The Contemporary Hospitality Industry

This document explores the different types of businesses within the hospitality industry, their products and services, and their contribution to the economy. It also examines operational and functional departments within a chosen hospitality business and discusses the skills required for roles within the industry. The document concludes with an evaluation of current skills shortages and potential trends affecting the development of the hospitality sector.

Unit 1 - The
Contemporary
Hospitality Industry

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1. Explore the different types of business within the hospitality industry and the diverse
products and services they offer.............................................................................................3
P2. Examine a range of operational and functional departments within a chosen hospitality
business...................................................................................................................................4
P3. Discuss the contribution of the hospitality industry to local, national and international
economies...............................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P4. Investigate a range of different operational roles within the hospitality industry............7
P5. Examine the skills required for roles within the hospitality industry and current skills
shortages.................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P6 & P7 Covered in PPT........................................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P8 Covered in PPT.................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The most flourishing industry in the world and highest revenue generator is
“HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY”. Economy of several countries is supported and surviving
through hospitality businesses and service providers (Alexakis and Jiang, 2019). In UK around
and approximately 180,000 hospitality businesses are running smoothly concluding that
hospitality is an independent sector. Sheraton Grand London Park Lane is been considered for
this project which was opened in 1927 as The Park Lane Hotel designed in Art Deco style and
bought by IIT Sheraton in 1996. Now it is managed by Sheraton Group and owned by Sir
Richard Sutton's Settled Estates.
The assignment acknowledges the structure, size and scope of hospitality industry along
with required current and anticipated skills within the workforce. Moreover, internal and external
factors are reviewed which impacts the business and operations in hospitality organisation and
their relationship with current problems occurring in hospitality industry. At the end of the report
current and potential trends in hospitality sector affecting its development are evaluated.
TASK 1
P1. Explore the different types of business within the hospitality industry and the diverse
products and services they offer.
Hospitality Industry is a broad category of business which has numerous fields and
services belonging to service industry. The business sector provides services to people by
focusing over Leisure factor rather than on basic needs and requirements. Hospitality industry
includes various fields and sub-sectors responsible for delivering number of services to people
according to their preferences and their satisfaction standards. The success and growth of a
hospitality service provider entirely dependent upon Leisure time, Disposable income and
complete customer satisfaction (Song and Kang, 2019).
Hospitality industry has four separate sectors offering diverse products and services, all
these sectors are mentioned and elaborated below with appropriate examples of products and
services provided.
 Food and Beverage is the largest sector of Hospitality and commonly known as F&B.
This segment is primarily engaged in preparing meals, snacks and beverages for
customers for immediate consumption either in the premises or off from it. The main

product offering of F&B is quality meals through restaurant chains, cafes, carts and even
functions with other businesses as well such as movie theatres.
 Travel and Tourism segment deals in providing services of ease and comfort moving
people from one place to another. The product offering of this segment is buses, planes
ships, cars, trains etc. major function and primal responsibility of this segment is of
moving people safely from their locations to their destinations.
 Lodging is a hospitality field which is related with proving accommodation services to
guests for a particular period of time till they require. The product offering is different
types of hotels and motels differentiating according to rating they hold commonly from 1
to 5 stars (Nusair, Butt and Nikhashemi, 2019).
 Recreation is a service or field of hospitality which is related with those activities that
are performed by people to relax, rest and enjoy. Products and services of this segment is
formerly comes under entertainment sector such as theam parks, zoos, spas, museums,
spectator sports etc.
P2. Examine a range of operational and functional departments within a chosen hospitality
business.
In every hospitality organisations the departments and functions of entity are divided into
two categories operational and functional units. These segments are interlinked with one another
their responsibilities and roles are interrelated and support each other in completing their goals
and fulfil the ultimate objectives of organisation. In Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel as
well function are divided into operational and functional teams. Few areas of both the categories
are mentioned below:
Operational areas or Departments:
 Front Office Department is the face of the entity as the front office executives and
members are first to interact with guests and potential customers visiting hotel premises
present at the front desk or reception of the hotel.
 Housekeeping Department is the next operational unit which deals with all the
requirements, orders and instructions provided by guests form their rooms. One team
member leads the guests to their rooms and make sure that all services are provided
according to the requirements.

 Kitchen Department is the functional units working F&B field of hospitality looking
over maintaining all the quality standards and producing the best food and beverages for
guests as they make orders. The housekeeping units then delivers and serves the order to
guests in their rooms or in Hotel restaurant.
Functional areas or Departments:
 Marketing Department is functional units which is not in direct contact with the client
but play a vital role in attracting them and changing them in potential consumers. The
marketing team of Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel is responsible for
improvising and enhancing the brand image of the entity like every other and prepare
promotional strategies for the business as well (Aydin, 2020).
 Sales Department and marketing team are require to communicate effectively as with
one another as the sales plans and strategies have to be developed according to the offers
and plans made by marketing in the marketplace for bring more people.
 Human Resource Department of a hospitality business organisation is one of the most
important units. As it belongs to the service industry the human resource function is to
bring the best and talented expertise in the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel and
retain them for the maximum period of time along with conducting talent management
actions.
P3. Discuss the contribution of the hospitality industry to local, national and international
economies.
It is a fact that hospitality industry is key contributor to the GDP and economic growth of
a particular region. It presents potential results to all economies of UK, local, national and
international. The direct economic contribution of hospitality is majorly in improving and
enhancing the employment standards. A graphical representation highlights the contribution of
Hospitality industry to economies of United Kingdom.

(Source: UK hospitality industry growth analysis for 2019 )
The hospitality industry have seen significant growth in recent past years in United
Kingdom which has automatically impacted on the generation of job opportunities and
employment in several regions. The hospitality industry at its core work for fulfilling the needs
of their guests for achieving highest returns for their shareholders. It includes several and broad
categories of fields which are so wide that are beneficial for the economy as the infrastructure of
the region improves but employment and GDP is the primal areas where it directly affects.
Job opportunities are created for the people locally, nationally and internationally as the
hospitality brand moves their operations and expands. As well as GDP of service region
enhances as foreign currency is earned by way of payment and tax payments by the organisation.
Moreover, employment brings money for the people which gives them better spending power
and influence their living standards as well as status as it is a fact that people spend when they
have money in their pockets and capabilities (Olya, Bagheri and Tümer, 2019). The graph clearly
shows the growth in occupancy rates since 2012 to 2018 along with significant rise in average
daily rates.
Illustration 1: UK hospitality industry growth analysis for 2019

TASK 2
P4. Investigate a range of different operational roles within the hospitality industry.
The hospitality business which is considered in this assignment is Sheraton Grand
London Park Lane hotel and as discussed that in organisation several operational and functional
units are present. According to it in their section of the report operational roles that exist in
Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel are evaluated in relation with the operational
departments identified. Therefore, these roles are as follows:
 Receptionist- The job role of a receptionist is very crucial, the primary reason is they are
the face of hotel representing it, providing in formation and attracting guests by sharing
value of products offered. A receptionist is responsible for welcoming the guest,
assigning them their respective rooms according to booking made and instructions
provided as well as notify housekeeping staff about the arrival of visitors and render them
proper instructions.
 Housekeeping In-Charge is the executive who hold the responsibility of supervising and
overseeing the activities and actions taken by the team members. The housekeeping in-
charge has the role of keeping a check on premises of Sheraton Grand London Park Lane
hotel and make sure that all the facilities and environment of hotel is clean and tidy
(Omuris, 2019).
 Head Chef is a member of kitchen staff or team, an operational team responsible and
working in F&B segment of hospitality. The head chef of kitchen in Sheraton Grand
London Park Lane hotel hold the role of keeping the kitchen in order and maintaining the
quality standards of food and beverages being prepared for guests. Head chef is the chief
of kitchen making sure that food preparation is the best and accurate according to the
provided guidelines and policies of hotel.
P5. Examine the skills required for roles within the hospitality industry and current skills
shortages.
In hospitality industry skills, expertise, knowledge and experiences of individual matters.
This is due to the only reason that hospitality belongs to service sector which creates the
necessity for the hospitality service provider to bring in and maintain the best workforce for
serving the exact services required by guests according all the quality, safety and satisfactory

measures. Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel also have currently holds few skilled
expertise and few are needed by the company according to the roles. These current skills are
presented underneath.
Current skills required in Hotel:
 Team Working skills is a team strength for becoming efficient and working correctly in
the direction of attaining their respective goals. The housekeeping unit and kitchen staff
holds this ability and needs to enhance it in future. As there are several responsibilities
that are performed by separate individuals of both the team it is very essential that all
executives are interactive and clear about their duties assigned to them (Andrades and
Dimanche, 2019).
 Customer Handling skills is directly indicating towards interrelationships amongst
separate teams their job role, responsibilities and ultimately their goals. The front office
staff and housekeeping staff of Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel are required to
work together and develop strategies for handling all the guests visiting the hotel.
Initially, front office department deals with customers and render information to
housekeeping unit for further guiding and satisfying the desires of people.
TASK 3
P6 & P7 Covered in PPT
TASK 4
P8 Covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
The project conducted discussion on hospitality industry and an entity to it concluding
that the scope, size and structure of it is huge as it is one of the highest contributing agency in the
GDP of the economy. Moreover, several internal and external factors affects hospitality business
entity along with impacting on the operations. Numerous operational role are identified of an
hospitality industry along with evaluating current and anticipated skills suggesting the need for
change and flexibility in the sector and service industry.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alexakis, G. and Jiang, L., 2019. Industry competencies and the optimal hospitality management
curriculum: An empirical study. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education. 31(4).
pp.210-220.
Andrades, L. and Dimanche, F., 2019. Destination competitiveness in Russia: Tourism
professionals’ skills and competences. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management.
Aydin, G., 2020. Social media engagement and organic post effectiveness: A roadmap for
increasing the effectiveness of social media use in hospitality industry. Journal of
Hospitality Marketing & Management. 29(1). pp.1-21.
Nusair, K., Butt, I. and Nikhashemi, S. R., 2019. A bibliometric analysis of social media in
hospitality and tourism research. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management.
Olya, H. G., Bagheri, P. and Tümer, M., 2019. Decoding behavioural responses of green hotel
guests. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Omuris, E., 2019. Workplace friendship in hospitality organizations: a scale
development. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Song, H. J. and Kang, K. H., 2019. The moderating effect of CEO duality on the relationship
between geographic diversification and firm performance in the US lodging
industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Online:
What Are The 4 Segments Of The Hospitality Industry, 2017. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4082318.html/>
UK hospitality industry growth analysis for 2019, 2020. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.planradar.com/uk-hospitality-industry-growth//>