Managing the Hospitality Experience - Assignment Example

Managing the Hospitality Experience - Assessment #3 - Project Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date Table of Contents Managing the Hospitality Experience - Assessment #3 - Project 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Analysis 3 Q1 3 Q2 5 Q3 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction The hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. This is due to the sharp increases in the movement of people around the world either for business or for leisure. With the growth in the industry, several changes have occurred in the industry which deviates from what hospitality stands for. Ideally, the need for the maximization of profits by the players in the industry has resulted to an improper redefining of hospitality. The following report will give an insight into hospitality management with reference to three crucial aspects of the industry namely the definition of tourism, the different expectations and cultures of different people and globalization of food consumption Analysis Q1 The definition of hospitality has been in contention over a long time. This is due to the fact that different people have varying perceptions as to what hospitality is. According to Lashley, hospitality is the act of giving a guest a feeling that the host is hospitable via acts and feelings of generosity, high regard of the guest and a motive to please from the host. According to Lashley, hospitability is about giving an experience to a guest, not just proving him/ her with a service or product. With respect to it being an experience, it is usually supposed to be the feeling that is left in a guest after he/ she has moved out of the location/ place where he/she is hosted (Hemmington, 2007, p.9). For example, an experience to remember is supposed to be left in the minds of guests who stay in a hotel, not just the quality meals that were served and the executive rooms. It is about the feelings that the guests are left with after their stay. Hospitality is also referred to as a behavior. This is due to the fact that it is all about pleasing the guest, being generous to the guest and regarding him/ her highly. Moreover, since hospitality is about giving an experience to the customer, there is also a need to establish and maintain a relationship with the guest. Generally, it is common for a guest to call back a host who was hospitable to him/ her. This is due to the relationship which was established between the host and the guest. However, this is not the case in the hospitality industry. The modern industry is driven by profit maximization; hence the true meaning of hospitality has been lost in between. Due to this, the hospitality which Lashley talks about; generosity, high regard of the guest and pleasing the guest is no longer achievable. In place of it, is commercial hospitality which is associated with economic rationalization, performative behavior and regulation. Economic rationalization involves the improvement of processes and activities in the hospitality industry with an intention of ensuring that the industry becomes more efficient economically (Dickinson & Deyhimi, 2005, p.149). An example of a rationalization process is the assessment of the taxes and levies which are imposed on the hospitality industry, changing hospitality organization’s policies in order to incorporate more economically efficient mechanisms for instance the laying off of workers. Due to the economic rationalization, hospitality loses its meaning (Hemmington, 2007, p.9).The regulation of the hospitality industry either by the industry’s governing bodies or by the general government has also led to hospitality losing its meaning. Generally, it is not right and logical to dictate how a guest should be served. Centrally to this, the host is supposed to give the guest as much as he/she can be able to offer. However, the regulation of the industry has left the hospitality at the mercy of the market forces brought about by regulation; instead of being driven by the need to give a guest an experience. Lastly, the rise of performative behavior in hospitality has come about with the loss of the true meaning of hospitality. Performative behaviors are ‘acts’ which are meant to give an impression of something. Therefore, performative behaviors in hospitality are behaviors which are meant to make a customer feel as if the host is hospitable, while in reality the vice versa is true. Performative behaviors are profit oriented; hence do not have the interests of the guest at heart. Therefore, it will be appropriate to concur with Lashley that the hospitality has lost its true meaning, that ‘hospitality requires the guest to feel that the host is being hospitable through feelings of generosity, a desire to please and a genuine regard for the guest as an individual’ Q2 The hospitality industry is an open one, meaning that anyone on the globe can access any hotel, resort, game reserve or any other hospitability organization. Therefore, the industry is open to people from all over the world, which bring with them different cultures, and expectations of what hospitability should be. For this reason, it is important that the customer service in a hospitability organization ensures that it has appropriate measures in place so as to ensure that they take into consideration the various demands demanded from them by their guests. For instance, a guest from French guest comes from a culture where alcohol is highly valued. For this reason, he/ she expect that a prospective host will have considered including alcoholic drinks in his/ her meals. As a result of this, the guest will view the host as a hospitable one. However this might not be the case in modern day hospitality. This is due to the fact that many of the products and services offered in most organizations is customer driven/ based. This means that it is the customer who dictates what he / she is to be hosted with. This totally makes hospitality lose its meaning. Looking at hospitality from a layman’s point of view, one acknowledges that fact that a guest is not supposed to dictate what he/she is supposed to be served with, but rather the host should assess what the customer specifically needs hence providing him/ her with it. It is only when the host is able to meet the expectations of the customer that he/ she is able to give him or her an experience rather than a service (Hemmington, 2008, p.14). Therefore a good customer service is necessary to ensure that the host is able to take into consideration the different cultures, expectations and ideals of prospective guests (Thio, 2005,p.1). Generally, a good customer service should start with the ideology of a host and a guest as opposed to that one of a manager and a customer. With such a customer service, the host will be able to treat a guest as an individual, hence being able to give take into account the culture, expectations and ideals which each of the customers hold. For instance, a good customer’s service should have different products which are specifically targeted to a specific group of customers on offer. For example, taking reference to a restaurant and accommodation service which is religion sensitive, meals for Muslim should not include pork and their rooms should have mats which are conducive for the guests to have prayers on, on the other hand, a product for Hindus should not include beef among others. While an organization is able to take care of the different cultures, beliefs and expectations which different people have, it will be able to show hospitality to its guests. Generally, a good customer service in the hospitality industry is that which meets the expectations of a customer. It should be based on a guest- host relationship; hence the host (organization) is able to meet the personal expectations of the guest (customer) in line with the guest’s culture, hence giving the guest an experience to remember. Q3 Globalization is the integration of economic and social lifestyles of people in the world. Globalization has of late become a very important aspect in the world. Via its influences, globalization has its benefits in addition to some disadvantages. One of the areas which have been impacted by globalization is food consumption (Mak, Lumbers & Eves, 2012, p.141). With the increasing trends in globalization, different cultures are integrating and in the process integrating several aspects of their cultures with foods consumption being one of them. One of the aspects which have come about as a result of globalization is the development of global food. This has been made possible by the internationalization of food service industries for instance McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and pizza nut. With the internationalization of firms, there is the homogenization of foods. For instance, the type of foods serve a t a McDonalds outlet in America are the same as the ones save at an outlet in Australia or any other part of the world. For instance, one will get burgers and fries in the USA and also in Australia and so on. This homogenization of foods throughout the world is therefore brought about by trade. Another impact of globalization of food consumption is on local foods. Generally, guests always desire to be served with local delicacies of the places where they visit. However, globalization is posing a big threat to local foods (FAO, 2004, p.12). This is due to the fact that globalization tends to bring in other ways of doing things and with respect to food, it tends to bring in foreign food. However, hospitality has to have an aspect of local foods in it due to the reason stated earlier that guest normally prefer to be served with local delicacies from the places where they visit. Some of the local foods include the local wine of the Barossa Valley, Chinese food and fufu in West Africa. Another aspects associate with globalization of food consumption is the fusion of foods. For instance, it is a very common scenario in the modern times to be served with a mixed cuisine which is composed of delicacies from several regions and cultures, for example the making of Italian Pasta using Asian Spices. The fusion of foods gives rise to fused foods which are also a threat to local foods. Therefore, globalization is leading to the homogenization of foods, which is a result of the integration of various cultures. Conclusion In conclusion, it has been seen from this report that hospitality management has drastically changed from the true meaning of hospitality. On the first part, the report talks about the commercialization of human feelings for maximization of profits. From this part, it is seen that hospitality should be about taking the guest/ customer through and experience which will remain rooted in his mind for times to come. On the second part, the report analyses move towards profit which the hospitality industry has taken hence leading to the development of economic rationalism, regulation and performative behavior in the industry. The report has noted that this is a bad move since it makes hospitality to lose its meaning. The last section talks about the globalization of food consumption. From this section, it is noted that globalization factor has given rise to global foods for instance via global food chains like McDonalds. Globalization has also posed a threat to local foods. Lastly, it has led to the fusion of foods as different cultures integrate. Generally, globalization is leading to a homogenization of foods. Summing it up, it is seen from this report that the management of hospitality organization need to redefine hospitality, hence being able to meet the expectations of the customers. References Dickinson, C., & Deyhimi, C., 2005. Application Rationalization in the Hospitality Industry, Hospitality Upgrade, pp.148-149 Hemmington, N., 2007. From Service to Experience; understanding and defining the hospitality business, The Service Industries Journal, Vol.27, no. 6, pp.1-19 FAO, 2004. Globalization Of Food Systems In Developing Countries: Impact On Food Security And Nutrition, FAO, pp.1-107 Hemmington, N., 2008. From Service to Experience; Understanding The Role Of People In The Tourism Business, Caribbean Tourism Human Resources Think-Tank, 1-29 Mak, A., Lumbers,M., & Eves, A., 2012. Globalization and food Consumption in Tourism, Annals Tourism Journal, Vol.39, no.1, pp.171-196 Thio, S., 2005. Understanding Hospitality activities, social private and commercial domain, Journal of Management of Hotels, Vol.1, no.1, pp.1-5 Read More