CURRENT TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE TOURISM AND

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Hospitality Trends and Issues to look out for.

The hospitality industry is diverse and includes everything from hotels and other accommodation
types, through to restaurants, bars, travel agents and tour operators. Nevertheless, there are some
trends and issues that are fairly typical across the hospitality and tourism industry.
1.) Local Experience
Another trend that those in the hospitality industry are getting to grips with is the desire for
tourists or travellers to enjoy local experiences. Many people do not simply want to experience a
life similar to their own, but in a different location. Instead, they want to experience the authentic
way of life in the location they visit.
Businesses in the hospitality industry are responding to this, in order to cater for these demands.
Hotels might provide local products, while other options like Airbnb and farmhouse
accommodation can offer a more authentic guest experience. Moreover, travel agents and tour
operators can help travellers to take part in local activities.
2.) Healthy and Organic Food & Drinks
In the past, a substantial section of the hospitality industry was made up of fast food restaurants
and bars selling sugary alcoholic drinks. However, there has been something of a cultural shift,
with people becoming more aware of the things they are putting in their bodies, leading to a
healthy food and drinks trend.
For restaurants, this has meant re-vamping menus with healthier options, including gluten free,
dairy free, low fat, vegetarian, vegan and organic options. However, the trend for healthy food
and drinks extends to hotels, catering services and even holiday as well, with healthier room
service options, as well as healthier drinks sold behind bars.
3.) Sustainability
Increasingly, customers are concerned with environmental issues and want to know that the
businesses they deal with are behaving ethically. For this reason, sustainability has been one of
the most noticeable hospitality trends of recent times, with a growing number
of hospitality businesses promoting their eco-friendliness.
Examples of this range from restaurants promoting their vegetarian and vegan options, through
to hotels that make use of smart light bulbs and smart heating to save energy. Within the
accommodation sector, there are also decisions to be made about using more sustainable
materials for things like towels and bed sheets.
4.) Personalisation
Across almost all industries, the need for personalisation is a major trend, and the hospitality
industry is no different. This is primarily driven by the rise of big data. Meanwhile, a growing

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 number of hotel guests want to be treated as individuals, rather than just another anonymous
customer.
Personalisation can be deployed in a variety of ways. Within hotels, for instance, returning
customers can be automatically provided with similar services to last time they stayed, while
they can also be personally greeted by a member of staff upon arrival, using GPS technology and
booking data. Furthermore, with the rise of smart devices, hotel guests can also be enabled to use
their own devices and accounts on entertainment platforms.
5.) Smart Hotels
In simple terms, a smart hotel is a hotel that makes use of internet-enabled devices, which are
capable of sending data to one another. Smart hotel designs are tied in with the idea of
the ‘Internet of Things’ and have emerged as a more popular concept since smart speakers and
smart hubs became popular consumer products.
A smart hotel might, for example, allow guests to control the heating or air conditioning from
their phone, or turn on the TV by giving a voice command to a smart speaker. In many cases,
smart rooms also automatically adjust things like the brightness of light bulbs, or the temperature
of a radiator, in order to maintain optimal conditions.
6.) Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence plays a number of different roles within the hospitality industry, but the
main one is to improve customer service. One example of this is AI-powered chatbots, which can
be used for online customer interactions, removing lengthy waiting times and providing swift,
intelligent responses to questions.
However, there are additional uses for artificial intelligence technology too. For instance, some
hotels have introduced AI and voice-controlled customer service or tourist information hubs
within their hotels. Meanwhile, AI can also be used to sort through data, automatically make
adjustments to processes, and so on.
7.) Robots
One of the most exciting hospitality trends is the emergence of robots, which are defined as
machines built to carry out complex tasks, either autonomously or semi-autonomously. They are
often equipped with artificial intelligence, and can help those operating in hospitality
management by generating speed, cost and accuracy improvements.
Hilton, for example, introduced a robot concierge recently, which is able to respond to human
speech and answer questions. Some travel agencies have experimented with robots to pre-qualify
customers as they wait to speak to agent, while the Henn-na Hotel in Nagasaki, Japan is entirely
robot-staffed.
8.) Bleisure Travel by Millennials
‘Bleisure’ is the name given to trips which combine business travel with leisure activities, and it
is increasingly popular, especially among the millennial generation. As an example, a traveller
may initially visit a location to attend a business meeting or conference, but then extend their
stay to turn it into a holiday.

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 This is one of the most interesting hospitality trends for those in the industry to respond to,
as ‘Bleisure’ travellers are likely to want spontaneous services, excellent access to information
and fast communication. Mobile apps are one way to achieve this, while hotels need to try to
remove as many barriers to booking as possible.
9.) Virtual Reality
Over the past few years, virtual reality headsets have become mainstream consumer products,
bringing virtual reality technology into the mainstream. This is one of the most potentially game-
changing hospitality trends, because VR technology has the capacity to digitally alter a person’s
entire surroundings.
This can be applied in a number of interesting ways by those in the hospitality industry. Hotels
might use VR technology as part of their booking processes, allowing users to experience a
highly realistic digital version of their hotel rooms before booking. Meanwhile, travel agents can
use virtual tours/ 360 videos of tourist attractions to sell holidays.
10.) Augmented Reality
Finally, augmented reality technology is similar to virtual reality technology in many ways, but
rather than creating a new digital environment for users, it is concerned with enhancing real-
world environments through graphical or informational overlays. Unlike VR technology, it also
usually requires nothing other than a smartphone and an app.
Augmented reality apps can be designed so that users can point their phone at a restaurant and
see reviews, or opening times. Hotels and other accommodation types can also use augmented
reality to provide interactive tourist information maps within their properties, or to create fun
opportunities to create user generated content.

ISSUES
1. The Constantly Changing Expectations of Customers
The customer is the King in the hotel industry or hospitality industry on the whole. The
whole purpose of the industry is to keep customers happy. But the margins are now
decreasing. Keeping customers happy is not enough anymore. As a Hotel Manager, you need
to find ways to delight customers now. You would need to find a way to bridge the gap
between perception and actual delight

2. Continued Technological Changes and regular innovation

Today, hotel guest are more tech-savvy than ever. Dealing effectively and profitably with this
savviness is one of the top management issues in the hospitality industry today. When they
choose to stay in one hotel over the other, they expect to find free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs,
USB ports and so on. Hotels and other businesses in the hospitality industry are relying
heavily on technology to streamline their services.

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 Keeping up with technology is one of the major issues faced by hotel managers, but when
dealt with properly, it is definitely worth it. Technology in the Hotel Industry is helping
transform businesses in the current competitive era. Over the past couple of decades,
major Innovation in the Hospitality industry is driven by technology.
3. Political and Security challenges
This again is one of the top management issues in the hospitality industry. The issue of managing
the macro issues dealing with the socio-political as well as economic challenges. The threat of
terrorism today has changed how people travel and where they travel. Hotel managers are tasked
with the duty of ensuring that proper surveillance systems are installed and maintained
throughout so that guests can feel comfortable and safe. To deal with security challenged, hotel
managers have to rely on high tech gadgets and software, which can be expensive to acquire and
maintain.
4. Skilled labour shortage, staff turnover and Irregular working hours
This is one of the major challenges in the hotel industry. Staff turnover in the hospitality industry
is almost double the average across industries. In recent years, the high turnover and increasing
competition has only added flame to the issue of the skilled labour shortage in the hospitality
industry on the whole. Because customers expect a lot more nowadays, employees in the
hospitality industry, in turn, are forced to deal with long and sometimes irregular working
hours. To make sure that everything is running smoothly at all times, managers have to find new
ways to manage their stress because they cannot afford to lose it or burnout. According to
research from BigHospitality, salary is the most important factor to consider for retaining best
staff in the hospitality industry.
5. Seasonality of the hospitality industry
Peak seasons in the hospitality industry tend to bring a lot of business but it also brings with undue
stress to the management and its staff. Managers are also charged with the responsibility of keeping up
with the ongoing changes in booking and pricing, which can be daunting for anyone. Everyone is
required to make the most during peak season.

While more staff, as well as resources, are required during peak season, the percentage
drop heavily during the lean season making it difficult for hospitality managers to ensure
profitability. Innovation, diversification and effective management would continue to hold the
key in terms of managing the issue of seasonality in the hospitality industry.

SUMMARY:

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