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Origin of hospitality industry
India, home to the most ancient civilization of the
world, has regarded hospitality in its very own style
—“Athithi debo bhava—guests are like gods”.
Emanating from this ancient Sanskrit adage is the
bounded duty of every householder that required him
to meet the need of the travelling people with food
and shelter. Clearly, the origin of the word hospitality
—in its present connotation of providing shelter and
food for money—cannot be traced to India. Neither
do we have any credible evidence that the Greeks of
the ancient age had any hotels or inns; instead, the
travellers enjoyed the hospitality of private homes.
The history of hotels being inextricably linked to the
history of travel, we come across evidence that in the
Hebrew village of Judea, travellers camped in the open
spaces – much like the Bedouins of today, while for
the affluent among the travellers, brothels could be a
comfortable alternative. However, a perusal of the
etymology in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
shows that ‘hostel’, ‘hotel’ and hospitality have some
common etymology > ‘hospice’, which is a house of
rest and entertainment for the pilgrims, travellers, or
strangers. The OED further shows that such facilities
were in existence at least from the eleventh century,
the period which marks the culmination of the Dark
Age and upheaval that prevailed in Europe for about
500 years after the fall of the Roman Empire. This
period also marks the beginning of the Crusade when
Knights Hospitalers created shelters and hospices for
the Crusaders and the pilgrims to the Holy Land.
Different types of hotels and diversity of services
Hotel industry is known for its diversity and
multifarious services. As with their types — which
range from hotels to motels and boatels, and even
treetop hotels — the services provided also vary from
one segment to another of the industry. A small hotel
is known as an inn. Hotels located near highways,
providing parking space for the guests’ automobiles,
are called motels (motor hotels). Hotels providing
cheap accommodation with minimal services are
known as hostels.
Hotels are generally grouped into three main
categories :
● Commercial hotels : Such hotels mainly cater to
business clients and usually provide room service, coffeeshop,
dining room, cocktail lounge, laundry and valet
service as well as access to computers and fax services.
Commercial hotels, also called transient hotels, are
usually located within city boundaries and caters to
people travelling for business or pleasure. Motor hotels
or motels cater to the same group of people, but are often
situated near or along major highways.
● Resort hotels : Usually located at the sea or in
the mountains, resort hotels are the planned
destination of the vacationers. They may offer any
form of entertainment to keep their guests happy and
busy.
● Economy hotels : They provide a limited service
and are known for clean rooms at low prices meeting
just the basic needs of travellers.
● Airport hotels : The other types of hotels include
Airport hotels and Casino hotels. Airport Hotels are
located near airports and are a conveniently located
to provide any level of service from just a clean room
to room service and they may provide bus or luxury
transportation services to the airlines. Casino Hotels
are often quite luxurious. Their main purpose is in
support of the gambling operation. Casino hotels
often offer top name entertainment and excellent
restaurants.
● Conference centres : With the overarching
influence of globalization, yet another segment of the
hotel industry—the Conference Centres—are gaining
popularity among the business people. Conference
Centres are designed to specifically provide meeting
space for large groups; they provide all services and
equipment necessary to handle conventions.
Conventions constitute the most important source
of income for some hotels and motels. In the USA, for
example, it is estimated that some 10 million people
attend conventions each year. Conventions are also a
steady source of income both from sleeping
accommodations and from meeting rooms, which are
used for conferences and lectures. Dining facilities are
the source of additional revenue through the sale of
food and beverages. Local residents also use the
catering services, meeting rooms, and ballrooms for
social functions and business meetings.
People stay at hotels for a variety of reasons.
According to one source (Encyclopaedia Americana,
2006) in the United States, 23 percent of lodging
customers comprise people who attend conference;
business travellers comprise 22 percent; 32 percent
comprise the vacationers and 32 percent use hotels
for other reasons. 1 percent of the customers stay at
hotel while moving to a new job or residence.
People who travel outside their homes not only
require accommodation in the hotels, but they also
need a wide variety of services: food and beverage
services; entertainment and miscellaneous personal
services. According to the nature of service provided
hotels are categorized as full service hotels to bed and
breakfast (B & B) hotels. Most standard hotel services
include: foodservices, bars and lounges, healthcare,
recreation and leisure services, sports and recreation
The Management Accountant |September 2011 751