Characteristics/Nature of the Hospitality Industry.

Nature of the Hospitality Industry.

Hospitality is the act of kindness in welcoming and looking after the basic needs of customers Or strangers, mainly in relation to food, drink, and accommodation. A contemporary explanation of Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a customer and a host.  When we talk about the Hospitality industry, We are referring to the companies or organizations which provide food and drink or accommodation to people who are "away from home". However, this definițion of the"Hospitality Industry" only satisfies most situations.

Characteristics of the Hospitality Industry. 

1. Intangible
2. Inseparability
3. Variability 
4. Perishability
5. Heterogeneity
6. Labour Intensive
7. Relationship Building
8. Diversity in Culture etc.

• Intangibility: Service cannot be seen, tasted, heard, or smelled and measured before they are received. So, hospitality service staffs should give special attention to personalizing service etiquette, hospitality conversation. quality of service equipment. friendly environment as well as the quality of products. Here. the customers just feel and have experience of services provided by Service stalls. Intangibility refers to functional services that count more than tangible or technical service. the tangible refers to what we serve and intangible refers to how we serve. If the guests are satisfied with the products and services they come back again and again. 

• Inseparability: During the guest's service in the hospitality industry, the service staffs perform as an actor on the stage. They possess high skills by handling the equipment to provide tangible services. Therefore. service cannot be separated from the service providers. sometimes guests also are involved in the preparation of products and services. They entertain when they involve in the preparation of products and services. 

• Variability: Services have highly variąbility the same room or food gives a different level of satisfaction with the different customers at different times so the guests can have different experiences. The same guest receives different feelings at different times. The quality of service does not only depend upon what we serve also depends on how we serve. And also depends upon how the customer receives it. 

• Perishability: In the hospitality industry. service cannot be stored because they are highly perishable. Unused 'service of today cannot be sold the next day; the guest's rooms of hotels are highly perishable. They cannot be stored to sell the next day. Hospitality services have a time frame for utilization. 

• Heterogeneity: In hospitality. the system of products and services may vary from one to another establishment. This is the essence of hospitality. So, the guests have various options to choose from. The same soup offered by hotel A may be different from hotel B. the same type of guest room offered by hotel A may have different amenities that hotel B. The facilities, the methods of preparation. the brand, the service staff, the complementary offered to play a vital role in the guest's reaction.

• Labor Intensive: Since the hospitality industry is service-oriented in its' nature, it requires a huge supply of labor to create a memorable experience for the customers. This characteristic is especially true for those enterprises which target high-ended customers. For example, staff-to-guest ratios are high in fine dining restaurants and 5-star hotels which aimed at providing one-on-one services to their customers. Although the advancement in technology does contribute to the replacement of some simple tasks in the whole service process, customers who concern the element of 'care' generally expect a high degree of human contacts and personalized services in their consumption experiences. It explains why the industry is always in high demand for labor and is willing to spend time and resources in training and recruiting potential candidates to join the workforce of the hospitality industry. KNOW ABOUT THE AUTHOR!

• Relationship Building: The hospitality industry highly depends on repeated customers for survival. Building long term relationships with customers can benefit the organizations for generating stable revenues regardless of the instability of seasons and at the same time, developing brand reputations through positive word-of-mouth of the repeated customers. In order to develop brand loyalty, different methods are currently applied by the lodging and foodservice sectors, such as membership programs that give privileges and incentives to frequent customers. However, top management of organizations does believe that the informal ways of building "friendship" between front-line staff and customers through a high degree of personal attention and customization can win the loyalty of customers in the long run.

• Diversity in Culture: closely related to the tourism industry, it is not surprising that people involved in this hospitality sector, no matter customers or staff are experiencing diversity in culture through interacting with others. Staffs who work in a hospitality organization always have interactions with customers from different regions or to work and corporate with other colleagues who may have different backgrounds cultures. Due to their differences in religious beliefs and values, some conflicts and misunderstandings can easily occur. Therefore, staff should be open-minded and come up with solutions together in resolving problems in their duties. For example: From the customers' perspective, some of them abstain from meat due to their religious beliefs or habit. Therefore, restaurants should provide vegetarian food as an option in order to satisfy their needs.

What can you become by studying Tourism and Hospitality?