Modern Hotel Operations Management

Michael Chibili, Shane de Bruyn, Latifa Benhadda, Conrad Lashley, Saskia Penninga, Bill Rowson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781000036046
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Operations
• Index: Business

A comprehensive and wide-ranging introduction to operational hotel management, this textbook brings together business administration, management and entrepreneurship into a complete overview of the discipline. Essential reading for students of hospitality management, the book also benefits from online support materials.

1
The Hospitality Industry – Past, Present and Future

M. N. Chibili

1.1 Introduction

The history of the hospitality industry is closely linked to that of civilisation. It is a history that has evolved as major civilisations appeared and developed. Facilities offering hospitality to travellers and guests have existed across centuries; they have evolved in their offerings by constantly adapting to the wishes of their most important stakeholders. This chapter introduces the hospitality industry from the perspective of its evolution over time and covers its origins as far back as ancient times through its transformations during centuries of pre- and post-industrial revolution, eventually ending with a look at what the future holds for the industry.

1.2 History of the Hospitality Industry

services sector

The hospitality industry, which belongs to the larger business group called the travel and tourism industry, is found within the services sector. The hospitality industry, which, according to the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation, will be the world’s largest industry by 2020, generally includes the service organisations that cater to people’s needs for food, drinks, and accommodations, as well as recreation, travel and entertainment. To be able to better understand the complex world of the hospitality industry, it is necessary to trace its origins, which began in the early days of human civilisation, and to see how it has evolved to the present day.

1.2.1 The Origins of the Hospitality Industry

Inventions

Convenient places

There is evidence of the existence of the hospitality industry dating back far into ancient times. Such evidence can be traced back to around 4000 BC, and owes much to the Sumerians with their invention of writing (cuneiform), money, and the wheel. All these inventions permitted people to be able to move from place to place for pleasure, and be able to pay for any services received. Prior to these inventions, nomadic peoples travelled as a way of life, seeking out any conveniences from place to place. In those days, people travelled either on foot or on animals and as such could not cover great distances in a day. Upon nightfall, they would seek convenient places that could provide them with such basic necessities as water, food, fuel, and shelter. When they travelled in groups for safety purposes, these groups were called caravans. Figure 1.1 is an illustration of a combined caravan of horses and camels.

United Kingdom, London: The Russell Hotel

FIGURE 1.1 A caravan of horses and camels approaches Aleppo from the Mediterranean coast in the late seventeenth century, from Cornelis Le Bruyn, Voyage to the Levant (1702)

The distance that could be covered in a day depended on the mode of transport travellers were using. At points where they had to stop, lodging facilities tended to appear. These would have been known by different names in various parts of the world. Some examples include ryokan in Japan, dharamshala in India, pousadas in Portugal, hospitia in Italy, hôtel in France, inn in Europe as a whole, and relay houses in China.

Code of Hammurabi

Further evidence of the existence of the hospitality industry can be derived from the Code of Hammurabi, which was established around 1780 BC. As shown in the translation in the fragment in Figure 1.2, the code also included rules for tavern-keepers and inn-keepers on various issues.

Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon from 1792 BC to 1750 BC. The Code of Hammurabi (which meant ‘The Code henceforward’) was discovered by modern archaeologists in 1901. This nearly complete example of the Code is carved into a black diorite stele in the shape of a huge index finger 2.25 metres tall. The Code is inscribed in the Akkadian language using cuneiform script carved into the diorite stele. It is currently on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

FIGURE 1.2 Translated fragment from the Code of Hammurabi (Source: www.constitution.org)

1.2.2 Evolution of the Hospitality Industry through Time

Civilisations

As indicated in the previous section, the history of the hospitality industry is closely linked to the civilisations of the past. This section draws its inspiration from Levy-Bonvin’s (2013) article entitled Hotels: A brief history, as published in www.hospitalitynet.org. The Greeks developed thermal baths in villages designed for rest and recuperation, while the Romans developed an extensive network of roads throughout their empire. This extensive network of roads created the need for lodging facilities for travellers, which later culminated in the construction of mansions that catered to the needs of those travelling on imperial duty. The Romans also constructed thermal baths across their empire, which span across most of Europe and the Middle East.

Before the Industrial Revolution

Prior to the Industrial Revolution (which covered the period from 1750 to 1850), important hospitality industry-related events included the following:

• The construction of extensive networks of roads and lodging facilities by the Romans. They built some 10,000 inns stocked with food and beverages 25 miles apart, to aid their officials as they travelled across the Roman Empire.

Silk Road

• The appearance of caravanserais as resting places for caravans along the various routes of the Silk Road between Europe and Asia. An example of a caravanserai is that of Qalat el-Mudiq in Syria, shown in Figure 1.3.

FIGURE 1.3 The caravanserai in Qalat el-Mudiq, Syria

• Monasteries and abbeys became establishments that offered resting places for travellers on a regular basis.
• Relay houses were set up in China and Mongolia for travellers and couriers.
• Ryokans appeared during the Nara period (c. 700 Ad) in Japan; some of them have survived to date, such as the Nisiyama Onsen Keinkan in yamanashi, which was built around 705 Ad, and has been owned and operated by more than 52 different owners, or the Hoshi Ryokan in Ishikawa, which was built around 718 Ad, and has been owned and operated by the same family for 46 generations.
• In Europe, many inns appeared. These were relatively small and simple operations, basically fulfilling the housing needs of travellers by providing them with a spare room at a price. Some of these inns have remained famous to date, such as:
  • – The Angel Inn in Grantham, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, which was opened in 1203 and is regarded as the oldest surviving English inn. It was built as a hostel for the Brotherhood of the Knights Templar, and is today called the Best Western Angel and Royal Hotel.
  • – The Auberge Cour Saint George in Ghent, Belgium, which was opened in 1228, and is now called the Hotel Best Western Cour St. Georges.
  • – The Auberge Des Trois Rois in Basel, which was opened in 1681 as lodging for the gentry, and is now called the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois.

Laws

• Both in France and in England, laws were established which required hotels to keep a register of their visitors. Thermal spas were also constructed in both Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) and Marienbad in what is now the Czech Republic.
• during the 1500s, the first travellers’ guide books were published in France. Signs began to be used to identify those establishments that had something special to offer travellers.
• during the 1600s, stagecoaches that used a regular timetable began operating in England. This greatly changed the way people travelled, and also influenced the need to house them at their journey’s end. The roads became safer and new junction points were created, which eventually led to the founding of new towns.
• By the mid-1600s, clubs and lodges had become widespread across Europe and America.

From the Industrial Revolution till 1899

Significant developments

The period of the Industrial Revolution had a very significant influence on the history of the hospitality industry. This period was characterised by rapid changes in economic and technological development. The manufacturing and transport sectors saw very significant developments, and their effect on the hospitality industry was a proliferation of the construction of hotels everywhere in Europe and America. These hotels were needed to cater to the needs of the rising establishment of managerial and middle classes taking care of new companies, as well as a growing demand for both leisure and business travel. These classes had the necessary wealth to be able to move conveniently from place to place. Some developments of note in the hospitality industry during this period were:

Luxurious amenities

• The appearance of a new style of hotel that provided luxurious amenities in very opulent surroundings similar to the royal palaces. These hotels were constructed to accommodate a very mobile aristocracy, as well as wealthy industrialists.

Grand Tour

• The appearance of the Grand Tour, which was originally about privileged young Englishmen who spent their gap years on an extended tour of Continental Europe. Possibly, the best known of these youngsters was James Boswell, who kept an elaborate journal of his travels and experiences. The first major guidebook for the Grand Tour was published in 1749 by Thomas Nugent. Though the Grand Tour was primarily associated with British nobility and wealthy established gentry, similar trips were made by wealthy young men from Northern European countries. Fr...