Hospitality: World's Largest Service Industry

What's New, Mar/Apr 2004 by Johnson, Elizabeth

What is hospitality? At its most basic level, hospitality is simply the art of making guests feel welcome. But it's far more than that. Hospitality is the world's largest service industry, employing millions of people working in hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, resorts, private clubs, casinos, and bed-and-breakfasts throughout the world.

As a hotel guest, your experience of hospitality may be limited to the front desk associate who gives you your room key, the valet attendant who carries your luggage, and the server who takes your dinner order. But hospitality also encompasses the purchasing agent who ordered the linens for your bed, the executive chef who created the signature entrée for the restaurant menu, and marketing manager who designed the brochure that told you about the property.

"Hospitality is unique in the diversity and the number of positions that it offers people," says Faye Gayes, director of state educational and training programs for the American hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. "No matter what your interest is, from finance to maintenance, from customer service to cooking, there's a place for you here."

The American hotel & Lodging Association has identified more than 200 different jobs within the hospitality industry, from entry-level positions to top management. Rooms management, food and beverage, marketing and sales, human resources, security, accounting, engineering, even information technology-all are important parts of the mini-community that makes up a lodging operation. And whether behind the scenes or front of the house, these positions share the traits common to all hospitality jobs: a dynamic working environment, a desire to provide quality service, and interaction with people.

The hospitality industry is a fastgrowing field. While overall job growth in the United States has been estimated at 14 percent between now and 2010, growth in the hospitality industry is expected to rise by 36 percent! And while many of those jobs may be entry-level positions, the hospitality industry is known for promoting from within and for moving talented employees quickly up the career ladder.

"Some reports show that someone who gets their start in hospitality can become a departmental manager within two years, and may rise to the position of general manager in another seven years," notes Gayes. "Time and time again, you'll hear stories about hotel executives who started as dishwashers or bellmen. Hospitality is a career you can grow with."

And where are those jobs? They are in convention hotels in Chicago, ski resorts in Vail, cruise ships on the Caribbean, limited-service hotels on I-70, bed-and-breakfasts in the Poconos, luxury spas in Albuquerque, banquet facilities in Spokane. Many hotel companies have properties in countries throughout the world, so there's no telling where a hospitality job may lead. Pick a spot on a globe, and there is sure to be a hospitality job waiting for the right person.

Elizabeth Johnson is the Academic and Marketing Manager for the American hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (www.ei-ahla.org).