Contemporary Issues in the Hospitality Industry: A Holiday Inn Report

This report offers a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary issues within the hospitality industry, focusing on the operations of Holiday Inn, UK. It begins with an introduction to the hospitality sector, defining its scope, scale, and diversity, followed by an examination of Holiday Inn's management structure, encompassing finance, front office, human resources, and other key departments. The report assesses the role of professional bodies like the British Hospitality Association and the Institute of Hospitality. It then explores approaches to meeting staffing requirements, including internal and external recruitment strategies, and details the essential skills and qualifications for personnel. The report further discusses recent trends affecting the hospitality industry, such as the impact of globalization and changing consumer behaviors. Finally, it analyzes potential future trends and their predicted impact on Holiday Inn, concluding with a summary of key findings and references.

Contemporary issues in
Hospitality Industry

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1.1 Scope, scale and diversity of hospitality industry with a global perspective......................1
P1.2 Management structure of chosen organisation...................................................................2
P1.3 Assessment of role of professional bodies in context of hospitality industry.....................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2.1 Approaches to meet staffing requirement of an organisation.............................................5
P2.2 Skills and qualification requirement of the personnel........................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P3.1 Recent trend affecting hospitality Industry.........................................................................7
P3.2 Discussing image of hospitality industry and assessment of current situation of business 7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P4.1 Potential trends and development at present in hospitality industry...................................8
P4.2 Impact on predicted trends on chosen organisation............................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality is a term which relates activities of housing and entertaining guests
(Brotherton, 2012). It defines relationship shared between the host and guests. Hospitality
industry is a broad term which encompasses numerous activities such as accommodation,
transportation, theme parks and dining services. The contemporary hospitality sector can be
determined as multi-million dollar industry and therefore, several major organisations have
ventured in this segment to incur profits. The dependability of success of this industry directly
relates to disposable income possessed by tourists (Chen, Cheung and Law, 2012). It refers to the
amount which is spent by people in leisure activities. All the organisations which are catering
their services in this sector aim to create a wonderful experience for the customers in a profitable
manner.
There are variety of organisations operating in this industry that aim to attain a superior
business position in the market. It is a trend of adopting a right theme which helps in attracting
customers to business. This assignment is based on the working of Holiday Inn, UK. This chain
of hotels is owned and managed by the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG). The organisation
aims to provide excellent services to its customers by redefining the manner in which they are
served. The present report discuss scope, scale and structure of hospitality segment of this
industry. The emerging trends in this sector will be studied briefly along with essential skills and
capabilities which are possessed by the operating members. Further, recent developments in the
industry will be briefly talked about.
TASK 1
P1.1 Scope, scale and diversity of hospitality industry with a global perspective
Scope is defined to be an extent to which hospitality sector finds its relevance . As
mentioned earlier, hospitality industry is broad concept and there are numerous segments which
are covers by the same. Hospitality is often perceived in context of the hotels but there are other
industries too which are covered in this term such as accommodation, restaurant, bars as well as
travel and tourism. It is said that hospitality industry covers a staggering 38% of the total service
sector which easily justifies its importance and scope of operations. Therefore it can be
ascertained that Holiday Inn carries a bigger scope in contemporary market. This leading service
chain offers accommodation and restaurant services through its hotels and resorts. The other
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services which are offered by this industry provider are distinct hospitality experience, quality
food and place for meetings and events.
Scale of hospitality sector is broad. It can be said that it is one of fastest growing sectors
around the world. The data presented by Deloitte stated that estimated booking in upcoming
year stands at $1.6 trillion. This data is enough to support the statement that globalization has
been in favour of hospitality industry. There has been a significant increase in number of
travellers and customers around the globe. The main reason behind upliftment of this sector is
that people are looking to spend on leisure activities in a healthy manner (Davis, 2011). Reason
which supports same is increase in competition in the airline corporation which has resulted in
offering low cost conveyance facilities to people. Diversity in the hospitality sector is very well
noticed. The importance of such is that there is a rise in cultural exchanges among people which
leads to development of an ideal tourism industry (Human Resources and Cross Cultural
diversity of Holiday Inn, 2012). It is seen that encouraging diversity in an organisation will result
in attaining competitive advantage for business. The reputation of the company will be enhanced
as well.
P1.2 Management structure of chosen organisation
Management structure of a company depicts the manner in which authorities and
responsibilities are divided among employees working for an organisation. It is essential for a
business to adopt a suitable structure so that it will help in timely completion of goals and
objectives. IHG is a major hospitality service provider when it comes to Great Britain. This chain
of hotel manages around 5000 hotels around the world. Holiday Inn have always emphasised in
the development and retention of employees so that goals of business are fulfilled. The
management structure of the company is functional in nature and orientation. This means that
people with similar knowledge or functionality are placed together so that they are able to work
in productively. The hotels in operating under this segment prefers this approach as it carries
better management and division of people. Division of tasks ensures that they are carried out in
the best possible manner by employees. The specialised people belonging to a function are
provided with authority and responsibility which are to be fulfilled by them (de Grosbois, 2012).
The main divisions of an organisational structure are as follows:
Finance: It is most crucial part of the organisation which manages and controls flow of
money. The financial transactions are recorded by this domain.
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Front office: Personnel in front office are responsible for rendering customer services.
The main segments which are undertaken in these functions are reservation, laundry,
housekeeping and desk service.
Human resources: This division looks after the welfare of employees. The main
functions which are carried out in this division are recruitment, training, retention and policy
formation.
Food and beverage: Food and beverage domain of a company is responsible in fulfilling
the hunger needs of people. The employees in this domain have to ensure that bars and restaurant
services are provided in an ideal manner. The secondary operations are dining room operations,
clean up services and waiter services.
Sales: This division ensures that services of hotel are sold in an ideal manner. They use
promotional tactics to ensure that firm is earning the desired revenue.
Logistics: This is another crucial department in management structure of a company. It
looks after the procurement of input such as daily supplies, appliances and security.
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(Source: Management structure of a Hotel, 2016)
P1.3 Assessment of role of professional bodies in context of hospitality industry
It is a known fact that hospitality industry constitutes as a important segment for the
economy of the country. Therefore there are numerous professional bodies which monitor and
manage activities of such organisations. The play a crucial role in management of corporations in
the hospitality sector. The examination of roles play by professional bodies in hospitality
industry are as follows:
British Hospitality Association: this association acts as a forum for various segment of
hospitality such as hotels and tourism sector. The major role played by this association is
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Illustration 1: Management structure of a Hotel

regarding promotion of interest of operators (Galliers and Leidner, 2014). The efforts of this
association aimed to attain competitiveness among the economies and promote sustainable
growth. It played a major role in enhancing digital measures of the segments of hospitality
industry and deliver new jobs for the employable people.
Institute of hospitality: This is an institute which provides memberships to managers and
aspiring managers. The base of member of this institution is approximately 10,000 people. They
play a major role in imparting knowledge and upliftment of skills of members so that they are
able to offer unmatched customer experience. Such services are rendered through networking
events, magazines, e-notes and journals. This institution help its members to develop on
professional and personal grounds.
Springboard UK limited: it is an association which play a crucial role in promoting
hospitality, tourism and leisure in the economy. They are known to provide specialist services to
people in developing ideal human capital. This association helps youth in attaining their personal
objectives and making them more employable supported by ideal training. This company helps
hotels in recruiting right set of people and creating job opportunities to people. The activities and
events organised by this company aims to enhance quality standard of elements of hospitality
industry.
TASK 2
P2.1 Approaches to meet staffing requirement of an organisation
The hospitality sector in context of the country is at its peak. There is a sudden increase
in the workforce requirement in hospitality domain. The economy of the country is recovering
out of recession which ensures that real disposable income of people sees an improvement
(Hsieh, 2012). The current circumstances of this industry are experiencing a stability and
growing at a rapid pace at the same time. The revenue attained by such corporation have seen a
significant increase and there is an improvement in the operating market. The forecasted trend
states that there can be an increase of 3 million jobs in the country and will reach 37 million by
the year 2025. the contribution of the hospitality sector in the employment sector accounted at
17% of the total employment. The company are aiming to employ aggressive approaches of
requirement due to the significance of employees for the organisation.
This organisation aims to recruit talent suiting requirement of the company and retaining
members which are performing well. The company is successful in maintaining employee base
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of 100,000 which helps in offering quality services to guests. The efforts are aimed to fulfil
vacancies in the company with the world's best team members. To fulfil staffing needs this
organisation have employed variety of measures which are as follows:
Internal sources: this is most preferred approach in context of the company. The
company during manifesting of a vacant place in the organisation considers application of
existing workforce rather than opting for outside talent. The references provided by the current
or former employees are taken into consideration as well.
External sources: Holiday Inn have developed a separate carrier website for aspirants to
apply for specified vacant position. This is cost effective approach adopted by the company to
introduce fresh talent to the company. The secondary approaches employed by the company are
advertisement in newspapers, campus placements and outsourcing the same.
P2.2 Skills and qualification requirement of the personnel
Holiday Inn is one of the renowned chain of hotels around the globe. Therefore to
maintain their standards of quality they tend to hire employees who are skilled and well
qualified. To achieve the same it is essential to scrutinize each and every applicant and ensure
best one is retained with the organisation. In order to a personnel in the hospitality sector it is
essential that an individual possess a professional degree with an apprenticeships programme.
The major skills which are helpful in becoming a competent personnel in hospitality sector are:
Commitment: It is essential to possess commitment to serve a guest in best possible
manner. This industry aims to satisfy needs and expectations of the consumers and create a
memorable experience in their mind (Kang and et. al., 2012). They should be able to commit to
serve guests in ideal manner.
Interpersonal skills: it is very important for a personnel to be possessed with right set of
interpersonal skills so that he is able to communicate with guests and provide with ideal
customer service. To serve guest in an distinct manner it is essential for a person to be possessed
with interpersonal skills that matches industry standards.
Problem solving: A personnel in the hospitality industry should be capable of providing
innovative and practical solution to the problems. It is necessary to have this skill of problem
solving so that productive outcomes can be provided to critical issue which arise in the
organisation.
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Teamwork: the capable personnel in hospitality industry know how to work in a team.
Teams are a crucial components of a company as it involves timely completion of tasks and that
too in a productive manner. The emphasis in teamwork is on coordination and supporting
member's in a team to attain the targets (Karatepe, 2013). Therefore an individual should be
aware of working in an team.
TASK 3
P3.1 Recent trend affecting hospitality Industry
The recent development in various sectors affecting hospitality sector are as follows:
Legislative- Rules and regulations related with a national legal system are monitored and
controlled by the European Legislation. In a particular nation, minimum wage
requirements with minimum working hours are some of the changes in legislation. The major
changes which are seen in legislation are regarding Employee job security, discrimination and
leave provisions etc.
Managerial- These issues may lead due to rapidly changing environment and industry
elements faces by managerial members in the industry. Managers in hospitality industry should
develop new strategies to overcome from these issues. It is essential to ensure that management
of the company must utilise resources of the company in an ideal manner so that better results
are achieved. The communication pattern is also established by the manager in the company.
Operational reforms- There has been reforms in the manner operations are carried out
in a business. The inculcation of innovation and creativity have resulted in redefining conduct of
operations (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully, 2013). There is a rise in technology which is utilised
by business in rendering services. It is essential to update employees on new approaches of
carrying out of tasks. As these modern trends demand some more sophisticated skills from
organisation, so sometimes they need to review their existing staff with new one. Apart from
these, there are food, safety and service requirements have been also reviewed and changed with
revised set of system to the modern trends of hospitality industry.
P3.2 Discussing image of hospitality industry and assessment of current situation of business
The hospitality sector of the country is undergoing a historic period. The slow process of
the country's economy is not able to influence a rapid pace of the tourism and hospitality sector.
It is now mentioned as fast growing economy around the globe carrying a direct impact on the
connectivity and facilities available to the visitors. The inculcation of technology have redefined
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the manner in which customer and industry interact with each other. The quality of experience
derived by the visitors determine the image of the hospitality industry (Moutinho, 2011). It
relates to the quality of accommodation, travelling, drinks and food, all these factors combined
determine the hospitality image in context of United Kingdom. The rise of the concept of
boutique hotels have redefined the manner in which hotels are perceived. It is most dynamic field
which supports activities of career progression.
London is the most popular destination of the country and mostly approached first when
visiting a nation. In respect to Holiday Inn, it is one of most preferred chain of hotels mainly due
to its global presence. This organisation have been able to secure revenue worth 6.2 billion USD
from its operation across continents. The company have time and again emphasized on altering
its brand image and to be perceived as contemporary hotel chain. Referring to the RevPAR, this
organisation is able to secure highest revenue amongst its competitors. It is a brand that carries
confident and refreshed brand image which can be ascertained from the revenue of the company.
TASK 4
P4.1 Potential trends and development at present in hospitality industry
It can be ascertained from the present trends in the market that hospitality industry is
receiving a tremendous responses. During the Olympic games this industry experienced a major
boost and resulted in addition of nearly 8,000 new hotel rooms. The pace of growth have been
the same since 2012. The competitiveness in the market have enhanced and resulted in provision
of improved services at similar prices (Top 10 Trends Impacting the Hospitality Industry, 2017).
The rise of recession have resulted in people having more disposable income which they are
willing to spend on the travel and leisure activities. Over 40% of the population of the country
has passed that age groups of 40 which means that they possess ideal income which is used for
the purpose of exploring the country. The tech explosion is another trend which resulted in
making guest self sufficient. Services can now be availed with a tap on mobile. The latest trend
states that there is an influx on international visitors in the country which means there is higher
revenue attained by hospitality industry. Hotels are no-more confined to provide accommodation
they are providing heath and wellness centre which acts a major attraction to the corporation.
The hotels are now employing technology oriented practices to promotes their services in the
target market (Wang, 2013).
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P4.2 Impact on predicted trends on chosen organisation
It can be believed that present and future trends in the hospitality industry will result in
benefit of business. The trends are forecasted to be in favour of organisation catering their
services in the hospitality industry. There is a rise of international travellers will help this
organisation secure higher level of revenue. This upcoming favourable trends in hospitality
industry will ensure that there is a minimum needs for marketing tactics by a company (Roberts
and et. al., 2011). To be sure on a further level a business can conduct market analysis to be able
to predict demand and preferences of the customers. This is carried out to served them in manner
desired by the guests. The upcoming trends will arise needs for training of staff so that they are
able to deal with latest technology (Testa and Sipe, 2012). There will be requirement of
recruiting people who are competent for managing tasks such as social media coordinator, yoga
instructor and a technician.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that hospitality industry carries a large scope as
it covers segments such as travelling, accommodation, F&B. The hospitality sector entertains
multiculturalism in its working which further helps in creating improved customer experience. It
is essential for employees to possess skills such as commitment, interpersonal and problem
solving skills to satisfy needs of customer. The present trends in hospitality states that there will
be a boom in this particular sector in the coming future and an organisation can achieve higher
revenue from the same.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Brotherton, B. ed., 2012. International Hospitality Industry. Routledge.
Chen, R. X., Cheung, C. and Law, R., 2012. A review of the literature on culture in hotel
management research: what is the future?. International Journal of Hospitality
Management.. 31(1). pp. 52-65.
Davis, K., and 2011. Work stress and well-being in the hotel industry. International journal of
hospitality management. 30(2). pp. 385-390.
de Grosbois, D., 2012. Corporate social responsibility reporting by the global hotel industry:
Commitment, initiatives and performance. International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 31(3). pp. 896-905.
Galliers, R.D. and Leidner, D.E. Eds., 2014. Strategic information management: challenges and
strategies in managing information systems. Routledge.
Hsieh, Y. C., 2012. Hotel companies' environmental policies and practices: a content analysis of
their web pages. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
24(1). pp. 97-121.
Kang, K. H., and et. al., 2012. Consumers’ willingness to pay for green initiatives of the hotel
industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management.
31(2). pp. 564-572.
Karatepe, O. M., 2013. High-performance work practices and hotel employee performance: The
mediation of work engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 32.
pp.132-140.
Mok, C., Sparks, B. and Kadampully, J., 2013. Service quality management in hospitality,
tourism, and leisure. Routledge.
Moutinho, L. ed., 2011. Strategic management in tourism. Cabi.
Roberts, C., and et. al., 2011. Changing competencies of hospitality leaders: A 25-year review.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education. 23(3). pp. 43-47.
Testa, M. R. and Sipe, L., 2012. Service-leadership competencies for hospitality and tourism
management. International journal of hospitality management. 31(3). pp. 648-658.
Wang, Y. F., 2013. Constructing career competency model of hospitality industry employees for
career success. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 25(7).
pp. 994-1016.
Online
Top 10 Trends Impacting the Hospitality Industry. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.smartmeetings.com/news/trends/74256/top-10-trends-impacting-
hospitality-industry>.
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