What Does the Future of Hospitality Look Like?

Although it is near on impossible to predict the future, many different ideas can be strung together using past and present trends to at least predict what will happen in the near future of the industry. On the 15th March 2008, Amadeus, an IT company for travel and tourism, released a report on the future of the hotel industry, in this report it discussed the short, medium and long term drivers of the industry.

The short term drivers being:
1. “Globalisation
2. New technologies
3. Demanding/educated customers
4. Price transparency”.

The medium term drivers being:
1. “Globalisation/emerging geographic markets
2. New technologies
3. Channel shift
4. Demanding/educated customers”

The long term drivers being:
1. “Demanding/educated customers
2. New technologies
3. Hotel ownership”
(Amadeus, 2008)

From short to long, the customer is the most important part of the future of any industry, not just the hospitality industry, in the hospitality industry, the customer which drives it is said to be educated and demanding, they will expect to have their stay in a hotel of visit to anywhere within this industry to be based around them and their needs and wants.

New technologies also plays a very important role in the future drives of the hospitality industry, with these new technologies being thought to be able to provide a more personal experience. With customer recognition technology being the most important part, hotels and restaurants will be able to store information which will be able to provide help with foods, room preferences and other such personal details on a stay or visit.

The final important part of the future is globalisation, where the industry will spread across the world, with many businesses already doing this, many more will start to globalise. Technology will play a large role in the globalisation of hospitality in the future, with a central control being given where all information will be stored and distributed about the business.

There is also an emerging market with Russia, China, India and the Gulf at the forefront of this market, the Gulf is the heaviest investor in this industry, with markets in Dubai and the city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates being amongst the strongest of these markets. The major reason for growth in the Gulf region is to reduce the huge reliance the economy has on oil, as the region has a massive oil reserve.

References

Amadeus (2008). The Future of the Hotel Industry. [Internet]. Available from: [Accessed: 16 December 2009].

4Hoteliers (2008). Report: Blueprint For Hospitality Industry's Future. [Internet]. Available from: [Accessed: 16 December 2009].