The term hospitality can be defined as an economic activity that involves providing services like travel, restaurant, accommodation and entertainment (Wee, 2017). Although, hospitality provides vacation and leisurely experiences to the tourists who visit different places, while responding everybody’s needs, hotels, restaurants and airline companies have to rely heavily on customers feedback. According to Batinic (2013), “hospitality is a complex production service economic activity which besides accommodation, food and beverages offers a variety of complementary and ancillary services in order to meet modern needs, demands and desires of tourist’s customers”. With constant shifts in trends and economic landscapes, people are gradually considering spending their incomes on leisurely travel. Consequently, hotels and tourism industry are becoming more competitive as guests seems more demanding than ever before in this 21st century. Customers value their money and seek outstanding experiences through appropriate selection of customer service with enhanced media and technology (Wee, 2017).
According to Rao (2014), advancement in information technology over last twenty years have brought great transformation as well as benefits to hospitality sector. There are many websites like Booking.com, Expedia. Com, Hotel.com, etc. that provides platforms to customers for accessing and comparing information about hotels and restaurants. However, with growth of myriad websites for booking hotels including air tickets, car hiring, guided tour packages and many other offerings, challenges to existing hospitality industries have emerged form this new trend. Role of agents are diminishing where companies now deals with customers directly by making direct marketing through service providers. For example, Starwood Hotels and Resorts keyless entry systems that allows consumers use their smartphones to make interaction during booking and checking in while bypassing customer desk directly to their rooms (Lam & Ho, 2015).
Consumers on the other hand benefits through on-line response and direct discounts through advance bookings. This means, not only customers get planned holidays in convenient manner but also shop for best deals by making close comparisons (Rao, 2014). On the other hand, website operators and service providers are collaborating among themselves to find means to differentiate with each other’s before appealing to their customers. For this, service providers and hotels provide with discounts and special offers like loyalty programs to attract customers. For example, Marriot group of Hotels introduced “Travel Brilliantly” promotional campaign in their website through which customers are provided with information’s regarding past innovations and future developments that are in process. This website records opinions and provided by customers that can influence crowdsourcing on behalf of promotional campaign made online (Marriott International, 2018).
The role of social media in emerging trend cannot be ignored as more and more consumers are getting depended on it before making any purchases. Nevertheless, the question that arises here is whether social media tools prove effective in achieving company goals? According to Yazdanifard and Yee (2014), the major change in trend of consumers buying behaviour is due to social networking sites that provides consumers with platforms to get connected with other consumers for sharing personal experiences. The extensive growth of users in social sites have impacted tourism and hospitality sector also whereby the rule of marketing has seen considerable changes in past few years. To remain sustainable in business, hospitality industries needs taking decisions based on consumers’ choices and societal needs while keeping in accord to advanced technology and development. Robotics and advanced media have already taken place for basic interactions and communications with consumers to offer patient and improved chat efficiency (Kirá?ová & Pavlí?eka , 2015). These technologies provide consumers with prompt answers to their enquiries along with making auto updates to the responses made between consumers and hotels. Although social media have affected immensely, the negative response of it have also affected many hotel and airline industries. Any bad comment or unfriendly experience made on social media affects company’s sales directly. And thus, companies need to respond immediately to such comments before it gets spread and creates havoc ( Yazdanifard & Yee , 2014).
According to Wee (2014), enhanced transportation and better transport facilities have been recognised in many developing countries. Budget airlines are being set up while making travelling experience better and in cost effective manner. In addition, accessing to tourist sites and developed transportation agencies, consumers are getting travelling experiences like never before. Travel companies have started providing complimentary and integrative transport service where airports are inter-connected with highways and railway networks to provide tourists with enhanced transportation facility. For example, countries like Asia and China are enhancing their transport services by planning high-speed metro-rails that connects airports to the suburbs and cities. This emerging trend not only boosts country’s tourist industry, but also promotes regional and domestic tourism (Marvel, 2016).
Hotels are considered as another home for vacation tourists that needs to be quite safe and hygienic. Safety issues can be divided into three categories: security, safety and privacy. Hotel industry and restaurants are vulnerable to these issues and with changing trends more and more customers seek getting all the three safety measures fulfilled by service providers. Along with it, healthy eating has also become priority among consumers as people have realised that health related issues are mostly associated with contemporary lifestyles. It can be said that interest in healthy food and living standards have proved escalating for hospitality sector that have emerged in last few decades (OA, 2017). Hotels and restaurants are therefore under pressure to make use of quality tested and organic food products to be used for consumption. According to Gagic (2015), “healthy food could have a significant effect on customer perceived evaluation of the restaurant experience”. These trends have undoubtably impacted foodservice operations as there are many barriers in making local purchases of retail food for big enterprises. However, to remain in the business, many companies are implementing serving of organic food that can make them differentiated in the marketplace and provide themselves with competitive advantage through customer satisfaction.
Entertainment in hospitality sector is considered as prime factor for which consumers spend leisurely amount. In recent years, hospitality industries have made several changes in their operations according to the ever-changing demands of customers and preferences for well-equipped stay facility. To make customer experiences as a stress reliver and fulfilling their desire for improved quality, many hotels have equipped themselves with spa and wellness methods that provides customers with soothing and relaxing moments. To distinguish themselves from the others, many hotels use the word ‘Boutique Hotels’ that includes modern and trendy interiors and infrastructure to meet latest trend in hospitality industry. There are many luxury chains of hotels who provides with exclusive lounge bars, furnished interiors with detail, and excellent range of food products. These hotels are usually situated in the city outskirts generally beside lakes and mountains to provide consumers with additional site-seeing facilities (Batini?, 2013).
Conclusion
Hospitality is an economic activity that offers services related to travel, accommodation, food and entertainment to meet demands of consumers. New emerging trends have made many companies change its business strategies especially the ones dealing in hospitality sector due to immense changes in consumers behaviour. Business developments in hotel and tourism companies must meet the needs of global market with implementation of enhanced and innovative business marketing and services tools that are capable enough to attract customers in effective manner. Contemporary managers and hospitality service providers are acquiring latest knowledge related to their industry to satisfy ever changing customer needs to remain sustainable in competitive market of hospitality sector.
References
Batini?, I., 2013. Current Trends in Hospitality Industry. Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International , 01(04), pp. 91-95.
Gagi?, S., 2015. New trends in restaurant industry: serving locally produced and organic food. Serbia, s.n.
Kirá?ová, A. & Pavlí?eka , A., 2015. Development of Social Media Strategies in Tourism Destination. International Conference on Strategic Innovative Marketing, pp. 358-366.
Lam, C. & Ho, B. K., 2015. How can Asian hotel companies remain internationally competitive?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(05), pp. 827-852.
Marriott International, 2018. Awards and Recognition. [Online]
Available at: https://news.marriott.com/p/awards-and-recognition/
[Accessed 23 08 2018].
Marvel, M., 2016. The Hotel Distribution Report, UK: HotelAnalyst.
OA, A., 2017. Impact of Safety Issues and Hygiene Perceptions on Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study of Four and Five Star Hotels in Aqaba, Jordan. Journal of Tourism Research & Hospitality , 06(01), pp. 01-07.
Rao, R., 2014. Emerging Trends in Hospitality and Tourism. International Journal of Research-Granthaalayah, 01(01), pp. 01-08.
Wee, c. H., 2017. Emerging Trends in Tourism: Opportunities, Challenges and Implications. Journal of Tourism & Hospitality, 06(06), pp. 1-5.
Yazdanifard, R. & Yee , . L. . T., 2014. Impact of Social Networking Sites on Hospitality and Tourism Industries. Global journal of Human-Social Science: E Economics, 14(08).
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