6 Unit One Welcome to Hospitality
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
What do you picture when you hear the word
hospitality? Here’s an example. Think of the hos-
pitality extended by a friend’s family. You stayed
with them for a week while your parents were
away on business. They provided you with a com-
fortable, friendly place to stay, good meals, and
good company. You felt safe and happy. The word
hospitality comes from the Latin word hospes, which
means host or guest. Hospitality has come to mean
meeting the needs of guests with kindness and goodwill.
The hospitality industry provides services to
people away from home. These services include
food, lodging, travel, tourism, and recreation. Hos-
pitality is a “people-serving-people business” and
service is at the heart of the hospitality business.
Hospitality workers are dedicated to creating posi-
tive experiences for their guests, 1-1. The goal of the
hospitality industry is to make sure that guests feel
safe and happy as a result of using the products and
services offered by its many different businesses.
As you study the hospitality industry, you will
see how hospitality relates to many other areas of
study. Hospitality relates to scientifi c principles in
the areas of food safety and sanitation, nutrition,
engineering, and environmental protection. Hos-
pitality relates to technology in its use of advanced
management systems in most hospitality estab-
lishments. The hospitality industry also relates to
fi nance and economics in its signifi cant impact on
the U.S. economy and global economy.
According to the World Travel and Tourism
Council (WTTC), travel and tourism is one of the
world’s largest industries and one of the most
important. It has been one of the leading growth
industries since the WTTC fi rst started measuring
the economic impact of the industry over 20 years
ago. The hospitality industry has a major impact on
national economies around the world.
In the United States, about 15 million people
work in the hospitality industry. It is the second
largest employer. (Health care is the largest.)
Worldwide, millions of people are employed in
the industry. Jobs in hospitality include servers,
chefs, travel agents, room attendants, hotel man-
agers, meeting and event planners, restaurant
managers, tour operators, convention and visitor
bureau workers, theme park and national park
employees, and recreation directors.
The hospitality industry is important to the
U.S. economy because it generates more than
$1 trillion each year. Whenever people buy food
away from home to eat right away, they are spend-
ing money on a hospitality product or service.
Whenever people travel, they spend money on
transportation as well as food, lodging, and enter-
tainment. They may even buy gifts for themselves
and others. All these dollars become the wages
of hospitality workers, profi ts of hospitality busi-
nesses, and taxes paid to federal, state, and local
governments. Figure 1-2 shows how the money
that travelers spend fl ows through the economy.
International visitors to the United States
insert over $150 billion directly into the U.S. econ-
omy. For example, each international visitor to the
United States spends approximately $4,300 per
visit. This includes expenditures for
• lodging
• foodservice
• entertainment
• retail, such as clothes, gifts, and souvenirs
• local transportation
The hospitality industry impacts the econo-
mies of other countries. For example, Cuba has
relied on its hospitality industry as one way to lift
its poor economy. Tourism has provided a source
of international investment since the early 1990s.
Size and Economic Impact
1-1
Creating positive guest experiences is the
goal of the hospitality staff.
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