Hospitability can be understood as the practice or deed of being hospitable. In simple words, it represents the relation that exists between a host and a guest.
It involves the entertainment and greeting of visitors, guests, or strangers. Hospitality has a great significance in places like resorts, convention centers, membership clubs, special events, etc., where hospitality services are provided to visitors and travelers.
According to the Oxford Quick Reference Dictionary, hospitality is the “Friendly and generous reception and entertainment of ‘guests or strangers’ or kindness in welcoming guests or strangers”.
According to Oxford English Dictionary, Variant terms, such as the word ‘hospitable’ is defined in very similar terms to ‘hospitality’ as ‘offering or affording welcome and entertainment to strangers of persons, of things, feelings, qualities, etc. disposed to receive or welcome kindly; open and generous in mind or disposition, hence hospitableness’.
Within the service industry, the hospitality industry includes a wide range of arenas that involves restaurants, theme parks, lodging, event planning, cruise lines, transportation, and other fields of the tourism industry.
The availability of disposable income and leisure time form the basis of the hospitality industry which is a huge industry in terms of monetary value.
Every single unit of the hospitality industry, be it a theme park or a restaurant, may have facility maintenance staff, direct operators (kitchen staff, bartenders, housekeepers, etc.), marketing, HR, and management.
The hospitality industry is considered as one of the most enduring industries it entails food, accommodation, and beverages for business people as well as for tourists.
Under this industry, there is a continuous and never-ending demand; but individual businesses may face common challenges.
Continuous infrastructure development is playing a crucial role in the growth of the food and lodging sector.