Chapter 1: Introduction

The hospitality industry has always been influenced by issues like sustainable

development and going green, employment costs, cultural problems, and higher education that

pressure the industry to adapt to modern economic needs (Wang & Wang, 2009). Moreover, the

industry has also faced challenges associated with operations, marketing, technology, and

economic instability (Wang & Wang, 2009). These issues are either within or outside the

industry and are linked to politics, the environment, the economy, and disasters, such as

pandemics, and have a significant impact on business outcomes and survival. However, in

essence, experts and scientists have managed to find immediate and long-term solutions to

improve different conditions under which the hospitality industry works. According to Wang &

Wang (2009), some of the recommendations that have proven fruitful and optimistic include

innovation, integrating services, going global, new managers, growing vacation ownership, and

so forth. These solutions help to stabilize the industry’s performance and survival in the ever-

changing global and local markets.

The hospitality industry is significant to various world economies mainly because it interacts and

deals with customers, particularly because it has different service-oriented sectors, like hotels,

traveling and tourism, and offers services directly to clients and customers in real-time (Irvine &

Foley, 2022). It also functions as a means of growing economies and providing jobs to the

general population (Irvine & Foley, 2022). Moreover, the industry’s contributions to the different

world economies are linked to the various jobs associated with supply chain management,

customer care services, cleaning, people management, building and construction of new

infrastructure, landscaping, and many others; and underpin other economic activities