MNG10723 Hospitality History Politics and Culture

Tourists are people from different homes, and in most cases, they seek hospitality services that are on the same level which the ones they receive at home or at a higher level. To better understand the influence of home in the decision-making process of the tourists, there is a dire need to understand some of the crucial terms in the hospitality industry (Patiar and Mia, 2015). The first term is home. A home is a place that plays host to a group of people who are biologically related or matrimonially related. Therefore, home can be referred to as the place where every person goes after a day of work or other activities. The second essential term is hospitality. Hospitality refers to as the attitude or treatment that people or a person give to others (Xiang et al. 2017). Good hospitality is likely to attract many people to a person or an institution. Hospitality is divided into different categories, but the primary two are the hospitality that one receives at home for free and the hospitality that is influenced by money.  

Hospitality at home can be referred to as the treatment and attitude that one receives from the family members. A good example can be seen to the case where a visitor pays a visit to family friends. When the visitor is treated well, the hospitality is, but when the person is neglected, the hospitality given to that person is not admirable. Commercial hospitality refers to the care and services that a person receives in a service providing organization for a specific amount of money (Patiar and Mia, 2015). For example, the hospitality that is provided in hotels and restaurants in commercial hospitality. The reason behind it is because after the customer is offered the services, he or she is expected to pay something in return thus making it more commercial than just an act of goodwill.

Home is a broad concept in the hospitality industry, and that is one of the reasons why it influences the choices of the tourists. Home comes along with different feelings in the mind of the tourists (Mansour and Ariffin, 2017). The first feeling is associated with the security aspect. When people are in their homes, they feel secure. Secondly, they feel attached to other members of the family. Thirdly, home comes along with the sense of belonging thus making people feel part and parcel of the entire family.

The idea of home influences the tourists on where to travel because they intend to get a home treatment or even better. The location plays a significant role when one is planning on where to visit. The location that the tourists are traveling to must provide the satisfaction that makes them feel like they are at home (Bell, 2016). The case is realistic in a real-life situation because most of the tourists rarely visit the nations that are faced with challenges for fun. The reason behind it is because these locations do not resemble the atmosphere of the tourists' homes.

The authenticity of a location affects the accommodation choices of the tourists, and this is because the tourists want to be hosted by hotels that are authentic. The hospitality industry has advanced by a significant percentage. Therefore, it means that technology has taken center stage and that is affecting the industry both negatively and positively. When it comes to the negative aspect, the hotels can use the technological ways to lie about their facilities and the quality standards of the hotel (Brotherton, 2015). Tourists are affected by authenticity in different ways. The first way is associated with the aspect of being provided with information that is not factual. As a result, the tourists end up changing their choices of accommodation. However, if the information provided and the service provided are in line with each other, then the authenticity aspect cannot be doubted (Xiang et al. 2017). Tourists are affected by the authenticity of a hospitality organization, and the level of authenticity dictates if the tourist will choose one accommodation area or the other.

The safety of a place dictates whether the tourists will choose to have accommodation in the same location or not. One of the reasons why the tourists look for hospitality organizations that can provide them with safety is because home and safety go hand in hand. Therefore, it is apparent that if the level of safety at a destination is compromised, the tourists are likely to look for alternative accommodation (Breakey et al. 2014). However, when the level of security is high, the tourists are not given a reason to seek for the services of a different organization for accommodation.

Contemporary forms of commercial accommodation can provide an opportunity for the tourists to find places with meaningful experiences because of the tools that they use to reach the customers. In the sharing economy, online methods of reaching the customers are widely used (Baum et al. 2016). Online methods of reaching the customers have their fair share of giving the customers or rather tourists a wide variety of choices to make when it comes to choosing a destination of their choice (Taheri et al. 2017). Meaningful experiences in hospitality are promoted by the availability of a wide variety of options to choose from. A good example can be seen in the case of a family that has the plans of visiting the wildlife in Africa. The best place to tour is that which is secure and also provides services that are suitable for all members of the family. In this respect, the family would try to know more about the type of the company that can provide services that are meaningful (Andriotis and Agiomirgianakis, 2014). With the help of online sources, the family can access information on the hotels that are likely to provide services that are in line with the needs of the family members. When there are sources of information or channels of information that help the customers to know more about the products they need, it is evident that the sources and channels provide more opportunities for the customers to have access to meaningful experiences.

The traditional accommodation providers have the choice of reimaging their products or embracing the advancements of technology that are taking place in the accommodation sector. The new forms of accommodation have been able to win the hearts of the customers by reimaging their products (Mansour and Ariffin, 2017). The forms of accommodation have changed from being organizations that provide care and services to the customers for profits purposes to organizations that try to give the customers the experience of being home. The traditional accommodation providers, therefore, need to look into ways of reimaging their services (Schuckert et al. 2014). They can do so by aligning their services and accommodation with the home set up. The reason behind it is because most of the customers in the hospitality industry want to have a sense of home even when they are miles away from homes.

Technology is one of the reasons as to why the new forms of accommodation are excelling. The traditional accommodation providers must understand that after reimaging their products, there is a dire need to reach the customers. Most customers have been provided with opportunities of having meaningful experiences because they have been exposed to accommodation services on the online platforms (Pike and Bianchi, 2016). Therefore, it means that if the traditional service providers fail to reach as many customers as possible, they might not be able to excel. After reimaging their products and services, the traditional accommodation providers must look for ways to inform the customers that they are doing well to make sure that the needs of the customers are met. By informing the customers, the traditional accommodation providers give the customers a choice to seek their services or to seek the services of other hotels (Van der Wagen and Goonetilleke, 2015). At the same time, when the traditional accommodation providers advance technologically, they stand a chance to compete with their counterparts, and that means that their sales and profits are likely to be affected positively.

References

Andriotis, K. and Agiomirgianakis, G., 2014. Market escape through exchange: Home swap as a form of non-commercial hospitality. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(7), pp.576-591.

Baum, T., Cheung, C., Kong, H., Kralj, A., Mooney, S., Ramachandran, S., Dropuli? Ruži?, M. and Siow, M.L., 2016. Sustainability and the tourism and hospitality workforce: A thematic analysis. Sustainability, 8(8), p.809.

Bell, D., 2016. Moments of hospitality. In Mobilizing Hospitality (pp. 29-44). Routledge.

Breakey, N.M., Robinson, R.N. and Brenner, M.L., 2014. Approaches in the design and delivery of hotel/hospitality management undergraduate degree programmes within Australia. The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education, p.305.

Brotherton, B., 2015. Researching hospitality and tourism. Sage.

Mansour, J.S. and Ariffin, A.A.M., 2017. The effects of local hospitality, commercial hospitality and experience quality on behavioral intention in cultural heritage tourism. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 18(2), pp.149-172.

Patiar, A. and Mia, L., 2015. Drivers of hotel departments' performance: evidence from Australia. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 14(3), pp.316-337.

Pike, S. and Bianchi, C., 2016. Destination brand equity for Australia: testing a model of CBBE in short-haul and long-haul markets. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 40(1), pp.114-134.

Schuckert, M., Liu, X. and Law, R., 2015. Hospitality and tourism online reviews: Recent trends and future directions. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 32(5), pp.608-621.

Taheri, B., Farrington, T., Gori, K., Hogg, G. and O’Gorman, K.D., 2017. Escape, entitlement, and experience: liminoid motivators within commercial hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(4), pp.1148-1166.

Van der Wagen, L., and Goonetilleke, A., 2015. Hospitality Management, Strategy, and Operations. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Xiang, Z., Du, Q., Ma, Y. and Fan, W., 2017. A comparative analysis of major online review platforms: Implications for social media analytics in hospitality and tourism. Tourism Management, 58, pp.51-65.