people who are suits for that
specific position. Britannia hotels HR department helps in providing the training to the
staff as they are the important asset for the hotel and which will help the hotel in attaining
competitive advantage.
 Accounting department- Accounting department is there in every type of business
whether it is hotel or any other in which they have to keep all the budgets. They are
responsible for making the balancing of all the expenses which will be required in the
working of the hotel so that they does not face the problem of over budget. Finance
department prepares the financial statements which helps them in identifying that if they
are in profits or are facing losses.
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Operational roles which within this sector
In hotels there are different work for which right number of people are employed so that they can
do the task according to the assigned roles. Those roles are discussed below-
 Hotel receptionist- They are the one with whom the guest of every hotel interacts and
provides them all the information which are important to be given by them. They have
the responsibility to check that all the work are completed on time so that the guest in the
hotel does not faces any difficulty(Wen, Li and Kwon, 2019). Britannia Hotels tries to
keep that person in the hotel which is having the quality of managing the things
independently and also checking that the work is completed on time.
 Kitchen manager- There is a kitchen manager in a hotel which has the work of checking
that all the food criteria are met by them. Food is the important responsibility which is
there in the hands of the head of the food department. With the ambience and the services
provided by the hotel to their customers they also checks the food flavours and taste. The
Britannia Hotels have the best food which covers around all type so that guest does not
go dissatisfied with the amount of food being given to them.
 Hotel manager- Hotel managers have the most important role as they are responsible for
managing all the work which will be done in the hotel. Hotel manager are responsible for
managing the employees as what they are doing and how they undertaking their all
duties. There are some objective of every hotel for which the managers have to check that
all the departments in a hotel are running smoothly(Kao, Tsaur and Huang, 2020). If any
of the discrepancy will be seen by them then at that point they are responsible for
providing the adequate solution.
 Housekeeper- The housekeeper of a hotel are responsible for checking that the hotel is
clean and that all the services which has to provided by them are done on time. Those
hotels attracts the most which are clean and providing the guest with clean amenities so
that they can help in providing good image in the eyes of people. Housekeeping
department is the most crucial one because without them it will be impossible for the
hotels to carry down their activities in a smooth. People always expects that when they
are giving amount for their stay they want all the services in an excellent way otherwise
there are chances that these things can hamper the image of a hotel.
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 Barista- Compared with other job roles which are there in a hotel the role of Barista is
quite difficult as they have to work different roles. They have the duty of serving the
people with the food, with this they have to do the cleaning of things at some time when
they are assigned with the specific duty of this. They have to work with others in order to
complete the orders which is given to them in a day(Gaur and et. al., 2021). In a hotel
when people comes to sit for taking the food then at that point the Barista have to provide
them the recommendations of the food which the guest can try.
Skills which are required for the different roles in this industry and current skills shortage
As the hotel has different job roles so similar with this for completing that job role with
effectiveness it is important for the individuals to develop in them some specific skills which can
be helpful to them in achieving the success. Some of the skills are mentioned below in context
with different job roles-
 Teamwork- It is very important the person who wants to work in hospitality industry
knows that how they have to work in a team. In hotels every department requires
teamwork whether it is food and beverage department, marketing department,
housekeeping or any other it is required to work in a team. This helps in proper outcomes
of any of the work which will be undertaken by the employees in a hotel.
 Flexibility- The person must be having the knowledge of being flexible in any of the
environment or work which is given to them. In hotels it is important that the person is
adaptable with the work because at times the work in hotels increases and they have to
work under pressure so that they are not making any compromise with the quality of
work they are providing to people. Britannia hotels always focuses that the employees
which they are keeping in their hotel are adaptable and flexible in nature.
 Communication skills- Hotels business is based on consumer preferences and their
perspectives and for attracting them it is important that the staff is having good
communication skills. Effective communication have the chances that other person will
get influenced with the work they are providing (AlBattat, Som and Farooq, 2018).
There are people who are not good in communication in the beginning of their stage but
after this all the things are easily learned by people by being more productive.
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 Time management- Time management is the most effective one if the person wants to
be successful in their work. The staff in a hotel have to undertake many work during the
pressures and they have to work differently during that time. The reason for this is that if
the work will not be completed on time then at one point it will create dissatisfaction to
the customers.
Shortage of skills-
 Technology skills- Employees in the hotels are expected that they have the knowledge of
technology so that they can use it in a best possible way. Skilled employees and that too
in technology is the most important and effective one which can help them in attaining
good competitive advantage in the market.
 Multi-tasking- It has been seen that employees in this industry are not multi-tasking and
are not up-to the standards which is expected from them. This is the main factor why
hotels are lacking and why some of the hotels are forced to close their business because
they were unable to provide the things on time(Okumus and Ma, 2019).
PART-2
Covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that hospitality industry is the major revenue
generator for the countries. This industry has helped in providing revenue to the economy and
also provides employment opportunities to the unemployed people. As this industry includes
different type of businesses so the opportunities for employment are more. Individuals have to
perform different roles for the positions they are getting and for this they are required to develop
certain skill which will help them in achieving success.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
AlBattat, A.R., Som, A.P.M. and Farooq, A., 2018. Emergency Planning and Disaster Recovery
in Hospitality Industry. In HANDBOOK OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION &
MANAGEMENT (pp. 721-744).
Ayachit, M. and Chitta, S., 2021. A systematic review of Burnout studies from the Hospitality
literature. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, pp.1-20.
Bouichou, S.I., Wang, L. and Feroz, H.M.B., 2021. How corporate social responsibility
perceptions affect employees’ positive behavior in the hospitality industry: moderating
role of responsible leadership. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing,
pp.1-34.
Chen, C.Y., 2019. Does work engagement mediate the influence of job resourcefulness on job
crafting? An examination of frontline hotel employees. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Franzoni, S. and Pelizzari, C., 2021. Rainfall option impact on profits of the hospitality industry
through scenario correlation and copulas. Annals of Operations Research. 299(1).
pp.939-962.
Gaur, L. and et. al., 2021. Role of artificial intelligence and robotics to foster the touchless travel
during a pandemic: a review and research agenda. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Jia, X. and et. al., 2019. The effect of socially responsible human resource management
(SRHRM) on frontline employees’ knowledge sharing. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Kao, C.Y., Tsaur, S.H. and Huang, C.C., 2020. The scale development of organizational culture
on customer delight. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Le, A.H., McDonald, C.V. and Klieve, H., 2018. Hospitality higher education in Vietnam:
Voices from stakeholders. Tourism management perspectives. 27. pp.68-82.
Luu, T.T., 2021. A tale of two countries: How do employees with disabilities respond to
disability inclusive HR practices in tourism and hospitality industry?. Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, pp.1-31.
Okumus, B. and Ma, F., 2019. Research trends on food safety and sanitation in hospitality and
tourism. International Journal of Bibliometrics in Business and Management. 1(3).
pp.214-224.
Sutrisno, E. and Jazilah, I., 2019. The licensing policy for groundwater extraction and
management for hospitality industry in cities in developing countries. Water
Policy. 21(4). pp.758-767.
Wang, J.S., Fu, X. and Wang, Y., 2020. Can “bad” stressors spark “good” behaviors in frontline
employees? Incorporating motivation and emotion. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Wen, H. and et. al., 2018. What influences Chinese students' intentions to pursue hospitality
careers? A comparison of three-year versus four-year hospitality programs. Journal of
Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education. 23. pp.70-81.
Wen, H., Li, X. and Kwon, J., 2019. Undergraduate students’ attitudes toward and perceptions of
hospitality careers in Mainland China. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism
Education. 31(3). pp.159-172.
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ONLINE
How has the UK hotels sector been affected by the fissuring of the worker- employer relationship
in the last 10 years? 2019. [Online] Available through:
<https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/814594/
UK_Hotels_Sector_Director_of_labour_market_enforcement_July_2019.pdf>
Gross value added (GVA) of the hospitality industry in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014. 2019.
[Online] Available through: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/510377/gva-impact-
hospitality-industry-united-kingdom-uk/>.
UK hospitality industry growth analysis 2019. 2019. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.planradar.com/uk-hospitality-industry-growth/>
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