TOURISM

International Hospitality Management

[Writer's University]

Table of Content

Introduction1

Opportunities Available to Hospitality Companies1

Online Travel Agents2

Fastbooking Hotels and Travelport3

Geographical Expansion in BRIC Countries3

Accor Group4

Information Technology4

Innovative Expansions by Companies5

Business Travel5

Gogobot5

Hipmunk6

Hotel Tonight6

Back-Bid6

Challenges Faced by the International Hospitality Industry7

Branding and Reputation7

Safety and Security7

Strategic Risk7

Perils of Technology8

Airline Industry8

Country Risk8

Human Resources8

Currency Risk9

Environmental Risk9

Case Studies9

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Switzerland10

The Savoy, London10

Doubletree by Hilton, Chester11

Comfort Hotel Lille, France11

Conclusion12

References14

Bibliography15

International Hospitality Management

Introduction

The international tourism industry is the movement of travellers and the reception and entertainment of travellers away from their home country. Whereas, the hospitality industry, refers to the wide category of companies that fall under the service industry. It includes restaurants, hotels, event planning, motels, cruise line, theme parks, and additional areas within the tourism industry. This industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that largely depends on the availability of disposable income and leisure time. People leave their home, neighbourhood, work and routine to experience something new and worthy of their money. A warm reception, cosy and comfortable rooms, elegant and lavish dining, and full on entertaining and recreational activities, are what they expect and deserve. This is the case in the majority of the tourists except those who are for a business or any other purpose. Even they prefer privacy, luxury and comfort (Walker, 2009, p.125). All these points have loaded the hospitality industry with attractive and numerous opportunities. At the same time, it is bombarded with a number of challenges posed in availing those opportunities. The prime opportunity lies in international expansion of business, but one need to perform a careful assessment of the risk factors before moving in a new geography.

Opportunities Available to Hospitality Companies

People move from their permanent residence to their destination by various modes of transportation. From horse-drawn chariots in the Roman Empire to mail coaches in England and Wales in the eighteenth century to modern jet airplanes, the development of transportation has made a tremendous impact on the changing landscape of the international hospitality industry.

Speed and accessibility are two contributions that modern transportation has made to the rise of international travel and tourism. Speed of movement is a very important aspect of international travel because of the time-constraint factor that the tourists face. The jet passenger aircraft, the automobile, the cruise ship, and the high speed train have redrawn the map for travel and tourism since World War II. Price and service competition has also emerged in this era of economical income and economic crisis (Barrows, 2009, p.97). People prefer companies offering cheaper prices yet quality service. These factors have paved way for numerous opportunities for this industry.

Online Travel Agents

The functions of technology have impacted almost every industry, including the international tourism industry. The trend of Online travel agents is increasing at a very fast pace. They extract low rates from the company, charge excessive commission and hold too much power in the inventory and price management of hotels. Regardless of all these facts, the reality is that every hotel needs them. They are a significant part of an integrated online marketing ...