Contemporary Issues in Hospitality Industry: A Comprehensive Report

This report delves into the contemporary issues facing the hospitality industry, providing a detailed examination of its scale, scope, and diversity. It explores organizational structures, including tall, flat, and matrix models, using Whitbread PLC as a case study. The report also analyzes the roles of hospitality-related organizations and professional bodies like People 1st and the British Hospitality Association. Furthermore, it addresses staffing requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities within hotels, bars, and nightclubs. Operational, managerial, and legislative issues are discussed, alongside the industry's current image and potential future trends. The report concludes with predictions for future developments and their impact on the sector. It provides valuable insights for understanding the complexities and challenges within the hospitality industry.

Contemporary issues in
Hospitality Industry

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Current scale, scope and diversity of hospitality industry ...................................................1
1.2 Organisational structure in hospitality organisations............................................................2
1.3 Role of hospitality related organisations and professional bodies........................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Staffing requirements of hospitality industries.....................................................................4
2.2 Roles, responsibilities and qualification requirements for hospitality staff..........................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Operational, managerial and legislative issues.....................................................................7
3.2 Current image of hospitality industry...................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
4.1 Predictions for potential trends and developments in hospitality.........................................9
4.2 Impact of predicted trends and developments.....................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
“There is no work without mistakes and issues.” Simultaneously, hospitality industry is a
business which runs on various diverse functions and operations. When there is multitasking
some or the other problems arises which are to be rectified and solved. Hospitality is an industry
which consist of many service providers such as event planning, transportation services, food
services etc. These are directly linked with tourism sector in providing there services to various
travellers. This sector not only covers the hotels and food corporations but also includes pubs,
bars, gambling, tourist industries etc. In United Kingdom there are many companies which are
contributing to provide these services such as Holiday Inn, Whitbread PLC etc. many new firms
are also coming up. This document is a complete research which is based on contemporary issues
which might arise in this sector with a reference to solutions which can be applied.
TASK 1
1.1 Current scale, scope and diversity of hospitality industry
Scale
It is a measurement of companies operations, its people and its diversification. In case of
hospitality industry the scale can be measure in many ways son of which are listed below:
 Number of employees
The people who are working for organisation can be used as a base for measuring the
scale of workforce in the company (Hannam, 2014.). There is a huge number of people who are
employed by this sector and this sector is considered as the major employer of nation. There are
many roles and jobs which are there in company for which many people are appointed this states
that there is a huge range of manpower involved in this industry.
 International earnings
The foreign earnings of a firm also defines the scale of business whether it is performing
well in international platforms or not. This sector is inclined to provide tourism services which
states its international earnings.
 Revenue
The profit which a company earns majorly depicts its image and what it is performing
also its financial position is ascertained by its earning power. Hence, this sector contributes a
huge amount to economy in regards with finance.
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 Diversifications
Hospitality industry have many functions it is not only restricted to hotels and food there
are many other section which specifies the range to which company is spread.
Scope
The scope of a company can be defined by its identified long term goals and the vision
mission it is carrying forward (Sharpley, 2014). In hospitality sector companies majorly aims at
providing accommodations and experiences which are there for lifetime of a person. This
specifies that company have a huge scope in regards to business as they are dealing with needs
and wants of customers which are unending.
Diversity
This relates to the products which a company offers to its customers like accommodation,
food, experiences, transportation etc. This specifies operations of company which are spread in
various products and services to make the customers fully satisfied.
Whitbread PLC is edifice, coffee shop and restaurant providing its services in many
nations. Its was formed in United Kingdom. It is a huge portion of Premier Inn. Premier Inn is
renown hotel in United Kingdom that has 750 hotels and around 65000 rooms.
Holiday Inn is the big American name in edifice. It has raised as one of the largest hotel
chain across the globe. This business have 2649 hotels.
Brewers Fayre was formulated in 1979 and it is also known as 'The Farmers Arms'. It is
the chain of 130 pub restaurants of United Kingdom. It is acquired by Whitbread. This hotel is
famed for British pub food.
1.2 Organisational structure in hospitality organisations
As it is known that hospitality sector have diversified operations which are separated by
there functions (Falk, 2012). So as its organisation structure is different as it includes food,
clothing, room service, etc. the sections which are there in hospitality organisation can be
defined as follows: Tall
This is a vertical structure where the roles are divided into people on the basis of there
positions and they are performing there task according to there specified position. This works in
chain from one by one position which depicts that it there is a relation between superior and
subordinate in order to do process operations.
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 Flat
The horizontal structure is that where there are division of structure into functions which
specifies various tasks which people are ought to here the structure is based on functions and
there is positional roles for people according to which they perform.
 Matrix
This is most followed in huge and very large organisation where the business is spread in
various nations as there is a need to have many roles which are similar at various places
(Dickinson, 2014.). Hence, there is both positional and functional division of tasks and an
informal way of communication is followed.
Whitbread PLC is a very well known hotel which consist of functional as well positional
division of work. Hence, it has been divided into matrix style of organisational structure. As it is
known that Whitbread have its business diversified in many area globally so it have to manage
all of the ventures in a proper manner. For which several functions are divided into sections
which are marketing, finance, IT, front desk, room service, food etc. the work is also assigned to
people as all of the departments have to work together in order to have proper operational
functions of the industry. The hotel is a very renown and very well established for its operation
which is a fact that it have matrix style of structure in its organisation. There is requirement of
chef for food preparation, manger for front desk, engineers for IT in order to maintain the chain
of business etc. So, the responsibilities are also divided in that way only which gives a rise to
structural formation of the Whitbread PLC.
1.3 Role of hospitality related organisations and professional bodies
Hospitality sector is a very vast operating sector where there are many contributions
which have been given by many organisations (Crooks, 2011). There several governmental and
private bodies which are working for ethical practices in this business. There are many
professional bodies and hospitality organisation which have a huge role in this industry. Some of
the are listed below: People 1st
This organisation is a consultancy which assists in providing training to employees with
partners who are associated with it. This is an assistant for the companies who want to provide
training to their employees so as to make them more efficient and more vulnerable. In hospitality
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industry people plays the major role and this organisation help in equipping required personnel
as well as provides them training and assistance to develop and contribute to economy.
 BHA
Hospitality industry works on services and satisfaction and these functions are to be
provided in a proper way. These regulations are covered and incorporated by British Hospitality
association which regulated the code of conduct and measures. It is a non-governmental body
headquartered in London UK (Kusluvan, 2010). This helps the companies in hospitality industry
to run there business in a proper way so that it contributes in a maximum number to the nation in
developing its economy. It is representative body for the hotels, restaurants, outlets etc. and is
spread in many nations. It makes policies which the member of BHA has to follow in order to be
incorporated as best service provider.
 Institute of Hospitality
This is an international hospitality professional membership body for managers and
aspiring manager who are working and ought to work in hospitality industry. There aims is to
provide highest management services in hospitality industry in order to manage workforce which
is working worldwide. The company also targets to increase the potential of its members by
educating and increasing there knowledge in the relevant field (Sharpley, 2010). This contributed
in managing the people which are doing and working for the organisation in various locations
which is very important.
Hence, above are the professional as well as business organisations which are complying
a major role in hospitality industry in order to have a proper and very legalised structure of the
industry so that it earns more and more to gain profit which contributes to economy.
TASK 2
2.1 Staffing requirements of hospitality industries
Many sections are there in which hospitality industry are divided according to which
there is requirement of manpower. The roles and responsibilities decides what kind of
requirements are there in industry for people. There is a huge list of bifurcations in which the
people which are required can be divided such as skilled, semi-skilled, management etc. Right
people at the right job is very necessary as they are responsible for carrying out action in the
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plans of the company (Dickinson, 2011). Two industry with there needs for workforce has been
given below:
 Hotels
Whitbread Plc is a hotel which works globally. As a hotel it provides various services
which are divided into various sections. It have a foo department, front office management,
laundry and so on. Hence the people who are assigned task are also chosen accordingly for the
multinational hotel. The requirement of staff in this is semi skilled which are the people who
work on day to day operations like- laundry, cleaning etc., there is a need for manager in the
hotel for management and association to monitor and control the whole premise, there is a
requirement of chef for cooking food which have been provided to customers, in all there is
many requirements for skilled, semi skilled and managerial people who have various roles in the
company.
 Bars and night club
They are the business or firms which runs for party and experiences which they provide
to people. They requires many people like- stewards, bartender, manager and so on. Hence, there
is a requirement of skilled and semi skilled workers who have knowledge of serving and cooking
as well as treating people nicely with humbleness. They are the providers of alcohol and other
cocktails so they also requires bouncers for any kind of ill practices in the club and there is also
requirement of DJ. The choice of staff in case of bars and night club depends on services it
provides to people which can be rated in 3star, 4star, 5 star and so on. They require skilled when
the operations are full of quality and standard and if the bar is low financed and small than there
are semi skilled workers who are appointed (Spenceley, 2012). Depending on the power and
capacity to pay the people human resource is recruited by the company.
Hence, in the above two industry of hospitality sector there are various kind of
requirements for human resource which have been stated according to the task and finance to
manage them with the company.
2.2 Roles, responsibilities and qualification requirements for hospitality staff
In a hospitality industry the division of staff is in various sections depending upon there
roles and responsibility according to task. Whitbread PLC is dealing in hotel services which
requires manager for various department in order to maintain and monitor them. The edifice
requires people who can cook, people who can do day to day task like room services and be
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polite and humble while interacting with its customers (Wachowiak, 2016). Various staff at
lower, middle as well as top level is required. The roles also varies in regards to it as there job
and functions are different. In Whitbread hotels there are requirement of food operations
manager and hr manager role, responsibilities and qualifications of which are listed below:
Food operations manager
 Role: The manager at this level requires to assist and take care of the food and store
where the raw material for preparation of food is kept. There might be some days when
there might have been roles like chef has to be done by them.
 Responsibilities: The manager have to take care that the people who are working in food
department of the company are doing there task proper in a good manner. Customers in
regards to food are satisfied and there are ample of stock in regards to demand in the food
section. Qualifications: The manager need to have a Masters in Hotel management and experience
as a chef for 4-5 years in the same. After this the person can contribute to this section of a
company so as to obtain a complete command according to their qualifications and skills.
HR manager
 Role: The manger of HR department takes cares of management of human capital in a
company in order to have the best people at the right job. The role of this manager is to
identify gaps which are needed to be filled in an organisation by people of the same
category (Connell, 2013). He is responsible for creating selection and recruitment of a
company as well as management of existing employees is done by it.
 Responsibilities: It is responsible for the people who are there in company and working
for it so that best and proper career opportunities and services are provided to them. Other
main task is to make a complete record of people and there tasks so that there are
complete documents regarding performance and functions of various employees.
 Qualifications: MBA in human resource is required with an experience of minimum 3
years in related field. As well as the person must have a diploma in management as well
as a under graduation degree in the same. All the certificates are also to be represented in
company for achievement in same field.
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TASK 3
3.1 Operational, managerial and legislative issues
Operational issue
These are the day to day actions which are related to production and manufacturing part
of a company. In a hospitality industry it related to the food and front office management which
have to be done by workforce which is at this level performing various actions (Moutinho,
2011). They work according to the plans which have been regulated to them by the manager and
leader. There are various issues which arise at this level and some of them are listed below:
 Food safety
The food which is prepared in hotel Whitbread have to be of best quality so there is a
requirement of using fresh raw material in order to prepare them. Simultaneously, there are some
chances when food is not according to demand of consumer which creates a problem for the
company and food operations managers.
 Employees expectations
There are direct employees who are associated in conducting operations at this this level
hence they have expectation is regards to compensation and security which have to be fulfilled
rather they give a rise to conflicts amongst them.
 Finance
As the operations are frequent at this stage so there is a need for cash and money which
needs to be utilised for acquiring resources which may lack sometimes when there is no proper
management.
Managerial issues
These issues arises at management level in order to control and monitor the workforce
which is working in the company (P. Crick, 2011). The following are the issues which arises in
the same:
 Performance management
Standards are set according to which a person have to perform actually in a company.
There are issues which occur while controlling this as many people fails top achieve the targets
of performance so proper training have to be given to them so as to get a proper management.
 Policy development
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The manager at this level have to make policies and they need to research market in order
to do so (Mok, 2013.). This specifies the assessment of market which has to be done by PESTEL
analysis and creates issue to make proper plans.
 Environmental issues
The issues regarding environmental contribution have to be taken care at this level which
is important for the company.
Legislative issues
The legal rules which keeps on constantly changing also impacts business in hospitality
industry. For example
 Licensing
The company have to acquire license in order to provide liquor and proper food services
to serve people which creates a major task for people to be encountered.
 Minimum wage
Employees are to be provided with minimum wage rate which have been stated by the
government of the country.
 Employment protection
The company have to give security and assurance to employees in regards to their job as
they cant terminate any employee without any appropriate reason which have to be taken into
consideration.
3.2 Current image of hospitality industry
There are many current trends which have been rising in hospitality industry which are
very popular and attracts a huge number of people. Currently the image of company is that it is
operating on a very good pace of development by contributing a major role in economy of the
country. In regards to various factors this is the best industry which generates employment and
various other opportunities for people (Asree, 2010). Main aim of this sector is provide services
to the clients with best satisfaction. Current image of this sector can be defined as:
 Perceptions
Each and every person have an urge to travel which initiates various perception for this
industry. The people in this have many perceptions regarding agents and tour operators as some
of them are very well known and some of them are criticized for the services which they provide
depending upon satisfaction they provide to its customers according to their demand.
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 Trends
Constant changes are there in this sector as it have been majorly impacted by
globalisation due to involvement of travel and tourism (Brotherton, 2012). There are changing
needs of people in regards to services which are provided to them. Also there is a change in
accordance to global customers which are associated with the hotel at various places.
 Position
The positional of this sector in mind of people is that this is the service providing industry
which gives various services like- travelling, accommodations etc. most of the people associated
it with hotels and food which is the first site but there are many more sections of the same.
 Contribution
This sector at the present time contributes a huge amount to the economy of UK as well
as it also employs many people in its various business. This specifies the importance of sector in
the nation regarding various service rendering.
TASK 4
4.1 Predictions for potential trends and developments in hospitality
In case of hospitality industry there are many changes which arises as there is a huge
impact of globalisation and various cultural exchange from various nations (Harkison, 2011).
There are many trends and development which are listed below:
Trends
 Wide variety: There are a lot of choices which have came up in this sector in regards to
supply a huge number of potential customers which are there in population. Food fashion
trends in regards to presentation and preparation. There are changes according to seasons
and various other factors to have maximum satisfaction for the customers.
 E-recruitment: The staff is recruited by using various electric tools such as internet etc.
the staff is more equipped and more up to date which is requirement of current scenario.
 Technological: There is usage of up to date technology in the industry to communicate
and provide various booking services. E portals and websites are used to do bookings and
various other facility providing. Cultural trends: The employees for expatriate contract like in various locations with
relevant languages are hired in order to meet the demand of people at that location.
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