Investigation of Current and Emerging Issues in Hospitality and Tourism - Coursework Example

INVESTIGATION OF CURRENT AND EMERGING ISSUES IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM by Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Introduction This is an essay that seeks to find current trends in hospitality and tourism. Hospitality and tourism are two terms that occur together and that rely on each other. Tourism has to depend on hospitality for its success. This is because hospitality involves kindness to a large extent. Tourism deals with quite a range of activities from treating foreign visitors to treating local tourists well. Tourism has to largely rely on hospitality in order it can thrive well and attract more tourists. It also has to rely on hospitality in order to build a large market and a large base of customers or tourists who rely on the services offered by the tourism sector. Hospitality and tourism has become a major economic sector in most countries e.g. Australia. As more tourists’ stream in Australia so does the tourism sector relies on hospitality to make the foreigners feel at home and well treated. Tourism is a leisure activity in extent; it’s a global leisure activity. The tourism and hospitality sector however, faces enormous challenges depending on the country. Two of the major problems or challenges that the sector is facing are shortage in labour and skills. The second problem is global financial crisis. This essay will look at current and emerging issues in reference to those two problems I have stated. The essay will however, first of all try to look and understand what hospitality and tourism means. Hospitality and Tourism Tourism involves travelling for frivolous, vacation or business purposes. Tourists are also defined as people who travel and stay in places that are not their actual environments for more than one consecutive year for either frivolous, vacation or business purposes. Tourism is an old sector that dates as back to years when Europeans in form of explorers would visit countries as they explored nature. It has become a popular leisure activity in modern years. Tourism is of vital importance to most countries. In deed most countries have to rely on tourism for them to thrive economically (Stephen 2008). It brings in very huge amounts of income through acquirement of goods and services. Tourism also affects and influences social, educational, economic and cultural sectors in various societies. Tourism in other words comprises activities and industries that bring in experiences in travelling to people and individuals who wish to travel beyond the environment they are living for leisure purposes (Bruce 2008). There are various business sectors that are linked to the tourism sector. They include: transport, food and drinks, entertainment, facilities for different activities, hospitality services and accommodation. There are three different kinds of tourists. We have domestic tourists which refer to local people or residents in any given country who just travel within the country (Ricky 2010). In Australia for example, a person who travels just within Australia for purpose of leisure and entertainment or other purposes besides business are local or domestic tourists. The second form or kind of tourism is inbound tourism which refers to foreigners or non-locals who travel in the country they are living. Lastly we have an outbound tourist which refers to locals or residents travelling in other countries. International tourism has over the years rose with the year 2012 striking figures of 1.035 billion tourists worldwide. The tourism sector has however been hampered by massive problems from terrorism to financial global crisis (Chen 2010). Hospitality refers to the link between guests and hosts. Hospitality is an act of being hospitable. It entails the treatment and entertainment of people e.g. tourism. Hospitality has largely been used to refer to good manners and entertainment. It is generally about respecting guests or in this case tourists and also providing for their needs. Hospitality may show a discrepancy in the degree or manner to which one should show hospitality to tourists depending on cultures. Hospitality also involves or incorporates hospitality ethics that entail the usage of hospitality (Gaughan 2010). Hospitality is old and dates back to ancient Greeks in which ancient Greeks adhered to hospitality as a divine right. To an extent like I just stated, hospitality has to look at different cultures, this thus makes it an artistic custom or value. Hospitality can be thus largely defined or studied as a social trend and may differ according to the region one is in. Hospitality is all about kindness. Success in the hospitality sector largely depends to how one or how one is treated hospitably (Chandana 2002). Tourism has to depend on hospitality. This is why the term hospitality and tourism is used. Tourists have to be treated well and with respect. They should also be protected from any kind of harm whatsoever. Tourists should also be provided for with anything that they might require in their stay as they travel and visit places. Tourism thus has to rely on hospitality (Hill 2007). This is also because tourists have to feel at home and enjoy services and their stay away from home. They must be provided for with an environment that is similar to their home environment, that is to say, they must be hoe away from home. Tourism also has to attract and ensure that tourists keep on flocking in the country or places that attract tourists. This is the reason as to why tourism has to depend on hospitality (George 2004). Hospitality is also to an extend more about ensuring that tourism in that specific country is marketed well globally. This can be seen for example, in Australia, hospitality has to be provided for in tourism in order to ensure that the tourism sector is well marketed not just locally but internationally. This in turn ensures that the economic and social gains from tourism do not dwindle or decrease but instead increase and benefits all. Hospitality and tourism also ensures that local tourists are proud of their countries and that they can enjoy what their country has to offer in terms of tourism (Frank 2000). Labour and Skills Shortage Shortage in labour and skills in the hospitality and tourism sector is a major setback or challenge to the sector (Hill 2007). It is major challenge that is facing the tourism sector or industry in Australia. Although the country is facing other challenges such as competition, health, risks, social issues, environmental issues, public accountability and government initiatives in the tourism industry, Australia is facing lots of problems when it comes to labour and skills. The government has even gone ahead and advertised international jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry. It has thus undertook steps that have helped to address the problem of shortage in labour and skills in the country by hiring and employing skilled people from overseas who can offer the necessary skills and labour. The government also supports the recruitment of native and disabled persons who wish to work in the tourism industry (John 2004). The government has also put in measures that ensure that employees’ incentives are increased as they take on apprentices. Australia is in this case thus experiencing contemporary and emerging trends in the tourism and hospitality industry. The trends involve the emergence of new markets in the hospitality and tourism industry. The new markets include “grey nomads” this refers to people who are travelling in Australia in leisure vehicles or convoys. The other emerging market is eco-tourism. Ecotourism is a current emerging issue or market in the tourism and hospitality industry due to the presence of tourism that is sustainable and which puts more emphasis on cultural and natural environments (Mothersill 2003). Tourism brings in around thirty five billion US dollars to the Australian economy. The government is thus alarmed by the high rate at which there is a shortage in labour and skills in the country. The government through its measures to address the problem enacted a tourism and hospitality strategy named as “National Long-term Tourism Industry.” What might be the reasons behind the current shortage in labour and skills in Australia? Some of the reasons as to why the country is facing a critical shortage in labour and skills are: the hospitality and tourism industry might be having a high turnover rate for staff. Another reason is that staff in the hospitality and tourism industry might not be taking it well that they have to over work. This means that working hours are increased and they thus have to work during holidays e.g. during Christmas, Easter e.t.c. most Australians love spending their free time during holidays to rest and be with their families (Peter 2009). The hospitality and tourism industry in most cases receives many tourists during the holidays. Employees thus have to work during holiday’s in-order to cater for the many tourists flocking the country. This may discourage people from working for the hospitality and tourism industry which eventually leads to a shortage in labour and skills in the industry. Another reason might be that more students are opting to enroll to universities rather than applying for apprenticeship after they are done with school. Most students want to go directly to the universities so that they can complete their education, they thus do not consider apprenticeship which may lead or contribute to a shortage of labour and skills in hospitality and tourism (Larry 2000). Global Financial Crisis Global Financial crisis is termed as a global economic turn down in the year 2007 and extended to the year 2008. Nearly every country in the global market was hit by the financial crisis. It is only a few countries e.g. China that did not perhaps experience or feel the effects of the global financial crisis. Businesses and various sectors were affected. Hospitality and tourism was not spared either and in Australia, the crisis affected the industry negatively. In Australia, the industry marked a decrease in the number of tourists visiting the country (Levinson 2006). This led to a decline in the amount of money injected to the overall economy through hospitality and tourism. The global financial crisis has been a major challenge facing the country and the only way to solve the problem is by solving the issue in a global context. This means that, it is beyond the power if the government of Australia to directly solve the challenge. Global financial crisis is also a big problem facing the country since when other countries are hit by the crisis then it means out bound tourism is affected. The country way that the challenge can be solved is by allowing or ensuring that local tourism increases in order to at least support the industry (Stephen 2008). Conclusion Hospitality and tourism is a major or important industry. It not only empowers a countries economy but it also enhances or ensures promotion of different cultures. Tourism involves travelling for frivolous, vacation or business purposes. Tourists are also defined as people who travel and stay in places that are not their actual environments for more than one consecutive year. People travelling far from the environment they are living for purposes of leisure or recreational activities are referred to as tourists. There are different kinds of tourists. Hospitality on the other hand refers to the link between guests and hosts. Hospitality is an act of being hospitable. It entails the treatment and entertainment of people e.g. tourism. Hospitality is also to an extend more about ensuring that tourism in that specific country is marketed well globally. This can be seen for example, in Australia, hospitality has to be provided for in tourism in order to ensure that the tourism sector is well marketed not just locally but internationally. The industry faces major problems and challenges. In Australia, hospitality and tourism faces a shortage of labour skills. The country’s hospitality and tourism also faces another challenge e.g. the global financial crisis. Reference List Bruce, P. 2008. Advances in tourism, Lea and Blanchard, New York. Chandana, J. 2002. Tourism and Hospitality, Nelson Thornes publishers, Cheltenham. Chen, J. 2010. Advances in Hospitality, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Christopher P. 2003. Classical reviews tourism, Carlisle Publishers, Boulevard. Frank, AG. 2000. A Guide to tourism, University of California Press, Chicago. Gaughan, P. 2010. Effective hospitality, John Wiley and Sons, New York. George, R. 2004. Advantages of tourism, Methuen, London. Hill, C. 2007. Relationship between tourism and hospitality, Cengage Learning, New York. John, C. 2004. Tourism issues in Pacific area, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Larry, D. 2000. Tourism, Open University Press, Buckingham. Levinson, J. 2006. Modern Tourism and Hospitality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Mothersill, M. 2003. Global tourism, Clarendon, Oxford. Peter, W. 2009. Tourism in Australia, Winthrop Publishers, Lanham. Ricky, G. 2010. Tourism Management, Open University Press, Buckingham. Stephen, C. 2008. Global financial crisis, Riverhead Publishers, New York. Read More