As I was completing a project today, I came across something I wrote more than 20 years ago and it caused me to reflect a moment.
Hospitality is much more than word today. It has become an industry that runs the danger of becoming too high tech, with too little high touch.
Hospitality should have many adjectives, but many of us cannot precisely define it.
Hospitality means providing service to others, yet not being cast as a servant.
Adjectives that should apply to Hospitality include:
Attentive, courteous, amiable, cordial, agreeable, gracious and welcoming.
Hospitality also means demonstrating consistent excellence and quality in people skills (staff and guests), product and ambiance.
It should also mean profitably providing value and worth at any price level, while demonstrating your own unique points of distinction.
Hospitality should be smiles, trust, caring and sharing your operation's success, regardless of you job title.
Most of all, Hospitality should be a 'place', where people can still be exceptional individuals, where they can extend their own personality and style.
Hospitality is a place and a feeling where one can build their own self-esteem and pride, by providing positive memories and experiences to our guests.
That's my definition of Hospitality. What's yours?
Please communicate your thoughts and I will post a collection of responses in an upcoming column.
All rights reserved by John Hogan and this column may be included in an upcoming book on hotel management. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication
John Hogan's professional experience includes over 35 years in hotel operations, food & beverage, sales & marketing, training, management development and asset management on both a single and multi-property basis. He holds a number of industry certifications and is a past recipient of the American Hotel & Lodging Association's Pearson Award for Excellence in Lodging Journalism, as well as operational and marketing awards from international brands. He has served as President of both city and state hotel associations.
John's background includes teaching college level courses as an adjunct professor at three different colleges and universities over a 20 year period, while managing with Sheraton, Hilton, Omni and independent hotels. He was the principal in an independent training & consulting group for more than 12 years serving associations, management groups, convention & visitors' bureaus, academic institutions and as an expert witness. He joined Best Western International in spring of 2000, where over the next 8 years he created and developed a blended learning system as the Director of Education & Cultural Diversity for the world's largest hotel chain.
He has served on several industry boards that deal with education and/or cultural diversity and as brand liaison to the NAACP and the Asian American Hotel Owners' Association with his ongoing involvement in the Certified Hotel Owner program. He has conducted an estimated 3,100 workshops and seminars in his career. He served as senior vice president for a client in a specialty hotel brand for six years.
He has published more than 350 articles & columns on the hotel industry and is co-author (with Howard Feiertag, CHA CMP) of LESSONS FROM THE FIELD - a COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES, which is available from a range of industry sources and AMAZON.com. He resides in Phoenix, Arizona and is finalizing his 2nd book based on his dissertation - The Top 100 People of All Time Who Most Dramatically Affected the Hotel Industry.
Expertise and Research Interest
• Leadership and Executive Education
• Cultural Diversity
• Operational Management
• Developing Academic Hospitality programs
• Professional Development & Accreditation
• Customer Service
