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Hospitality is defined by the
Oxford Dictionary as "the
friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests
or strangers." Any activity that entails treatment of customers as guests is
a part of the hospitality industry. The term hospitality is derived from
the Latin word "hospitalitem" meaning friendliness. Travel and tourism,
hotels and restaurants constitute a major portion of the hospitality industry.
The hotel industry is fairly well developed in India, and forms the pivot of
the hospitality business in the country.
As an example, the various jobs in the hotel industry are listed in Exhibit
1. One common characteristic of all these positions is the requirement
of skilled employees. The employee's skills are a key differentiator in
the quality of service delivery. Even at the entry level, the work requires the
employees to have both technical and people-related skills to a good
degree. The need for people-related skills among the employees is
much higher and far more important in the hospitality sector than in other
industries.
The hospitality industry is considered as one of the important sectors in
the Indian economy in terms of its contribution to GDP and employment
generation. Stable political conditions, FDI inflow, growth of the services
sector, infrastructure development and development of travel and
tourism are the key drivers for the growth of the hospitality industry. Given the
facilitating environment provided by the government, and the
initiatives taken by the private sector, the hospitality industry in India is expected
to grow at a compounded annual rate of 8% between the years 2007
and 2016. |
