If you’re entering the hospitality industry, or already working in the field, there are some trends and challenges facing the industry that could affect your career.
According to a new report by Deloitte entitled, Hospitality 2015, China and India will continue to be the key hospitality markets. By 2015, these countries will experience annual tourism growth greater than the United Kingdom, France or Japan.
Two main drivers of this growth will be aging baby boomers and the rising middle classes in China and India. To attract these boomers, hospitality marketing managers will need to appeal to boomers' youthful attitude and desire for new and exciting travel experiences. China and India’s middle classes will segue from regional travel to international destinations. India is expected to have 50 million outbound tourists by 2020.
The challenges facing the hospitality industry will mostly involve turnover, technology and sustainability.
In terms of turnover, the typical hotelier invests 33 percent of revenues on labor costs. Unfortunately, employee turnover can be north of 30 percent. The industry must create plans to retain critical employees and learn to manage these high turnover stats.
A hotel’s success in 2015 will also depend heavily on its investment in technology. Moving bookings through proprietary websites will continue. That said, hotels will need to utilize applications and websites that meet the demands of an ever-growing class of mobile-savvy travelers.
Sustainability will become a key industry issue in 2015 and beyond. Growing populations chasing shrinking resources will pose a challenge for most businesses, including hospitality. Thus, sustainability will need to dovetail many aspects of the growing hospitality industry.
Whether you’re still in school or already working in the industry, you may want to take some classes in how to market to international travelers and how to reach baby boomers. You may also want to bring yourself “up to speed” on the latest mobile technologies.
For an added perspective, check out this video:
Got any tips or advice on hospitality trends and how they might affect your career? Include your comments section below.
Alex A. Kecskes has written hundreds of published articles on health/fitness, "green" issues, TV/film entertainment, restaurant reviews and many other topics. As a former Andy/Belding/One Show ad agency copywriter, he also writes web content, ads, brochures, sales letters, mailers and scripts for national B2B and B2C clients. Please see more of his blogs and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
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