trends and issues in tourism and hospitality industry

• Property Management
• Airbnb Management
• Airbnb Co-Host
• Villa Management
• – Airbnb –
• Airbnb Software Solutions
• Airbnb Profile Solutions
• Airbnb Consulting
• – Related –
• Vacation Rental Consulting
• Photo & Video Packages
• Complex Web Development
• Vacation Rental Website
• Airbnb Direct Booking Site
• eCommerce Development
• Payment Gateway Integration
• Airbnb Optimization
• Reviews About Us
• Our Properties
• How to get more with us
• Book an Appointment
• – View all posts –
• Property Investment
• Vacation Rental Software
• Vacation Rentals Boost
• About Punta Cana & the DR
• Our Corporate Life

Top 8 Crucial Hospitality Challenges in 2024 and Their Solutions

The hospitality industry is rapidly changing with many challenges that must be addressed. Let’s discuss their impact on the industry, what steps should be taken, what is important to pay attention to, and initiatives that need to be implemented for your business to succeed.

• 1. Technologies in hospitality: keeping up with the latest innovations

From AI-powered chatbots to integrated systems for booking and reservations, businesses in the hospitality industry must stay abreast of the latest technological developments. These advances can help streamline internal processes, reducing manual labor while improving productivity and customer experience.

10 Must-Know Technology Innovations in the Hospitality Industry

As technology becomes ubiquitous, embracing its potential is key to staying competitive in the hospitality industry. Consider launching your own website development with payment gateway integration. This will make your hospitality business one step closer in a technological sense and an order of magnitude higher among competitors and in customers’ eyes.

• 2. Health and safety concerns for hospitality workers

The hospitality industry is particularly vulnerable due to the close contact with guests and the array of workplace processes. Here is a list of some health and safety measures that are recommended for implementation:

• Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and masks;
• Cleaning and sanitizing high-touch surfaces such as door handles and tables;
• Proper ventilation in work areas to reduce heat stress and improve air quality;
• Non-toxic cleaning products and chemicals;
• Safety training for employees who use potentially hazardous equipment or chemicals;
• Developed emergency plans for fire or other accidents;
• Conducting regular risk assessments of the workplace;
• Proper lighting to prevent slips or falls;
• Encouraging hand hygiene and providing sanitizers for employees.

Considering the above, hospitality businesses can create a safe workplace environment for their employees while protecting their customers or guests from potential harm. 

• 3. Hospitality industry and its impact on social media

Despite the advantages, social media poses various challenges for business owners. The 24/7 nature of their operations means companies must constantly be on their guard for negative reviews and customer feedback. This can have an immediate and potentially damaging effect on a business’s reputation.

Social media challenges and solutions for hospitality businesses

All hospitality businesses should explore social media to maximize their reach in today’s market. A strong presence on social media platforms is critical for engaging customers and keeping their interest—so ensure you’re prepared!

• 4. The growing importance of sustainability

The hospitality industry is a significant contributor to environmental pollution. However, increasing public awareness has pressured it to become more sustainable. The survey of Luggage Hero clearly shows that 87% of travelers want to travel more sustainably.

Number of sustainable travelers

So, there is still room for growth in developing the eco-friendly and sustainable hospitality industry. Here are a few key strategies to follow:

• Investing in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power;
• Utilizing green building materials such as bamboo and recycled materials for construction and furnishing;
• Offering guests to buy sustainable products such as organic foods, eco-friendly toiletries or reusable water bottles;
• Implementing green cleaning practices that minimize the use of harsh chemicals and maximize efficiency in water usage;
• Offering guests the option to go paperless when booking services or checking out from the hotel or restaurant.

By taking steps towards sustainability, hospitality businesses will not only be able to reduce their carbon footprint but also save money in the long run by utilizing more efficient technologies.

• 5. Labor shortages in the hospitality industry

Finding and keeping qualified staff is crucial in the hospitality sector. To help combat labor shortages, businesses must ensure their workplace is attractive to potential employees:

• Offering competitive wages and benefits packages  such as health insurance, retirement savings plans, paid time off, and other perks like employee discounts, can attract top talent and distinguish a business from competitors.
• Create a flexible work environment.  Part-time or remote work arrangements can help attract a wider pool of candidates and improve employee satisfaction.
• Foster a positive work culture.  Make your employees feel valued and motivated to stay with you. This may include opportunities for professional development, regular feedback and recognition, and team-building activities.
• Develop training and career development programs : Invest in building employees’ skills and advancing within the company. It can increase job satisfaction and reduce turnover.
• Streamline hiring processes : Simplifying and expediting it can help businesses attract and secure top talent before accepting competitors’ offers.
• 6. Rising competition in the hospitality

Greater emphasis on experiences and customer service means businesses must work harder to differentiate themselves from competitors. So it is essential to be aware of both direct and indirect competition.

Examples of direct and indirect competition for hospitality businesses

Hospitality companies must create unique experiences to help set a business apart. If you are stuck with this issue, you can use our consultation services from experts with 10+ years of experience and find a solution instantly.

• 7. Preparing for the digital transformation of the hospitality

The industry must stay abreast of the trends and invest in digital solutions. This can range from leveraging AI for customer service and personalized offerings to investing in mobile applications and other digital infrastructure. Consider these points:

• Analyze your customers’ digital behavior.  Understanding what your customers want today and what they may need in the future. Look closely at their behavior when engaging with your brand online and use this data to craft a better experience.
• Invest in robust technology.  Investing in it is necessary for initial setup, maintenance, and upkeep. Research all options before choosing a technology that best suits your budget and needs.
• Adapt strategically.  As technology changes, so should your strategy for using it effectively. Regularly assess how well you leverage these tools to ensure you are seen as modern and relevant in an ever-changing landscape.

By taking these steps, you can confidently prepare for the digital transformation of the hospitality industry — setting yourself up for success now and in the future.

• 8. Embracing maintenance 5.0 into the hospitality industry

As the hospitality industry’s demands evolve, many industry leaders are turning to Maintenance 5.0, a web-based maintenance management system that acts as an integrated platform to streamline processes and help businesses increase efficiency.

Maintenance 5.0 applications in the hospitality industry

With Maintenance 5.0, it is easier to address the challenges. You can quickly identify potential problems, prioritize repairs, and establish preventive maintenance programs that turn challenges into opportunities.

To thrive in the competitive hospitality industry, businesses must stay up-to-date on industry trends and challenges. By staying agile and adaptable to evolving customer expectations and technological advancements, professionals can ensure a prosperous future for the industry.

• Frequently Asked Questions Related to the Hospitality Industry Challenges

1. What are three issues in the hospitality industry?

There are many issues that the hospitality industry faces, but here are three common ones:

• Labor Shortages : The industry faces a staff shortage, leading to lower-quality service and higher staff turnover rates.
• Online Reviews : Customers have the power to influence a business’s reputation through online reviews, making managing feedback crucial for businesses.
• Sustainability : Heavy use of resources in the hospitality industry contributes to environmental degradation, and businesses that do not address sustainability concerns risk losing customers and damaging their reputation.

2. What is the biggest issues and challenges faced by the tourism and hospitality industry?

The biggest challenge facing the tourism and hospitality industry is the COVID-19 pandemic. Other ongoing challenges include sustainability, digitalization, changing consumer preferences, labor shortage, and some regions’ political instability/security concerns.

3. What are the 7 critical risks facing the hospitality industry?

While there may be various critical risks facing the hospitality industry, here are seven common ones:

• Economic Fluctuations : The industry is vulnerable to economic downturns, leading to reduced travel and revenues.
• Natural Disasters : Disruptions and property damage can occur due to natural disasters.
• Cybersecurity : Businesses are vulnerable to cyber attacks that can lead to data breaches and financial losses.
• Regulatory Compliance: Compliance with regulations is necessary in areas such as health and safety, labor laws, and the environment.
• Reputation Management : Negative publicity or reviews can damage a business’s reputation and decrease bookings.
• Geopolitical Risks : Political instability, terrorism, and security concerns in some regions can lead to decreased bookings and revenues.
• Health and Safety : Businesses must implement strict health and safety protocols, including for COVID-19, food safety, and the spread of infectious diseases.

4. What are the challenges faced by tourism industry?

The tourism industry faces a range of challenges, including:

• COVID-19 Pandemic;
• Sustainability;
• Digitalization;
• Changing Consumer Preferences;
• Safety and Security;
• Political Instability;
• Economic Fluctuations;
• Infrastructure;
• Talent Shortage.

5. What is the biggest challenge in hospitality?

The biggest challenge in hospitality at present is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a significant decline in travel and tourism, leading to revenue losses for businesses, as well as operational challenges due to new safety and health protocols.

6. What are the international issues in hospitality?

Some of the international issues in hospitality include:

• Travel restrictions and visa policies;
• Political instability and conflicts;
• Cultural differences;
• Global economic trends;
• Sustainable tourism;
• Labor laws and employment practices;
• Global health issues like the COVID-19 pandemic.

7. What are the weaknesses in hospitality industry?

The weaknesses in the hospitality industry include dependence on external factors, high competition, seasonal demand, high labor costs, high initial investment, technological challenges, and sustainability issues. It perfectly demonstrates the need for businesses to continually adapt and evolve to changing market conditions. By focusing on customer needs, implementing sustainable practices, and investing in technology, hospitality businesses can better position themselves for long-term success.

8. What is problem solving in hospitality industry?

Problem-solving in the hospitality industry involves identifying and addressing challenges and issues while providing services to guests. Some common problems that may arise in the hospitality industry include guest complaints, staffing issues, equipment failures, supply chain disruptions, and financial challenges.

9. What are the big five in hospitality?

The “Big Five” in hospitality refers to the five major segments of the hospitality industry, which are:

• Food and Beverage;
• Travel and Tourism;
• Entertainment;
• Recreation.

These five segments are interdependent and work together to provide an overall experience for customers. Each segment presents unique challenges and opportunities for businesses, and success in the hospitality industry often involves effectively managing all five segments.

10. What are the negative impacts of hospitality?

The hospitality industry can negatively impact the environment, society, and economy. Here are some of them:

• Environmental impact . Environmental degradation, such as waste generation, water and energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions;
• Cultural impact . The rapid growth of tourism and hospitality can lead to cultural commodification, loss of authenticity, and cultural clashes.
• Social impact . Social issues such as overcrowding, labor exploitation, and gentrification.
• Economic impact . The hospitality industry may create economic imbalances by driving up prices and creating wealth disparities between local communities and tourists.
• Health impact . Hospitality can pose health risks, such as the spread of diseases, food poisoning, and accidents.

It is important for the hospitality industry to recognize and address these negative impacts by implementing sustainable practices, respecting local cultures and communities, providing fair labor conditions, and prioritizing the health and safety of guests and employees.

11. What are the pros and cons of hospitality?

Here are main pros and cons of the hospitality industry:

The hospitality industry has many benefits. However, some challenges may arise. They can be effectively addressed by management and strategic planning.

Updated on: 2024-06-10 . Author: Karina

Tags: Hospitality management

Related Posts

Traffic Sources Map for Short-Term Villa Rentals – Boost Your Bookings

4 requirements to be an airbnb host in 2024 – a full guideline with 8 must-have skills, is rental property a good investment in 2024 – 7 important tips to make it successful and profitable, how to make money on airbnb without owning property in 2024 – 6 best ways, pros, cons and recommendations, 9 tips for buying investment property – things to follow and frequently asked questions in 2024.

Blog Categories

• About Punta Cana & the DR

Our Management Service Packages

Recent Posts

8 Ways to Invest in Real Estate – Main Advantages and Disadvantages of the Most Popular Options in 2024

Get a free consultation!

12 key trends shaping the hospitality industry in 2024

In an era defined by rapid technological advancements and shifting consumer preferences, the hospitality industry stands at the forefront of innovation and adaptation. As we step into 2024, the landscape continues to evolve, presenting both challenges and opportunities for businesses in the sector. Understanding and harnessing these emerging trends will be pivotal in shaping the future of hospitality. Here are the trends we’re reading about that are key priorities for hospitality businesses in 2024:  

1. Sustainability as a priority

With increasing global awareness of environmental issues, sustainability has transitioned from a buzzword to a core principle in the hospitality industry. Guests are actively seeking eco-friendly accommodations and experiences. In 2024, sustainability will continue to be a defining factor in consumer choices and brand loyalty.   

Dr Newman, Chief Sustainability Officer for EarthCheck (previously Banyan Tree Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer) says, “There’s a willingness for many companies to engage with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) issues, but many simply don’t know where to start.”   

Many hotels are responding by gaining more knowledge and understanding around adopting green practices, from energy-efficient buildings and waste reduction initiatives to locally sourced products and sustainable food options. Looking for more sustainability ideas? Check out the EarthCheck courses on Typsy here.

2. Cultural diversity and inclusivity

3. health and wellness-centric offerings.

The pandemic has elevated health consciousness, propelling the demand for wellness-focused travel experiences. According to a survey by Booking.com, over 70% of travelers prioritize wellness on their trips. In 2024, hotels and resorts will be expected to expand their wellness amenities, incorporating yoga studios, meditation spaces, healthier menu options, and fitness programs to cater to this growing trend.  

Learning with Typsy is practical, effective, and fun! And best of all, you can access Typsy's 1500+ lessons when it suits you. Learn your way - starting today.

4. Rise of remote work and bleisure travel

The concept of work has transformed significantly, with remote work becoming more prevalent. This shift has given rise to ' b leisure ' travel – a blend of business and leisure trips. Hotels are adapting their amenities and services to accommodate this hybrid trend. Specialized packages ca tering to remote workers, offering co-working spaces, high-speed internet, and unique leisure experiences, are gaining traction.  

5. Personalized experiences through AI and big data with advanced analytics

The use of advanced analytics to personalize guest experiences is on the rise. According to a report by Accenture, 83% of consumers are willing to share their data for a more personalized experience. Hospitality businesses are leverag ing this d ata to anticip ate guest needs, preferences, and even emotional states, creating hyper-personalized services that resonate with individual travelers.

6. Rise of experience-driven lodging

The shift from 'staying' to 'experiencing' has transformed the lodging landscape. Unique accommodations such as treehouses, glamping sites, and boutique stays are gaining popularity. Statista reports a 42% increase in demand for unique accommodations . As travelers seek distinctive and memorable experiences, hotels are diversifying their offerings to cater to this demand, emphasizing local culture and authenticity.

7. Focus on local talent development

In many regions, a shift towards investing in local talent development programs to mitigate skill gaps will be seen. Ray Pulungan, CEO of Indonesian company, PINTAR says he is seeing an increase in requests for talent development and placement solutions to support the increasing need for workers in the hospitality industry.  

Organizations including VTIC have been running programs to support local talent development across tourism regions in Victoria, Australia to help address the skills gap. Hospitality businesses will look to collaborate with educational institutions, vocational schools, or online training programs to nurture and upskill local talent, reducing reliance on overseas recruitment for certain roles.  

8. Strategic global partnerships for talent acquisition

Hospitality businesses will also look further afield and seek out st rategic partnerships or alliances with international recruitment agencies, educational institutions, or HR firms specialized in sourcing global talent. Collaborations with entities abroad may facilitate smoother and more effective recruitment processes while ensuring compliance with changing regulations. Sometimes visa restrictions impact the ease of international recruitment, however, Governments may implement or revise immigration policies tha t impa ct the recruitment of international staff. Changes in visa regulations, work permits, or immigration laws might influence how easily hospitality businesses can source talent from abroad. 

9. Focus on retention and employee experience

Retaining skilled employees will be a priority. Hospitality companies will invest in improving the overall employee experience, offering competitive benefits, career development and training opportunities , recognition programs, and fostering a positive work culture. Typsy CEO, Jon Plowright says there is increased interest in blending online training and face-to-face learning as an efficient way to upskill teams at scale . Moving forward, the emphasis on creating efficiencies, where it makes sense, and enhancing convenience will persist. Engaged and satisfied employees are more likely to deliver superior guest experiences, impacting the overall success of the business.

10. Contactless technology and seamless operations

The aftermath of the pandemic expedited the adoption of contactless technologies and hospitality management software . QR codes, mobile check-ins, and digital keys have become comm on pl ace for guests , as have re staurant boo king tec hnologies that not only create a great expe rience for the cus tomer bu t can also h el p drive more revenue f or businesses. A great example of optim izing technolog y is from Tano shi Grou p wh ere they s aw 35 % more pe ak covers, doubled their eve nt bookings, and saw a 30% reduc ti on in group no- shows by using reservation management software, ResDiary. Investments in te ch in fr astructu re for smoother o perat ions, alon g with th e incorporation of IoT de vices for smar t ro oms, will remain a pr iority.

11. Cryptocurrency and blockchain integration

The adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology is gaining momentum in the hospitality sector. According to Statista, the global blockchain market in hospitality is projected to grow to over $7.6 billion by 2024. Blockchain offers secure transactions, loyalty programs, and enhanced guest data protection, while cryptocurrencies provide an alternative payment method catering to tech-savvy travelers.

12. Flexible booking options and subscription services

The industry is witnessing a shift towards flexible booking options and subscription-based models. Guests seek more control over their reservations, with options for cancellations and modifications. Subscription services for frequent travelers, offering exclusive perks and discounts, are gaining popularity, fostering long-term relationships with customers.

The hospitality sector is a dynamic ecosystem continually adapting to meet the evolving needs and expectations of its patrons. As we say goodbye to 2023, the industry faces a multitude of transformative trends, each playing a crucial role in shaping its trajectory.   

Embracing these trends isn't merely a choice but a necessity for businesses aiming to thrive in this dynamic landscape. By prioritizing personalization, sustainability, technology integration, staff training and development, flexibility, and innovative guest experiences, hospitality brands can position themselves at the forefront of this evolution, catering to the evolving needs and desires of their guests while staying ahead as an employer of choice in a competitive market.  

Adaptability and a customer-centric approach will be the cornerstone for success, propelling the industry towards a future defined by unparalleled experiences and heightened guest satisfaction.   

An exciting year awaits us in 2024!  

You might also like

Topics: Hospitality insights , Hospitality trends

About Typsy

Browse by category

• Case studies (7)
• COVID-19 (41)
• Cybersecurity (1)
• Expert Q&A (10)
• Health and wellbeing (49)
• Hospitality career tips (110)
• Hospitality courses (1)
• Hospitality insights (160)
• Hospitality managers (314)
• Hospitality marketing (134)
• Hospitality operations (109)
• Hospitality recruitment (1)
• Hospitality skills shortage (8)
• Hospitality staff (188)
• Hospitality technology (1)
• Hospitality training (103)
• Hospitality trends (11)
• Hotels (259)
• Onboarding (1)
• Online hospitality training (2)
• Restaurants (292)
• Schools (23)
• Travel & tourism (4)
• Typsy updates (101)

Recent posts

Search this blog.

• There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Find the right Typsy plan for you

For job seekers, casual workers, university students, travelers and career builders, for businesses and teams of any size.

• Hospitality Industry

Hospitality Industry statistics to have on your radar 2024

November 01, 2023 •

11 min reading

The hospitality industry is a vast sector with many different categories that include recreation, lodging, entertainment, food and beverage which are constantly evolving. Due to the overwhelming amount of data available today, it has become increasingly challenging for industry players to gather all the necessary hospitality statistics to keep up with the latest trends. As a result, staying informed and up-to-date has become an impossible task.

Despite being an exhilarating career path with many avenues which demand a diverse skill-set , the hospitality industry is currently struggling to fill open positions. This is partly due to the changing nature of jobs and employee expectations. Customer needs and expectations have also evolved in recent times, largely off the back of the global pandemic of 2020 and 2021 which spurred a seismic shift in industry trends .

In the absence of access to data which tells a story, industry players are finding it increasingly challenging to optimize their social and digital strategies. This is especially problematic for hoteliers and destination marketers who are already overwhelmed with their day-to-day responsibilities.

In this comprehensive article, we have gathered a wealth of hospitality statistics and data that will equip you with the insights you need. Our goal is to empower you to harness the power of analytics in the hospitality industry to drive innovation, exceed customer expectations, and achieve remarkable value.

Numbers to take your business to the next level

Trends in the hospitality industry have always been in a state of flux because client demands are always shifting.

Understanding hospitality industry statistics allows you to properly equip yourself to handle your changed client needs for your business to grow rapidly in this new environment. They will help you know what you need to do to succeed and come up with strategies to take your business to the next level.

Current state of the Hospitality Industry

By examining general statistics, you can gain insights into the present condition of the hospitality industry and gain a glimpse into its future.

• The travel industry is poised for a robust comeback
• in 2024, bringing a ray of hope for hoteliers who have been eagerly awaiting positive signs. Room demand is set to reach an all-time high in 2024. STR, via (CoStar).
• Hotel occupancy will increase 2.5% globally next year.
• Hotel average daily rate (ADR) is projected to grow by 4.9% in the next 12 months. ( Siteminder).

The industry anticipates a steady growth rate

Industries such as hospitality, which were affected by COVID-19 safety measures, are seeing some impressive growth rates now that the restrictions are being relaxed worldwide. The statistics below indicate just how impressive the current and future growth rates are.

• The hospitality industry experienced a remarkable growth from $4,390.59 billion in 2022 to $4,699.57 billion in 2023, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.0%. This significant expansion is a testament to the industry's resilience and ability to bounce back from the challenges posed over recent years. ( Hospitality Global Market Report 2023)
• The projected growth of the global hospitality market is set to soar to a staggering $5,816.66 billion by 2027, with a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5%. ( Hospitality Global market report 2022 )

Growth trends in specific sub-sectors

Due to changes in consumer expectations, preferences and the rapid advancement of technology (among other factors), some areas in the hospitality industry are seeing a bigger growth rate than others. The statistics below shed light on these areas.

• The Online Food Delivery Market, which includes both Grocery Delivery and Meal Delivery services, experienced significant growth during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This market is projected to continue its upward trajectory with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2028) of 11.47%. As a result, the market volume is expected to reach a staggering US$1.79tn by 2028. (Statista).
• The bleisure market continues to rise —business trips which are extended for leisure purposed. The bleisure tourism market was estimated to be valued at nearly US$ 594.51 billion in 2023, and is predicted to continue to grow to $731.4 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 8.9% from 2023 to 2032. ( Future Market Insights).
• The global health and wellness market is estimated to reach almost seven trillion U.S. dollars by 2025. (Statista).

Key stakeholders' market share and consumer influence

Similar to the different growth rates in different areas in the same hospitality industry, not all players in the industry saw the same changes or are seeing the same growth rate. This is due to size, services, products and way of doing business. The statistics below highlight these differences.

• Airbnb's market value reached $92.11 billion in U.S. dollars in 2023, representing a significant increase from $54.13 billion the previous year. However, it has experienced a decline from its peak valuation in 2021, surpassing a staggering $100 billion. (Statista).
• Airbnb holds a commanding market share of over 20% in the vacation rental industry but it seems to be declining due to rising rental pricing and overwhelming choice of properties. ( HelpLama).
• Booking.com is the most valuable travel and tourism brand in the world, with a market capitlization of $9B. ( Companies Market Cap).
• As of 2023 Hilton is the most valuable hotel brand in the world, with a brand value of $11.7B in 2023, although the Wyndam group has the most properties. ( Brand Directory) .
• It is estimated that a further 2,707 hotels will open their doors globally in 2024. ( Statista )

Jobs & employment in Hospitality & Leisure

It goes without saying that as travel died down during the pandemic, so did jobs in the hospitality industry. Whilst travel restrictions are firmly a thing of the past, the hospitality jobs market has been slow to bounce back and is still recovering now. Many of those laid off workers in 2020 found more reliable jobs with better perks and more sociable hours elsewhere. When should we expect a full recovery? The statistics answer these questions best.

• The Travel and Tourism sector is expected to employ approximately 320 million individuals in 2023, showcasing a steady growth trend after experiencing a decline in numbers in 2020. This decline saw employment figures drop from 334 million in 2019 to 271 million. However, the industry is now on the path to recovery, with employment opportunities steadily increasing once again. ( Unilever ).
• Discover the types of jobs available in this exciting growth sector.
• Hotels will struggle with staffing shortages until 2025 when the industry is expected to make a true adjusted recovery. ( STR and Tourism Economics )
• Only 28% of hospitality workers are on full-time hours. ( Labour Market Insights) .

Travel & Tourism

If 2022 was the year travel returned following the pandemic, 2023 was all about making up for lost time and ticking off bucket list items. In short, there's a healthy outlook to the travel and tourism sector in 2024 and beyond. To better understand the current changes and future of travel and tourism, we have compiled the statistics below.

General Travel & Tourism industry statistics

The general travel and tourism statistics below show the current and future state of the travel and tourism sector as a whole.

• The projected market volume is set to reach an impressive US$1,063.00 billion by 2028, with revenue expected to display a steady annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2028) of 4.42%. ( Statista ).
• By 2028, online sales are projected to account for a staggering 76% of total revenue in the Travel & Tourism market. (Statista).

Growth trends in specific areas

The growth of the travel and tourism sector has been influenced by several factors including ease of access to information, an increase in the amount of paid leave, and rapid urbanization among others. Despite the pandemic slump, the industry is now doing well and is projected to do even better over the next few years, as indicated by the following statistics.

• Global tourism expenditure is projected to reach USD2 trillion, surpassing previous records driven by the strong demand for leisure travel. ( Euromonitor International ).
• As employees strive for a better work/life balance, the resurgence of business travel becomes a more intricate affair. In line with this shift, bleisure travel is poised to make a significant impact, with predictions indicating that it will soar to an impressive USD300 billion by 2024. This trend highlights the growing desire among professionals to combine work and leisure, creating a unique and enriching travel experience. ( Euromonitor International ).
• These 5 countries will be the fastest growing tourism destinations in 2024: Tunisia, Mexico, Morocco, Dominican Republic, and Sri Lanka. (Travel Off Path) .

Domestic vs. international travel

The statistics below help to better understand the "new traveler" whos is most likely planning 2 domestic trips and 2 international trips in 2024.

• International travel has rebounded post pandemic however going forward into 2024 it's clear that whilst consumer sentiment is very much in favor of international travel, domestic travel is much more budget friendly. ( Travel + Leisure ).
• Global business travel will fully recover by 2024. It is forecast to increase by 14% in 2022, with the US and China seeing the largest growth (30% each). ( Leslie Josephs )

Air, cruise & ground transport

The widespread adoption of the internet as a source of information, the ease of mobility and increased awareness of new destinations have brought significant changes to how consumers travel. The statistics below show how much travel has changed and what to expect.

• Global flight numbers were still below pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2023. According to the International Air Transport Association, global airlines anticipate that approximately 4.35 billion individuals took flights in 2023, a slight decrease from the 4.54 billion flyers in 2019.
• In the global airline industry, it was anticipated that 2023 brought in net profits of $9.8 billion, although these profits will come with a razor-thin net profit margin of 1.2%. ( Mint )
• Rail transport is set to experience exponential growth in 2024, emerging as the fastest-growing travel category worldwide with an impressive growth rate of 35.6% over the course of 2023-2024. ( Euromonitor International ).
• According to some travel experts, fly-to-the-meeting and fly-back-from-the-meeting day trips will stop being popular as more people prefer multi-day bleisure trips. ( SAP Concur Study of Global Business Traveler )

Jobs & employment in Travel & Tourism

As it was with all other sectors and industries, the travel and tourism sector experienced a labor shortage in 2023, but will it continue?

• Jobs in travel and tourism were still below pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2023 at a projected 320 million jobs. But with the growing demand for travel, jobs in this sector are set to rise to 430 million by 2033. ( Statista ).
• Candidates for these open positions have different expectations and priorities compared to those before the pandemic. They expect flexible working arrangements, skills training, and diversity and inclusion. Hotels will have to adapt to fill open positions. ( AHLA )
• New positions are opening up that are centred around digitalization, technology and sustainability .

Demographic statistics: Who's travelling in 2024?

Different segments play different roles in the travel and tourism industry. To fine-tune your digital strategy, you have to know your target market well and understand what they expect when they travel. Here are a few stats that show some key domgraphics that may be relevant to your business.

• In the modern era, travel has become increasingly digitalized, with 67% of consumers projected to make their travel bookings online in the year 2024.
• An interesting trend among post-pandemic travelers is the shift towards a younger demographic, with millennials (aged 30-44) comprising the largest portion of Wellness Worshippers, Leisure Seekers, Luxury Seekers, and Digital Travelers, as revealed by Euromonitor's Voice of the Consumer: Travel Survey. This highlights the changing preferences and behaviors of travelers in the modern era.
• Luxury Seekers are most commonly found in countries across the Middle East and Asia Pacific, while Eco-Adventurers tend to be prevalent in both Asia Pacific and Europe. On the other hand, Cultural Explorers are predominantly found in various countries throughout Europe.
• There is expected to be a 15% growth in sales of sports tourism packages sold through travel intermediaries from 2023 to 2024. ( Euromonitor International ).

Hospitality & Travel is evolving at speed

In 2024, the hospitality and travel sectors will be evolving at a rate of knots. Vacant positions and shifting consumer preferences define the landscape. Seamless online booking is now a necessity, just the beginning of a guest-centric approach. Elevating the experience means personalized on-site services, setting leaders apart.

Yet, beyond technology lies a deeper need—embracing diversity and inclusion as fundamental values. To cater to the evolving traveler, a blend of high-tech solutions and high-touch experiences aligning with their beliefs is vital. Statistics serve as signposts in this transformative journey. Adaptability is the key to survival, while a comprehensive guest journey and commitment to diversity steer success.

Amidst change, strategies demand recalibration. Embrace adaptability, shape a holistic guest experience, and embed diversity and inclusion into your brand. These principles navigate the industry toward leadership in the evolving hospitality and travel landscape of 2024.

Keep reading

Elevating guest experiences: Mastering the art of saying no

Jun 06, 2024

Luxury hotel marketing: 5 key strategies to succeed

Jun 05, 2024

Mastering essential hospitality soft skills: Insights from EHL Experts

May 31, 2024

This is a title

This is a text

More articles on trends and strategy

• Bachelor Degree in Hospitality
• Pre-University Courses
• Master’s Degrees & MBA Programs
• Executive Education
• Online Courses
• Swiss Professional Diplomas
• Culinary Certificates & Courses
• Fees & Scholarships
• Bachelor in Hospitality Admissions
• EHL Campus Lausanne
• EHL Campus (Singapore)
• EHL Campus Passugg
• Host an Event at EHL
• Contact our program advisors
• Join our Open Days
• Meet EHL Representatives Worldwide
• Chat with our students
• Why Study Hospitality?
• Careers in Hospitality
• Awards & Rankings
• EHL Network of Excellence
• Career Development Resources
• EHL Hospitality Business School
• Route de Berne 301 1000   Lausanne 25 Switzerland
• Accreditations & Memberships
• Privacy Policy
• Legal Terms

© 2024 EHL Holding SA, Switzerland. All rights reserved.

• Subscribe Newsletter
• Track Paper
• Conferences

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS)

•                              ISSN No. 2454-6186
•                                                                       Strengthening Social Sciences for the Future
• June Issue 2024
• Research Area
• Initial Submission
• Revised Manuscript Submission
• Final Submission
• Review Process
• Paper Format
• Author (s) Declaration
• Registration
• Virtual Library
• Apply as Reviewer
• Join as a Board Member
• Eligibility Details & Benefits
• Board Members

Contemporary Trends and Issues in The Hospitality and Tourism Industry

• Dr. Antoneta Njeri Kariru
• May 13, 2023
• Development Studies

Dr. Antoneta Njeri Kariru Ph.D. Hospitality Management, Lecturer, Department of Hospitality, Travel and Tourism Management, Murang’a University of Technology, P.O Box 75-10200, Murang’a, Kenya. 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.7481

  Received: 25 March 2023; Revised: 12 April 2023; Accepted: 14 April 2023; Published: 13 May 2023

Contemporary trends and issues in the hospitality and tourism industry often generate opportunities and challenges. The hospitality and tourism environments are constantly changing. Customers’ needs and preferences dictate consumption and business success in the service-driven and experiential industry. This review paper explores contemporary trends and issues in Hospitality and Tourism. The review adopted a qualitative approach with a focus on the collection of secondary data and subsequent thematic analysis. The paper looks at hospitality and tourism products, services, experiences, markets and environments. It also reviews the existing opportunities and challenges in the industry. The paper lastly recommends that hospitality and tourism firms understand, embrace and take advantage of modern trends and opportunities that emerge in the environment. They should also devise strategies for managing inherent challenges in the industry.

Key Words: Contemporary, Trends, Issues, Hospitality, Tourism

INTRODUCTION

The hospitality and tourism industry is highly competitive. The industry is often monopolistic with many firms offering similar products and competing for the customers that are available. The unique characteristics of the industry such as intangibility, perishability, variability, inseparability (Kotler et al. 2021), costly and labour-intensive further complicate operations. Hospitality and tourism services and experiences cannot be enjoyed before consumption. They also cannot be stored for later use. They tend to vary with the service provider. They largely depend on the service provider making the provider and delivery inseparable. It is expensive to run hospitality and tourism facilities due to high fixed and variable costs. The industry further requires many employees who hold different positions.

Hospitality and tourism stakeholders need to understand the business environment if they are to succeed. The industry is exposed to trends and challenges that emerge from internal and external environments. This review paper investigates contemporary trends and issues in the hospitality and tourism industry. Its objectives are twofold;

• To investigate contemporary trends in the hospitality and tourism industry
• To explore contemporary issues in the hospitality and tourism industry

Literature Review

Authors like Ballantyne, Packer and Axelsen (2009) have previously looked at trends in tourism research. According to Rosing et al, (2015), a trend is defined as “a general direction in which something is developing or changing. Trends involve looking at the statistical analysis of historical data over a selected time frame and charting the progression”. Trends are therefore patterns that emerge and are observed in either the market or industry. They are often linked to new markets, products, opportunities and challenges. They may call for a change of strategies and tactics. Examples of hospitality and tourism trends are demographic shifts, emerging markets, digitization and changes in information technology (IT) (Kapiki, 2012). Nonetheless, trends are constantly changing thus calling for continuous research.

Other authors such as Fonseca (2012) and Hole, Khedkar and Pawar (2019) have studied issues in tourism. Issues are challenges that arise in the industry. Issues make the management of hospitality and tourism facilities difficult or impossible. Issues range from disasters to wildlife poaching, seasonality of tourism, insecurity and poor infrastructure. Changing economics, technology, sustainability, competition, safety and security standards are challenges facing hotels (Nain, 2018). Issues call for the continuous development of strategies and tactics to mitigate negatives impacts.

METHODOLOGY

This review paper adopted a qualitative approach by exploring secondary data from journal articles, books, newspapers and online resources when analyzing the contemporary trends and issues in the hospitality and tourism industry. Thematic analysis was then used to present the results and themes that emerged from the data. Thematic analysis explores themes that are generated during data analysis (Kombo & Tromp, 2006).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Contemporary trends in the hospitality and tourism industry

Table 1 shows the contemporary trends in hospitality and tourism. The trends include popular tourist destinations, attractions and source markets, development of niche tourism products, concern for security, value of ISO certification, greening and growth in international travel.

Table 1: Contemporary trends in hospitality and tourism

  Popular tourist destinations

Popular tourist destinations include Dubai, Mexico, India, China, Tanzania and Kenya. These destinations offer a range of attractions that draw local, domestic, regional and international tourists. For instance, Dubai is popular for medical, business, adventure, sightseeing, leisure and shopping driven travel (Yas et al, 2020). Mexico normally attracts travellers who seek climate, geography, infrastructure, entertainment, culture, history, festivals, food, shopping and nightlife (Regalado-Pezúa et al., 2022). Popular attractions in China include sports, cultural, holiday and internet tourism (Zhao and Liu, 2020). India’s main attractions are music, dances, festivals, weather, ecology, flora, fauna (Prabandhan, 2022) and medicine. Tanzania has attractions like adventure, tours, wildlife, beaches and culture (Malleo and Mtengwa, 2018) that are similar to Kenya’s attractions.

Popular tourist attractions

Popular tourist attractions include the Wonders of the world such as the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt (Gupta, 2020), Great wall of China in China, The Taj Mahal in India, Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, Machu picchu in Peru and the Maasai Mara and Wildebeest migration in East Africa. The wonders of the world offer a range of cultural, historical, religious and wildlife attractions.

Popular tourist source markets

Popular tourist source markets include Brazil, Russia, India, China, United States of America (USA), France, Italy and United Kingdom (UK). Most popular tourism source markets like Brazil, Russia, USA, France, Italy and UK are developed countries with great tourism spending powers. Countries such as India and China also have large human populations that constitute the outbound tourism market. For example, China is a major tourist source market and destination (Wee, 2017). China also has a great economy and improved living standards that increase tourism spending power (Zhao and Liu, 2020) coupled with technological advancement and global development strategies that have increased its outbound tourist numbers (Liu and Cheng, 2021).

Development of niche tourism products

Niche tourism products are tourism products that can give competitive advantages by targeting specific groups of tourists (Wahab and Shamal, 2022). Niche products include wellness tourism, health tourism, gastro tourism, wine tourism, conference tourism, events, space tourism, dark tourism, war tourism, family entertainment and sports tourism. Niche experiences facilitate specialization in production and marketing thus achieving excellent firm performance.

Growth of wellness tourism

Wellness tourism focuses on wellness. Tourists visit hospitality and tourism facilities for wellness. Wellness tourism has dimensions like “health of body, mind and spirit, self-sufficiency, physical strength, esthetics, healthy nutrition, relaxation, meditation, mental activity, education, environmental awareness and sensitivity to social relationships” Smith and Puczko (2014) as quoted by Dini and Pencarelli (2021). Dini and Pencarelli (2021) add that wellness tourism includes hot springs, spas, medical tourism, natural environment, culture, gastronomy, spirituality, care of body and mind, sports and events. Wellness tourism therefore focuses on diet, healthy menus, healthy cooking methods, portion control, gyms and exercise facilities, consumer education, relaxation, meditation, fitness, beauty and spas. In response to growing demand, hospitality and tourism facilities have developed spas, saunas, healthy restaurants, gyms, yoga and meditation rooms.

Growth of health tourism

Health tourism is travel to improve one’s health. Health tourism is driven by globalization, rise in health expenditure, global travel, reduced health costs, ICT and internet (Aydin and Karamehmet, 2017). There is concern for healthy eating as customers address health issues like cholesterol, calories intake, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. Hospitality and tourism facilities are therefore offering healthy menus, portion control, customer education, healthy food and beverage production practices, gyms and fitness facilities to cater to the health tourist.

Growth of gastro tourism

People travel for food. Gastronomic tourism, also called culinary tourism or gourmet tourism, seeks culinary experiences involving Gourmet travellers (Gheorghe, Tudorache and Nistroreanu, 2014). “Food related gastrotourism refers to the pursuit of appealing, authentic, memorable culinary experiences of all kinds, while traveling internationally, regionally or even locally….where food is the focus and motivation for the travel” (Williams, Jr Williams and Omar, 2013). Gastro tourism is therefore travel to food attractions. It involves visiting destinations to sample and experience cuisine and foods of the region.

Growth of wine tourism

Tourists travel for wine. Wine tourism targets tourists interested in wine involving visits to wineries in order to taste wine and experience area where wine is grown and produced (Gu, King and Huang, 2019). Motivators for wine tourism include rest, relaxation, tasting, education, outing, socialization, eating, drinking, entertainment, touring, purchase, event, history, culture, talks and outdoor relaxation (Byrd, Canziani, Hsieh, Debbage and Sonmez, 2016). Popular wine tourism destinations include the wine growing regions of France, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Germany and Portugal like Champagne, Bordeaux, Loire, Alsace, Burgundy, Duoro valley Beira, Minho, Tejo, Lombardy and Veneto.

Uptake of space tourism

Space has been attracting tourists lately. Space tourism is travel to space (Cole, 2015) for leisure, business or research (Yazici and Tiwari (2021). Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world in the year 2023, has promoted space tourism in the 21 st century by facilitating commercial and private travel to space. Popular space travel destinations include the orbit and international space station (ISS).

Embracing dark tourism

Dark tourism involves travel to destinations linked to death, wars, genocides and massacres. Smith (2002) claimed that death and disaster can be tourism attractions. The motivation for dark tourism include strong curiosity about death and disaster thus yielding mental, physical and educational experiences (Chang, 2014). Dark and war tourism destinations could include Ukraine, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda.

Desire for entertainment and growth in family outings

Entertainment and family outings include family vacations and visits to popular entertainment spots like hotels and theme parks. Family entertainment is an element of Family tourism and Entertainment tourism. Family tourism is tourism that involves family members (Schanzel and Yeoman, 2015) while entertainment tourism is travel to entertainment attractions like gaming destinations (Luo and Lam, 2017).

Uptake of sports tourism

Sports events such as football, world cup, superbowl, basketball and the olympics have become popular attractions among sports enthusiasts. “Sport tourism is all forms of active and passive involvement in sporting activity, participated in casually or in an organized way for non-commercial or commercial reasons and necessitating travel away from home. Sport tourism simply identify tourism activities involving sports. It is a simple combination of both sports and tourism” (Gozalova, Schikanou, Vernigor and Bagdasarian, 2014). Sports tourism attracts people of all ages ranging from the young to the old. It could be local, domestic, national, regional or international. It could also be physical, digital or virtual via popular electronic and online media.

Growth in international travel

People travel internationally for reasons such as business, leisure, medical, education, sports, religion, health and adventure. There has been an increase in the number of international tourist arrivals from traditional source markets like Britain and Italy and emerging markets like China and India (Sofronov, 2018). Growth in transport infrastructure including air, rail and water through cruises has continued stimulating the growth in international travel.

Growth of medical tourism

Medical tourism is related to health tourism. Medical tourism is travel for healthcare (Ghanbari, Moradlu and Ramazani, 2014). People travel widely and internationally to seek treatment for illnesses. Even so, efforts should be made to integrate culture, heritage and recreation in medical tourism. Countries such as India are popular medical tourism destinations.

Growth of cruise tourism

Cruise tourism has grown as a tourism activity. Cruise tourism includes casinos, short excursions, port lectures, shopping, spas, sea, sports, fishing, leisure, accommodation, entertainment and vacation (Brida and Zapata, 2009). Cruise tourism is a form of luxury tourism with economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts (Brida and Aguirre, 2010). According to Wee (2017) cruise holidays have grown due to better and larger vessels being developed, development in cruise ship infrastructure like ports and the growing interest in cruising.

Growth of domestic and regional tourism

Domestic travel involves local travel while regional travel covers countries, regions and economic blocs. Domestic travel is travel within countries while regional travel is travel within groups of countries and continents. Domestic and regional travel have stimulated domestic and regional tourism. Domestic and regional travel could be for business, leisure, adventure, religion, sports, events, health etc. Hole et al. (2019) noted that there has been increase in domestic tourism in India in line with the growth in the aviation industry. This trend has been witnessed globally affecting regional tourism as well.

Growth in the event industry

There has been an increase in the nature and number of events in the hospitality and tourism industry. Oklobdžija and Blace (2015) give The Accepted Practices Exchange Industry Glossary of TERMS (APEX, 2005) definition of an event as, “An organized occasion such as a meeting, convention, exhibition, special event, gala dinner, etc. An event is often composed of several different yet related functions”. Events in hospitality and tourism range from weddings, business meetings, celebration dinners, fundraisers and sports. Pabilando, Pitao and Bacason (2022) list events to include concerts, conventions, parties and weddings. There has been growth in conferences, meetings and conventions occasioned by the rise in the number of local and international conferences, seminars, workshops and conventions. Events have moreover spurred demand for outside catering.

Catered business travel

Business tourism involves people travelling for purposes that are related to their work. As such it represents one of the oldest forms of tourism, man having travelled for this purpose of trade since very early times (Davidson, 1994, as cited by John and Susan, 2001). It is normal for businesses to cater for business travel among its employees by paying for expenses like accommodation, entertainment, food and transport. This trend has stimulated the development of business hotels and facilities that focus on the business traveller by providing meeting rooms, conference halls, business centers, photocopying, printing and internet services.

Demographic changes

Demographic changes include ageing of the populations and growth of the youth and young populations. “The major demographic trends are the slowing of population and household growth, the aging of the population, and an increasing fragmentation of consumer markets, rising educational level, a more colourful society due to migration, a changing role of women in society” (Nedelea, 2008).

A large percentage of the world population is growing older. Ageing of the population has created the senior tourist (Batista-Sanchez, 2020). It has also spurred demand for healthy menus, special meals for the elderly and leisure travel. The senior tourists travel a lot because they have the time and are well off with pensions and other retirement benefits to spend and enjoy.

Growth of the youth and young populations is a demographic trend in hospitality and tourism. The young and youth make up the youth tourist. Youth tourism involves people aged between 15 and 29 years (Cakar and Seyitoglu, 2016).  Growth of the young and youth populations have led to high consumption of junk food, rise in adventure and education tourism, increase in use of information technology in hospitality transactions and growth of the techno savvy population.

The middle class form the middle-class tourist. Growth of the middle class has improved the hospitality and tourism spending power from the class. The middle class also has disposable time while some own assets (Yunyao, Xiaotong and Rui, 2016). The middle-class travel motivations include leisure, adventure, business, religion, health and education. Gao et al., (2022) found that the young middle outbound tourist in China sought relaxation, pleasure and culture.

Education can be a motivation for travel. People cross boundaries to pursue learning in foreign institutions. Touring, employment, skills and knowledge acquisition are some motivators for travel among education tourists (Tomasi et al, 2020). Travel for education has therefore created education tourists. Popular education tourism destinations include UK, USA, Canada, India and Australia.

Women are increasingly travelling for reasons such as leisure, business, education, health, wellness, sports, adventure, culture and religion. Most women are either traveling solo (Hamid et al, 2021) or in groups. Uptake of business roles among women has also led to the development of hospitality and tourism facilities such as hotels, restaurants, clubs and bars with amenities that specifically cater to the woman traveller.

Changing preferences of hospitality and tourism consumers

Customers’ needs and demands are constantly changing. The changes may be due to crises such as covid-19 (Tarakci et al, 2021), demographic shifts, new generations, ageing, innovative products, technology, globalization, emerging markets and competition. New preferences among hospitality and tourism consumers include healthy eating, growing health concerns when dining out, demand for healthy menus, safety, security, personalized services, quality, value and variety. Changing preferences call for the development of products and experiences such as organic restaurants, green businesses, safe premises, quality products, value for money and product diversity.

Concern for health and safety

Health and safety ranges from food to premise safety. Health and safety have always been important in the hospitality and tourism industry (Breda and Costa, 2005). Concern for safe food and food poisoning have led to the adoption of the ISO 22000 food safety system, hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) and healthy menus. The food management systems enhance safety throughout the production and preparation process from planting to production, customer service and consumption. Hospitality and tourism facilities are also vulnerable to disease outbreaks, pandemics and epidemics like cholera, typhoid, salmonella and covid-19. The facilities are moreover prone to accidents such as falls, drowning and burns among employees and customers. These diseases and accidents can accrue costs such as deaths, injuries, treatment, absenteeism, negative reputation and lawsuits.

Increased personalization

Increased personalization has created the need to customize and tailor make services, products and experiences to individual preferences and tastes. Customization generates customer satisfaction, employee motivation, purchase, spending, positive word of mouth and loyalty. Hospitality and tourism products including rooms, destinations, food, entertainment, events, occasions and environments are nowadays being customized to specific customers’ wishes. Information technology has facilitated service personalization (Gana, 2018) since customers can give precise instructions over the internet and digital platforms thus developing and customizing products online.

Growing importance of value co-creation

Value co-creation is the co-creation of value through personalized interactions that are meaningful and sensitive to specific consumers. Tourists’ interactions with the organization and each other contribute to the co-creation of value (Rihova, Buhalis, Moital and Gouthro, 2014). Value co-creation actively involves the customer and use of IT and virtual platforms in co-creating experiences and meeting customers’ needs while achieving firm objectives.

Catering to customers with disabilities

Hospitality and tourism facilities have learnt to address the needs of customers with disabilities. Catering to customers with disabilities has led to accessible tourism (Reindrawati, Noviyanti and Young, 2022). It has had an impact on hospitality and tourism infrastructures, employee training and service delivery. Hospitality and tourism firms have developed special facilities and infrastructure such as elevators and stairs for customers with disabilities. They have trained employees on service delivery and instituted processes and systems that facilitate service to customers with disabilities. Catering to customers with disabilities is also an element of corporate social responsibility.

Building a culture of Quality and Total Quality Management

Quality is meeting and exceeding customer expectations (Puri and Singh, 2018).  Total quality on the other hand integrates people, product, services, processes and environment in meeting and exceeding customers’ expectations. Quality enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty. It is a source of competitive advantages and profitability. However, firms are striving to manage the costs of quality and measure quality. Quality has costs like warranties, training, samples and maintenance. It is also dynamic thus making it difficult to measure.

Value of ISO certification

Modern firms have made International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications business priorities. The ISO certificates are a sign of quality and compliance with set regulations. Important ISO certifications in hospitality and tourism include the ISO 22000 Food safety system that enhances food safety, ISO 14000 Environmental management that addresses the environment, ISO 27001 Information security for enhancing information safety, ISO 50001 Energy management for reducing energy wastage, ISO 37001 Anti-bribery management system for mitigating bribery, ISO 26000 Social responsibility for social responsible businesses, ISO 31000 Risk management for reducing risks, ISO 20121 Sustainable events for running sustainable events, ISO 9000 Quality management for quality assurance and ISO 45001 Occupational health and safety for workplace health and safety (ISO, 2023). ISO certification enhances business reputation, instills consumer confidence, generates trust, institutes compliance and establishes high standards.

Uptake of societal marketing and corporate social responsibility initiatives

Societal marketing promotes the needs and wants of customers while addressing societal concerns (Truong and Hall, 2013). It involves embracing corporate social responsibility including employee responsibility, environmental management, energy management, community involvement, ethical business, vision and values. Hospitality and tourism firms embrace corporate social responsibility through initiatives like taking care of employee welfare, environment conservation, reducing energy wastage, community development, sponsorship, addressing stakeholders’ needs and ethical businesses.

Encouraging sustainable hospitality and tourism businesses

Sustainability addresses the availability of scarce resources in future. Sustainability could be environmental, economic and social. Patino, Medina and Arilla (2016) believed that sustainability is important in modern tourism and should reflect economic, environmental and social dimensions. The sustainability concept led to the development of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Hospitality and tourism facilities can moreover contribute towards achievement of the sustainable development goals of no poverty, quality education, decent work and economic growth, good health and wellbeing, affordable and clean energy, clean water and sanitation and climate action. The firms can offer employment, educate stakeholders, sustain livelihoods, conserve energy, protect the environment and mitigate climate change.

Embracing green businesses

Greening is about Going Green. Greening embraces environmentally friendly practices. Greening in hospitality and tourism means showing concern for the environment, building green hotels, green restaurants, green infrastructure, green team of staff, green practices, reducing, reusing, recycling, pollution control, water and energy conservation, recycling of waste and provision of local menus. Furqan, Som and Hussin (2010) explain that green tourism integrates environmentally friendly tourism with focus on products that do no harm to the environment while enhancing environmental, economic, cultural and experiential richness. Green tourists are people whose primary motivation for travel is environmental friendly experiences.

Building customer centric businesses

Hospitality and tourism businesses should be customer centric. Customer centrism is focus on the customer (Niininen, Buhalis and March, 2007). Popular sayings are that “The Customer is the king” and “The customer is always right”. Debate still ranges on whether the two statements are true and accurate. The customer may be the ultimate consumer but not always right. Customers can make mistakes like excessive drinking and fighting with employees thus costing the business.

Changing Information Technology (IT)

Information technology, information and communication technology and the internet have greatly affected the hospitality and tourism industry (Jadhav, Shivaji and Mundhe, 2012). The internet has affected bookings and sales e.g. bookings.com. There is also emphasis on smart technologies e.g. smart phones, smart guest rooms, motion sensor facilities; online social networks e.g. trip advisor; online distributors, online customer experiences, online transactions, customer relationship management, mobile phone payments, digital menu order taking and video conferencing. In addition, Apps have made tourism enjoyable and accessible and artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics and chatbots have become popular benefiting tourists, organizations and industries thus enhancing smart tourism with a digital future (Sugasri and Selvam, 2018).

Impact of globalization

The world is now a global village. Patino, Medina and Arilla (2016) felt that globalization has changed the face of tourism. There are modern technologies in production and service including advanced communication technology. There is also global competition, markets, products, multi-culturalism at the work place and environmental concerns like global warming and travel.

Modern legal frameworks and laws governing the industry

The hospitality and tourism industry has not been spared by legal frameworks (Korze, 2018). Laws affecting the hospitality and tourism industry include the betting tax, liquor laws and licensing, banning of plastic bags, banning of shisha, minimum wage laws and pollution control. Restrictions, laws and fines have therefore been imposed on gambling, sale, distribution, promotion, marketing and production of alcoholic beverages, packaging materials, smoking, shisha, minimum wages and environmental protection.

Increased competition

There is a lot of international, regional, national, domestic and local competition. The hospitality and tourism industry has always been competitive (Vodeb, 2012). Continents, countries, cities, towns and regions are competing for tourists. There are also alliances, mergers, acquisitions, business closures, substitutions and new entrants in efforts to ensure business survival.

Increased substitution of the hospitality and tourism products

Substitution means the availability of alternatives. Hospitality and tourism substitution could affect destinations, products, services and experiences (Van der veen, 2015). For example, convention centres versus tented camps with conference facilities, delis versus traditional restaurants and hotels versus tented camps. Substitution increases competition between firms while expanding the customers’ choices.

Increased insecurity

Insecurity has always been a challenge in the hospitality and tourism industry. Insecurity arises due to threats like terrorism, fraud, robbery, disease outbreaks e.g. ebola, covid-19, political unrests and cyber-crime (Hamarneh and Jeřábek, 2018). Terrorists have previously attacked hospitality and tourism facilities and destinations. Some tourists have also been victims of fraud and robbery white traveling. The year 2019 also saw the emergence and spread of the corona virus (covid-19) that became a pandemic and threat to the global hospitality and tourism industry. Wars, general elections and civil unrests have been threats to tourists as well. Information technology and the internet have created security challenges such as online fraud, hacking, theft and illegal use of tourists’ data and information.

Popularity of digital marketing

Digital marketing uses electronic platforms for communicating, promoting and marketing to hospitality and tourism consumers. Most hospitality and tourism firms have been forced to adopt digital media and tools including internet marketing, search engine optimization, electronic bill boards and displays, website marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing, content marketing, video marketing, viral marketing, online PR and branding and affiliate marketing (Kariru, 2022). Social media tools such as twitter, facebook/meta, whatsapp, Linked In, instagram and tiktok have become popular for communication, advertising, marketing and entertainment among hospitality and tourism businesses. Almost all businesses nowadays maintain online presences through websites and search engine optimization. The mobile phone has also become an important tool for communication, marketing and financial transactions.

Embracing public relations

Internal public relations (PR) involves internal customers or employees while external public relations deals with external stakeholders and publics like the media, suppliers, potential employees, communities, customers and government (Petrovici, 2014). Internal PR can be embraced through work-life balance, tele-commuting, flexi work-plans and schedules, diversity and unionization. Hospitality and tourism firms can embrace external public relations through media outreach, ethical businesses and CSR-environmental, community, employee and market place.

Focus on memorable experiences

Memorable experiences are unforgettable experiences. Hospitality and tourism consumers nowadays demand experiences. There is therefore shift of focus from delivering products and services to creating memorable experiences (Hosany, Sthapih and Bjork, 2022). The experiences should be personalized (Nain, 2018). The memorable experiences can be created via themes like favourable atmosphere, services, value, destination, quality, communication and products thus influencing emotions and generating loyalty.

Contemporary Issues in Hospitality and Tourism

Contemporary issues and challenges in hospitality and tourism include seasonality of tourism, travel advisories, poaching of wildlife, sex tourism, child sex tourism, limited diversification of tourism, economic recessions, stagnations and booms, natural disasters like tsunamis, forest fires and floods in national parks, politics, crises, insecurity, negative perceptions of the industries, negative impacts of tourism, drugs, immorality, climate change, inaccessibility of destinations and poor infrastructure. According to Hole et al. (2019), India faces challenges like “financial issues, global uncertainty, branding issues, human resources, financial viability, customer issues, operating cost creep, supply, safety and security”.

Table 2 highlights contemporary issues in hospitality and tourism including the seasonality of tourism, travel advisories, natural disasters, poaching of wildlife, drugs, immorality and crises.

Table 2: Contemporary issues in hospitality and tourism

Tourism seasonality

Destinations have in the past experienced seasonality. Tourism seasonality refers to the “fluctuations of demand or supply in the tourism industry, caused by temporary movement of people due to factors such as climate conditions and public and school holidays” (Corluka, 2019). Governments have attempted to manage seasonality by adjusting prices during the off-peak season, diversifying tourism and developing new tourism products that attract tourists throughout the year.

Travel advisories

Most countries in the world have been affected by travel advisories. Travel advisories are restrictions on travel given by countries to protect their citizens from real or imaginary threats like terrorism attacks, disease outbreaks and wars (Babey, 2019). Travel advisories restrict travel thus reducing hospitality and tourism activities and earnings.

Limited tourism diversification

The hospitality and tourism industry has been known for lack of tourism diversification. Diversification refers to the expansion of a product or a sector into a new market rather than specializing in a single-product (Weidenfeld, 2018). For example, countries with coastal regions are known to focus on beach tourism paying less attention to other tourism activities like agri tourism. Tourism diversification increases tourism products thus increasing tourist numbers and spending. However, limited diversification reduces tourist numbers and spendings.

Economic crises

Economic crises include recessions, stagnations and inflation. Economic crises like downturns and recessions can affect the hospitality and tourism industry (Kapiki, 2012). Downturns and recessions reduce disposable income among the traveling publics thus reducing hospitality and tourism spending and consumption. Inflation also makes tourism products expensive and unaffordable.

Natural disasters

Natural disasters are harmful events occurring in nature that are often beyond human control. Natural disasters affecting the hospitality and tourism industry include cyclones, diseases, hurricanes, flooding, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and bushfires (Praveen and Rajesh, 2021). Natural disasters destroy hospitality and tourism properties and cost lives while instilling fear of travel to affected destinations.

Political events

Political events include terrorism, wars, civil wars, civil unrests, travel advisories and general elections. Elections and wars tend to affect hospitality and tourism activities (Kimani, 2021). Elections, unrests and wars deter tourists from travelling and visiting affected destinations due to fear and insecurity thus reducing hospitality and tourism spending.

The hospitality and tourism industries have been exposed to many crises. A crisis is a “low probability, high impact event that threatens the viability of the hotel and is characterized by ambiguity of cause, effects and means of resolution, as well as by a belief that decisions must be made swiftly” (Karam, 2018). Common crises in hospitality and tourism include natural crises like earthquakes and floods, environmental crises like oil leakages, geopolitical crises like terrorism attacks, political disturbances or wars, social crimes or road accidents and epidemic diseases.

Insecurity is a major challenge in the hospitality and tourism industry. Insecurity in hospitality and tourism could be in the form of crime, fraud, terrorism, war, and corruption (Hamarneh and Jeřábek (2018). Robberies, hijackings, human trafficking, drugs, online fraud, corruption and bribery are crimes that pose threat to the industry. Terrorism has previously shifted tourism patterns (Wee, 2017) by drawing tourists away from affected destinations.

Poaching has been rampant in the tourism industry. Poaching is the killing of wildlife like elephants and rhinos for products like hide and horns which are then sold (Lucas, 2022). Poaching has led to decline and extinction of some wildlife thus reducing tourism activities in affected regions.

Sex tourism and child sex tourism

Sex and child sex tourism are immoralities in hospitality and tourism. Sexual tourism involves traveling for sex (Blackburn et al., 2011) while child sex tourism involves tourists indulging children in sexual activities (Bah, 2021). Sexual tourism goes against moral standards and has been linked to the erosion of morals, spread of diseases such as AIDS and death.

Negative impacts of tourism

Hospitality and tourism have both negative and positive impacts on destinations, societies and countries. These impacts could be socio-cultural, environmental and/or economical (Ferreira, Castro and Gomes, 2021). The negative impacts of tourism destroy destinations, attractions, societies, communities, economies, environments and cultures. Some negative impacts of tourism are the erosion of traditional values, commoditization of the tourism product, immorality, drugs, pollution, destruction of destinations, economic leakage and unequal development of tourism.

Negative characteristics of the hospitality and tourism industry

The hospitality and tourism industry has negative and positive characteristics that act as issues. The industry is known to experience job insecurity, monotony, low pay, unsocial working hours and lack of work-life balance. For example, job insecurity, which has always been an issue due to seasonality in the industry, was apparent during the covid-19 pandemic, when some employees were laid off and fired (Karatepe et al, 2022). The jobs entail performing similar tasks daily. The pay especially for operatives is considered somewhat low leading to heavy reliance on tipping and service charges. Employees are often forced to work late into the night and during weekends and public holidays. Most women in the industry also find it hard to balance family and work. These features often discourage students and employees from joining the industry and pursuing hospitality and tourism courses in colleges and universities.

Drugs are a menace in hospitality and tourism. Drugs in tourism have led to the coining of the term “drug tourism”.  “Drug tourism could be seen as the journeys undertaken with the purpose of obtaining or using drugs, which are not available or are illegal in the tourist origin places” (Pareira and Paula, 2016). Drugs in hospitality and tourism are linked to crime, immorality, illnesses and death.

Climate change

Climate change is a major issue in the hospitality and tourism industry. Climate change leads to temperature rises thus directly and indirectly affecting hospitality and tourism through the erosion of natural attractions and extreme weather events such as floods (Siddiqui and Imran, 2018). Erosion of natural attractions destroys destinations, products and experiences while extreme weather events deter travel to affected areas.

Inaccessible destinations and poor infrastructure

Some tourist destinations and attractions have become inaccessible due to poor infrastructure like roads and bridges. Inaccessibility has always been a challenge for hospitality and tourism development (Toth and David, 2010). Remote areas like national parks, game reserves and beaches are often inaccessible due to poor roads and bridges especially during harsh weather like the rainy season when the regions flood.

The hospitality and tourism industry experiences many trends and challenges which act as opportunities and threats. These trends and challenges are manageable with proper training, innovations, plans and policies. It is up to hospitality and tourism stakeholders to understand the micro and macro environmental forces that impact their organizations. Hospitality and tourism stakeholders should take advantage of the opportunities that exist and mitigate the issues. The stakeholders and academia should therefore work together to make policy changes that contribute to business performance and sustainable tourism development.

• Aydin, G., and Karamehmet, B. (2017). Factors affecting health tourism and international health-care facility choice.  International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Health Care Marketing 1, (11) 16-36
• Babey, N. G. (2019). The politics of travel advisories: foreign policy and error in Canada’s traveller information program. The Journal of Intelligence Conflict and Warfare 2, (1): 1-23. DOI: 10.21810/jicw.v2i1.953
• Bah, Y. M. (2021). Causes of child sex tourism. Global Journal of Sociology: Current Issues. 11 (1), 11–19.
• Ballantyne, R., Packer, J., and Axelsen, M. (2009). Trends in tourism research. Annals of Tourism Research 36, (1) 149-152
• Batista-Sánchez, E. (2020). How ageing population will affect tourism? Challenges and opportunities. 1-9. 10.13140/RG.2.2.21321.36963.
• Blackburn, A., Taylor, R. and Davis, J. (2011), Understanding the complexities of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation: the case of Southeast Asia, in Bernat, F. (Ed.), Human Sex Trafficking, Routledge, London, pp. 104-125
• Breda, Z. and Costa, C (2005) Safety and Security Issues Affecting Inbound Tourism in the People’s Republic of China in Mansfeld, Y. & Pizam, A. (Eds.), Tourism, Safety and Security: From Theory to Practice, Butterworth-Heinemann
• Brida, J. G., and Aguirre, S. (2010). Cruise tourism: economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts. International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing 1, (3) 205-226 10.1504/IJLTM.2010.029585.
• Brida, J. G., and Zapata, S. (2009). Cruise tourism: Economic, sociocultural and environmental impacts. International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing 3, (2) 205-228
• Byrd, E. T., Canziani, B., Hsieh, Y., Debbage, K., and Sonmez, S. (2016). Wine tourism: motivating visitors through core and supplementary services. Tourism Management 52, 19-29
• Çakar, K., and Seyitoğlu, F. (2016). Youth Tourism: Understanding the Youth Travellers’ Motivations. Conference: The 7th MAC 2016. 1-6
• Chang, T. (2014). Dark tourism: the effects of motivation and environmental attitudes on the benefits of experience. Revista Internacional De Sociologia 72, (2) 69-86
• Cole, S. (2015). Space tourism prospects, positioning and planning. Journal of Tourism Futures 1, (2) 131-140
• Corluka, G. (2019). Tourism seasonality-an overview. Journal of Business Paradigms 1, (4) 21-43
• Dini, M., and Pencarelli, T. (2021). Wellness tourism and the components of its offer system: a holistic perspective. Tourism Review, 1660-5373, 1-20
• Ferreira, F. A., Castro, C., and Gomes, A. S. (2021). Positive and negative social-cultural, economic and environmental impacts of tourism on residents. Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems. Springer. Singapore
• Fonseca, F. G. (2012). Challenges and opportunities in the world of tourism from the point of view of ecotourism. Higher Learning Research and Communication 4, (2) 5-22
• Furqan, A., Som, A. P. M., and Hussin, R. (2010). Promoting green tourism for future sustainability. Theoretical and Empirical Research in Urban Management 8, (17) 64-75
• Gana, M. A. (2018). Personalization of tourism services through location based social network in Nigeria. Ilorin Journal of Business and Social Sciences 20, (1) 104-117
•  Gao, J., Xiaoyin, Z., Zhang, C., and Porananond, P. (2022). Understanding the young middle-class Chinese outbound tourism consumption: A social practice perspective. Tourism Management 92, (5) 104555. 10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104555.
• Ghanbaria, A., Moradlub, K. Z., and Ramazani, M. (2014). Medical tourism. Management Science Letters 8 (4):1651-1654
• Gheorghe, G., Tudorache, P., and Nistroreanu,P.  (2014). Gastronomic tourism, a new trend for contemporary tourism? Cactus Tourism Journal 9, (1) 12-21
• Gozalova, M., Schikanou, A., Vernigor, A., and Bagdasarian, V. (2014). Sports tourism. Polish Journal of Sports Tourism (21) 92-96
• Gu, Q.,King, B. E. M., and Huang, S. (2019). Understanding the wine tourism experience: the role of facilitators, constraints and involvement. Journal of Vacation Marketing 26, (1)
• Gupta, S. (2020). The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. Retrieved on 21 st February 2023 from https://www.richmont.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/7-ancient-wonders-of-the-world-SG.pdf
•  Hamarneh, I., and Jeřábek, P. (2018). The impact of the security situation on tourism in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. International Scientific Journal “Security and Future” 3, 111-115
• Hamid, S., Ali, R., Azhar, M., and Phd, S. (2021). Solo travel and well-being amongst women: an exploratory study. Indonesian Journal of Tourism and Leisure 2, (1) 1-13. 10.36256/ijtl.v2i1.125.
• Hole, Y., Khedkar, E. B., and Pawar,S. (2019). Challenges and solutions to the development of the tourism and hospitality industry in India. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 8, (3) 1-11
• Hosany, S., Sthapit, E., and Björk, P. (2022). Memorable tourism experience: A Review and Research Agenda. 1-20
• International Organization for Standardization, ISO. (2023). Popular standards and other ISO deliverables. Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/popular-standards.html on 20th February 2023
• Jadhav, V., and Shivaji, D., and Mundhe, S. (2012). Information technology in Tourism. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Technologies. 2, (6) 2822-2825
• John, S. and Susan, H. (2001) Business Travel and Tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford
• Kapiki, S. (2012). The impact of economic crisis on tourism and hospitality: results from a study in Greece. Central European Review of Economics and Finance 2, (1) 19-30
• Kapiki, S. (2012). Current and future trends in tourism and hospitality. The case of Greece. International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories 2, (1) 1-12
• Karam, M. G. (2018). The impact of strategic planning on crisis management styles in the 5-star hotels. Journal of Hotel and Business Management 7, 1, 1-9. doi: 10.4172/2169-0286.1000171.
• Karatepe, O. M., Okumus, F., and Saydam, M. B. (2022), “Outcomes of job insecurity among hotel employees during COVID-19”, International Hospitality Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IHR-11-2021-0070
• Kariru, A. N. (2020). Digital marketing in the hospitality industry: Adoption, use, firm performance and national development. Global Scientific Journals 10, (9) 1856-1872
• Kimani, P. (2021). Effect of civil war on the perfomance of tourism industry in Africa. a critical literature review. International Journal of Modern Hospitality and Tourism 1, (1)1 – 15
• Kombo, D., and Tromp D. (2006). Proposal and thesis writing. Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa
• Korze, S, Z. (2018). Legal framework for tourism: neccessity or necessary evil. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences 11, (1) 35-56. 10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2018-no1-art3.
• Kotler, P., Bowen, J., & Baloglu, S. (2021). Marketing for hospitality and tourism. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
• Liu, C., and Cheng, M. (2021): Emerging issues in the Chinese outbound tourist market. Journal of China Tourism Research, 17 (2) 1-5. DOI:10.1080/19388160.2021.1997508
• Lucas, B. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 on poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking trends in Southern Africa. K4D Helpdesk Report 1094. Institute of Development Studies. DOI: 10.19088/K4D.2022.017
• Luo, J. M., and Lam, C. F. (2017). Entertainment Tourism. Routledge. UK
• Malleo, J. A., and Mtengwa, B. A. (2018). Role of Tourism in Tanzania’s Economic Development. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 7 (4), 21–31
• Nain, A. (2018). A study on major challenges faced by hotel industry globally. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) 6, (1) 561-571
• Nedelea, A. (2008). Tourism market and demographic changes. Contemporary Economics 2, (4) 61-67
• Niininen, O., Buhalis, D., and March, R. (2007). Customer empowerment in tourism through Consumer Centric Marketing (CCM). Tourism Research 10 (3) 1-21. 10.1108/13522750710754308.
• Oklobdžija, S., and Blace, V. (2015).  The role of events in tourism development. BizInfo Journal 6, (2), 86-97
• Pabilando, R, Pitao, D. R, and Bacason, M. L. T. (2022). Challenge of event management as a new trend in hospitality industry amidst covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology 7, (1) 941-949
• Pareira, T. F. P. D., and Paula, L. B. (2016). Drug tourism: general overview, case studies and new perspectives in the contemporary world. EJTHR 7, (3):188-202
• Patino, M, G, Y, Medina, F. X., and Arilla, J. M. P. (2016). New trends in tourism? From globalization to post modernism. International Journal of Scientific Management Tourism 2, (3) 417-433
• Petrovici, Amalia. (2014). Public Relations in Tourism. A Research on the Perception of the Romanian Public Upon Responsible Tourism. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences. 163. 67-72. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.287.
• Prabandhan, A. M. (2022). Need of marketing of India as a tourist destination: evaluation of India’s performance in tourism . Indian Journal of Management 7 (8):45-54, 2014; ISSN: 0975-2854
• Praveen, M., and Rajesh, R. (2021). Disasters and its impact on the tourism sector. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts 4, (9) 1906-1916
• Puri, G., Singh, K. (2018). The role of service quality and customer satisfaction in tourism industry: a review of servqual model. International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews 5, (4) 745-751
• Regalado-Pezúa, O.; Sirkis, G.; Carvache-Franco, O.; Carvache-Franco, M.; Carvache-Franco. W. (2022). Urban Tourism Perception and Recommendation in Mexico City and Lima. Land 11, 1-11 https://doi.org/10.3390/ land11112021
• Reindrawati, D.Y., Noviyanti, U.D.E., and Young, T. (2022). Tourism Experiences of People with Disabilities: Voices from Indonesia. Sustainability 14, 13310.https://doi.org/10.3390/ su142013310
• Rihova, I, Buhalis, D, and Gouthro, M. B. (2014). Conceptualising customer-to-customer value co-creation in tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research 17 (4):356-363
• Rosing, M., et al. (2015). Business Process Trends. Elsevier
• Schanzel, H. A., and Yeoman, I. (2015). Trends in family tourism. Journal of Tourism Futures 1 (2):141-147
• Siddiqui, S. and Imran, M. (2018). Impact of Climate Change on Tourism. Impact of climate change on tourism. IGI Global
• Smith, W. W. (2002). Dark tourism: The attraction of death and disaster. Annals of Tourism Research 29, (4) 1188-1189
• Sofronov, B. (2018). The development of the travel and tourism industry in the world. Annals of Spiru Haret University. Economic Series, 18 (4), 123-137, doi: https://doi.org/10.26458/1848
• Sugasri, S., and Selvam, R. P. (2018). Recent technological trends in tourism and hospitality industry. International Journal of Management Technology and Engineering 8, (12) 883-889
• Tarakçı, I., Uysal, B., and Ulusinan C. E. (2021). The investigation of the consumers’ tourism preferences in the covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Health Management and Tourism. 443-457. 10.31201/ijhmt.810192.
• Tomasi, S., Paviotti, G., and Cavicchi, A. (2020). Educational tourism and local development: the role of universities. Sustainability 12, (17) 1-15. 6766. 10.3390/su12176766.
• To’th, Ge ́., Da ́vid, Lo ́. (2010). Tourism and accessibility: An integrated approach, Applied Geography. 1-12. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2010.01.008
• Truong, V. D., and Hall, C. M. (2013). Social marketing and tourism: what is the evidence? Social Marketing Quarterly 19, (2) 110-135
• Van der Veen, R. (2015). Substitution, tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_341-1
• Vodeb, K. (2012). Competition in tourism in terms of changing environment. Social and Behavioral Sciences 44. 273 – 278
• Wahab, I. N., and Shamal, S. (2022). Niche tourism in India: its important role in tourist destination development and alleviation of poverty within the local community. Edited book on Exploring Niche Tourism: The Indian Perspective Edition: I
• Wee, C. (2017). Emerging trends in tourism; opportunities, challenges and implications. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 6, (6) 1-5
• Weidenfeld, A. (2018). Tourism Diversification and Its Implications for Smart Specialization. Sustainability 10, (2), 1-24
• Williams, H. A., Jr Williams, R., and Omar, M. (2013). Gastro-tourism as destination branding in emerging markets. International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing 4, (4) 1-18
• Yas, H., Mardani, A., Albayati, Y., Lootah, S. E., and Streimikiene, D. (2020). The positive role of the tourism industry for Dubai City in the United Arab Emirates. Contemporary Economics 14, (4) 601-616
• Yazici, A. M., and Tiwari, S. (2021). Space tourism: an initiative pushing limits. Journal of Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality 3, (1) 38-46
• Yunyao, L., Xiaotong, S., and Rui, W. (2016). A critical review of Asia’s emerging middle class be of benefits to the UK tourism and hospitality industry. 3rd International Conference on Education, Management and Computing Technology (ICEMCT 2016). 751-756
• Zhao, Y., and Liu, B. (2020). The evolution and new trends of China’s tourism industry. National Accounting Review 2, (4) 337-353

Article Statistics

Track views and downloads to measure the impact and reach of your article.

PDF Downloads

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter, to get updates regarding the Call for Paper, Papers & Research.

Email Address * Subscribe

Track Your Paper

Enter the following details to get the information about your paper

• Facility Management , Hospitality & Retail

8 Hospitality trends and challenges for 2024

Recommended for you

• Facility Management , Maintenance

Complete guide to inventory management

• June 7, 2024
• Asset Management , Facility Management

10 best inventory management software

• June 5, 2024
• Maintenance

How to improve supplier relationships management

• June 3, 2024

A multi-awarded intelligent maintenance management platform

Infraspeak ©2015-2023 - Brought to you by Facilities Management Geeks

Wait! We've got something for you.

Get to know our platform and finally take full control of your operation, ensure compliance with regulations and boost your team’s productivity !

Five Biggest Challenges Facing The Hospitality Industry in 2024

From staff shortages to the Cost of Living Crisis, the hospitality industry faces significant challenges in 2024.

Consumers are returning to hospitality after a difficult few years for the industry. That said, even with the promising signs of recovery, the sector still faces a perfect storm of challenges in 2024.

1. Staff Shortages and Retention

Staff shortages have impacted the hospitality industry over the last few years and now, more than ever, present a significant issue for hospitality businesses. In their recent report, the ONS stated that shortages are at an all time high, with an increase of 83% more vacancies advertised and a shortfall of 170,000 hospitality jobs currently available in the UK.

A further report noted that 45% of hospitality operators in the UK have been forced to cut capacity or opening hours due to shortages in staff.

To improve staff retention , investing in staff engagement and team training has never been more important. To further attract staff, various lobby groups are campaigning for fair wages, flexible set-ups to working hours and are also asking the Government to review its occupation shortage list in a bid to attract more overseas workers. 

With bringing new staff up to speed during staff shortages, time and cost efficiency is of utmost importance. To increase training efficiency, try using hospitality software to speed up the process with checklists and templates. 

Read our tips on how tech can help bridge the staff shortages gap.

2. Cost of Living Crisis

The exponential rise in prices challenges the hospitality industry two-fold. First, from a consumer perspective, where the public has less money to spend eating or drinking out, then also for their businesses’ own rising costs, which we will explore further in the following section.

After two years of pandemic-impacted trade, recent trends indicate that consumers are returning to hospitality in promising numbers. However, the recent findings show that consumer confidence remains relatively low throughout 2023, with customers seeing decreased discretionary spending and re-evaluating eating out , so the road to recovery for the hospitality industry still poses potential challenges into 2024.

3. Increased Running and Ingredient Costs

Hospitality businesses now face the challenge of an increase of 55.2% in operating costs , with industry groups lobbying the government for extra financial support for the industry.

The hospitality industry is facing a cost of living crisis with steep increases in raw materials, energy, staff salaries and rent, all of which has a knock-on effect on the prepared food and drink costs. Increased prices are met with lower consumer confidence, which is further increasing the challenge at hand for hospitality businesses.

Find out how Trail can help you cut your operational costs in our latest webinar.

A growing trend in the hospitality industry is looking to ease the financial challenges by simplifying menus and reducing opening hours, with 31% of restaurants now open on fewer days each week to cut down on costs, according to ResDiary . As hospitality businesses tackle these challenges, industry leaders are also calling on the government for urgent support .

4. Environmental Considerations

The climate-crisis is at the forefront of the public’s mind and conversation.

In 2023, hospitality and travel businesses must not just be conscious of their environmental impact due to the financial implications of rising energy costs , but also of consumer expectations and behaviour too.

In Booking.com’s Sustainability Report , it was found that 83% of global travellers value sustainability as something vital. This is a growing trend in the industry and a challenge that hospitality and travel businesses will continue to face for the foreseeable future.

A single stream of paper costs £32.50 per month. Switching to digital is just one way you can save on paper costs while also being more environmentally-friendly. For more ways how to adopt eco-friendly practices that can benefit your business and the environment, read our guide on why sustainability is important in the hospitality industry .

5.Increase in Hospitality Tech

Over the course of the pandemic, we saw a huge shift in the use of technology throughout hospitality. This tech helped businesses adapt to changing needs and also to improve customer experience.

Now that we are in the post-pandemic stage, customers have a higher expectation when it comes to experience and technology, with those who fail to address this risking efficiency and customer loyalty .

Technology also offers opportunities for the hospitality industry to mitigate the risk of current issues in the hospitality industry and help to futureproof the business Tech solutions like Trail’s hospitality software and digital checklist help to save time, improve efficiency and cut back on costs . 

Other back-office tech options can support all areas of the business - Read our guide to the best Back of House software.

Using supportive tech like Trail cuts operational costs and increases efficiency across the business. Trail offers a wide range of pre-set and completely customisable hospitality templates , from preparing for EHO inspection and fire safety checks to day-to-day kitchen opening and closing checklists . This means more time spent addressing the external issues the hospitality industry faces. 

Take advantage of the 14-day free hospitality software trial and sign up or request a free demo today.

View blog post

Restaurant cleaning schedule app

Hotel risk management checklist template & guidance

Health and Safety Checklist: The Ultimate Guide for Hospitality

Food Safety checklist - – the ultimate food hygiene guide

EHO Inspection Checklist: - Ace EHO Visits Every Time

Food safety management system template

HACCP Audits

How much do productivity tools for hospitality cost?

5 productivity challenges in hospitality and how to avoid them

Meet the team: Eóin Fitzpatrick, UX Designer

Trail meets Japan Centre

How to reduce food waste in your restaurant

Trail Causes: Chefs in Schools

Webinar round-up: How to engage your team with Trail

What is the best compliance tool for restaurants in the UK in 2023?

Ecologi Update: 106,000 trees planted

Trail Meets Yo! Sushi

Meet the team: Lucy Gilbert, Senior Software Engineer

Meet the team: Sally Hill, Software Engineer

Meet the team: Marie Hughes, Billing and Finance Manager

Meet the team: Caroline Joyce, Customer Success Manager

Meet the team: Lilly Molloy, Account Executive

Trail Meets Zing Restaurants

Trail Causes: Ecologi

Trail now integrates with Access Maintain

Meet the team: Tilly James, Head of Customer Operations

Azzurri Group are trialling new ‘robot helpers’

Trail Causes: Fair Shot Café

Digital Audits vs Excel Spreadsheets

Meet the Team: Mircea Rad, Junior Engineer

Trail's 2022 Year in review

Ecologi Update: 73,000 trees planted

Five takeaways from our ‘Cutting Operational Costs’ webinar

Trail meets Crosstown's Danica Perceval

Meet the team: Simone Werzberger, Head of Operations

Bars and restaurants outside of London lead UK hospitality recovery

Back of House Hospitality Software Guide 2022

Fair Shot Café celebrates first trainees’ graduation

Trail Meets Kitchen Ventures

Meet the team: Sonia Jakku, Customer Operations Manager

65,000 trees planted with Ecologi

Meet the team: Gemma Holmes, Customer Success Manager

Meet the team: Francesca Moores, Product Manager

The Ultimate Guide to Hotel Checklists for Managers

6 ways to increase your restaurant profits

How to Improve Restaurant Productivity

Meet the team: Luke Preston, Software Engineer

How to reduce energy consumption in your restaurant

Meet the team: Amy Dignon, our Customer Success Director

How to conduct a restaurant risk assessment

How to make a risk management plan for your restaurant

What does the FSA do?

Webinar: How to build leaner hospitality operations in 2022

The biggest challenges facing Britain’s pubs in 2018

Opening a restaurant: What you need to know to get started

3 ways to improve restaurant data & performance

How do I create a restaurant checklist?

7 tips to support your hospitality teams wellbeing

Natasha’s Law Checklist & Guide to Compliance

4 ways to improve productivity in your hospitality team

How can restaurants be more sustainable?

The ultimate guide to the Sustainable Restaurant Association

Covid has accelerated digital adoption in hospitality: why you should transform

Why sustainable restaurants are the future of hospitality

Trail meets Creams Cafe's Gavin King

100,000,000 tasks have been completed on Trail 🎉

How to maintain brand standards in hospitality

Trail joins The Access Group

How to attract and retain top hospitality talent

7 Tips for Seamless Software Integration

Two Solutions to Hospitality’s Staff Shortages

Food hygiene training for independent restaurants - is it worth it?

How tech can help bridge the staff shortages gap

The Brexit impact on UK hospitality and actionable steps

Safer Food Better Business Guide

Post-lockdown food safety and hygiene checklist

Trail Meets Coffeeangel's Karl Purdy

Trail Meets Grosvenor Casinos' Paul Meadows

How to encourage team feedback in your hospitality business

Why sustainability is important in the hospitality industry

Trail Meets Brean Leisure Park's Sarah House

How to achieve operational excellence in hospitality

Trail Meets Village Hotels' Fiona Meek and Lindsay Southward

7 ways to build a positive safety culture

Trail Meets Caravan's Brittney Stark

Trail Meets Fridays Sioned Hatcher

Rebuild a better business in 7 days

The Ultimate Guide to Reopening your Food Business

Trail Meets Oli Pagani from Chefs in Schools

Trail Meets New World Trading Company's Beth Cole

The Ultimate Guide to Cloud Kitchens

5THWAVE: Using Technology to Grow your Cafe Chain

Trail & Feed It Back

Paper vs Digital: The real cost of inefficient operations

How to digitise your restaurant operations: A step by step guide

What's a food hygiene rating and how can I improve mine?

5 ways digital checklists help you do more with less

Only the Efficient Will Survive

Looking back on the Trail — 2019

What customers are saying

GAIL'S delivers on quality with checklists that keep sites consistent

"Trail has cut site admin, so now we have more time to coach teams and focus on our unique customer experience."

Marta Pogroszewska

Rated 5/5 on

“Game changing tool and customer service is second to none”

“It replaced all our paperwork. 
I have a full visual of everyone's activity in front of me.”

“Trail has been supporting us from Day 1 and we can not imagine life without Trail.”

Get started today

Help your team focus on the work that matters. You'll be set up in minutes.

23-28 Penn Street Studios

Pg03, penn street, company no. 09174558, vat no. gb193300329.

How it works

And get full access to all statistics. Starting from $2,388 USD per year!

Trusted by more than 23,000 companies

Trending statistics

Get facts and insights on topics that matter, jun 9, 2024 | elections, european union parliamentary election preliminary results 2024.

Following the European Union's parliamentary elections of 2024, preliminary results show the center-right European People's Party Group remains the largest group in the EU parliament, gaining eight seats compared to the previous election.

Elsewhere, the key takeaway was that right-wing and far-right parties made significant gains, at the expense of left-wing and economically liberal parties. In addition to the seats gained by the ECR and ID groups, it should also be noted that Non-Inscrit far-right parties such as Germany's AfD and Hungary's Fidesz won 15 (+6) and 11 (no change) respectively, further strengthening the right-wing bloc of the parliament. It remains to be seen how the other 53 members align in the coming period, and how this will affect the balance of power in the parliament.

May 29, 2024 | Semiconductors

Ai chip market revenue worldwide 2023-2025.

In 2023, the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market reached 53.6 billion U.S. dollars. This figure is forecast to increase to 71.3 billion dollars by the end of 2024 as the hype around AI applications continues to grow, with longer forecasts suggesting the market will surpass 90 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.

Jun 5, 2024 | Apps

Cara: art & social app downloads 2023-2024.

Downloads of the social and photo app Cara skyrocketed. Launched on October 23, 2023, Cara is a social and photo app for artists, photographers, and illustrators to share their creativity online. In the first days of June 2024, the Cara app recorded approximately 314,000 downloads across the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Cara provides an ethical space for art consumption and has chosen not to host AI-generated work. The platform, which bootstraps thanks to the efforts of artist and activist Jingna Zhang, has grown rapidly into an alternative to conventionally popular social media.

Jun 3, 2024 | Soccer

Most champions league titles 1955-2024, by club.

As of 2024, Real Madrid had won more Champions League titles than any other club, with a total of 15. The club most recently won the competition in 2023/24, defeating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the final. Meanwhile, the club with the second-most titles, AC Milan, had lifted the trophy on seven occasions.

May 30, 2024 | Water Transport

Monthly container freight rate index worldwide 2023-2024.

Container freight rates oscillated dramatically between January 2023 and March 2024. Freight rates slumped to their lowest level on the 26th of October 2023, when the going rate for a 40-foot container was only 1,342 U.S. dollars. Since then, the global freight rate has gradually increased, hitting over 4,200 U.S. dollars in May 2024, the highest value on record.

The global supply chain is a fragile system consisting of numerous links. Disruption to one can send cascading effects down a chain that needs to function properly for the whole system to work. The COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be an event of such a magnitude to either bring to halt whole industries and supply chains, or severely reduce their efficiency. Due to its complexity and transcontinental nature,  container shipping was hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the start of the pandemic, the shipping industry has had to struggle with port closures and congestions, labor shortages, difficulties with capacity utilization, as well as a lack of new shipping containers. These challenges continue to have repercussions on the industry to this day.

While costs of operating a container fleet have increased, the surge in freight rates has not served just to cover rising expenses. Container ship operators had been reporting record-high operating profit margins since the beginning of the pandemic. However, despite these high profit margins, the freight rate increase has had some repercussions. In the second quarter of 2023, main container shipping companies had an average profit margin of 8.9 percent, a decrease of almost 50 percent compared to the peak EBIT in the first quarter of 2022. Despite this decrease, some of the carriers are combating this trend by using their previous profits to increase their carrying capacity by buying new containers and ordering new container ships . However, the delivery of these newly ordered ships is still years away.

May 27, 2024 | Food & Nutrition

Global meal kits market revenue 2017-2029.

The revenue of the meal kit service market is forecast to grow to around 20.65 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. In 2023, the market size was estimated at 13 billion U.S. dollars.

May 27, 2024 | B2C E-Commerce

Ikea.com: e-commerce net sales 2015-2023.

In 2023, it was estimated that Swedish furniture retailer IKEA generated approximately 10.4 billion U.S. dollars in e-commerce net sales worldwide. This marked an increase from the previous year's revenue estimates reaching 9.43 billion dollars.

May 30, 2024 | Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

International tourist arrivals in china 2010-2023.

In 2019, international arrivals in China amounted to approximately 145.3 million. However, the number of international visitor arrivals dropped to 27.5 million in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and was estimated to increase to nearly 32 million in 2021. In 2023, the numbers of overseas arrivals showed signs of slight recovery reaching 82 million visits.

Jun 3, 2024 | M&A & Private Equity

Value of m&a transactions in the middle east and north africa 1990-2024.

The value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in the Middle East and North Africa fluctuated significantly in recent years. A peak value of over one trillion U.S. dollars was reached in 2021. In 2023, the value of M&A transactions in this region decrased significantly and amounted to approximately 430 billion U.S. dollars.

May 28, 2024 | Houses

Quarterly house price to income ratio australia 2018-2023.

The house price-to-income ratio in Australia was 120.2 as of the fourth quarter of 2023. This ratio, calculated by dividing nominal house prices by nominal disposable income per head, increased from the previous quarter. The price-to-income ratio can be used to measure housing affordability in a specific area. A similar trend was seen for the  house price-to-rent ratio in the same period. Property bubble There has been considerable debate over the past decade about whether Australia is in a property bubble or not. A property bubble refers to a sharp increase in the price of property that is disproportional to income and rental prices, followed by a decline. In Australia, rising house prices have undoubtedly been an issue for many potential homeowners. Along with the average house price, the average value of outstanding mortgages on residential dwellings has also continued to increase over the past 20 years. Housing affordability Housing affordability has varied across the different states and territories in Australia. In 2023, the median value of residential houses was the highest in Sydney compared to the other major Australian cities. Housing costs for Australian homeowners with a mortgage were around 15.5 percent of household income in financial year 2020. This share was higher for renters of private property in the same period.

Popular topics

Starting point of your research.

• Agriculture
• Pharmaceuticals
• Advertising
• Video Games
• Virtual Reality
• European Union
• United Kingdom

Market Insights

Discover data on your market

Gain access to valuable and comparable market data for over 190+ countries, territories, and regions with our Market Insights. Get deep insights into important figures, e.g., revenue metrics, key performance indicators, and much more.

All Market Insights topics at a glance

Statista accounts

Our complete solutions, basic account, get to know us.

• Access to basic statistics
• Download as PDF & PNG

Starter Account

The ideal entry-level account for individual users.

• Full access to all statistics
• Stand-alone license

Professional Account

Our company solution.

• All functions of the Starter Account
• Access to dossiers, forecasts, studies

*All products require an annual contract. Prices do not include sales tax.

Global stories vividly visualized

Consumer insights, understand what drives consumers.

The Consumer Insights helps marketers, planners and product managers to understand consumer behavior and their interaction with brands. Explore consumption and media usage on a global basis.

Our Service

Save time & money with statista, trusted content.

With an increasing number of Statista-cited media articles, Statista has established itself as a reliable partner for the largest media companies of the world.

Industry expertise

Over 500 researchers and specialists gather and double-check every statistic we publish. Experts provide country and industry-based forecasts.

Flatrate access

With our solutions you find data that matters within minutes – ready to go in your favorite format.

Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm (EST)

Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm (SGT)

Mon - Fri, 10:00am - 6:00pm (JST)

Mon - Fri, 9:30am - 5pm (GMT)

Annual hospitality industry think tank set to propel SA tourism forward

J ohannesburg's Maslow Hotel will be the scene of a brainstorming summit for South Africa's tourism industry on 12 July. Now in its second year, Hospitality Industry Think Tank will bring together key figures to tackle the sector's most pressing challenges and craft solutions to propel tourism and hospitality forward.

The purpose is to bring all members of the industry together to learn from each other and develop new solutions and innovations to grow the country’s entire tourism ecosystem.

The event, which encourages participation from all industry members, is spearheaded by Dream Hotels and Resorts, as part of its new Business Unit “Art of Creation”. It is being held in collaboration with other major industry players, including Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Sun International, Valor, Beekman Group, Club Mykonos, Sondela, TBCSA, Infrateq and Profit Room.

"After the success of last year’s event, the Think Tank has quickly become a highlight on the hospitality and tourism calendar," says Nick Dickson, the CEO of Dream Hotels. "The day dismantles any sense of competition between the organisations present, reminding us that collaborating to make the entire country a world-class tourism destination, is in everyone’s best interest.

The Think Tank presents an opportunity for delegates to nurture a culture of trust and empowerment, to share perspectives on common challenges, and to problem-solve our way to meaningful, sustainable answers."

The key topics that will be discussed at the Think Tank include:

• The latest trends in the hospitality industry — not just in South Africa, but worldwide

• How to engage with government officials on industry challenges, including visas and service delivery issues like transport, road safety, electricity, water, and waste

• How the changing technological landscape is affecting hospitality and tourism in terms of hardware solutions, connectivity, and customer service.

• Property insurance, disaster management, cyber-crime and POPIA, including questions around insuring against loss and managing risk.

• The importance of sustainability and positive workforce dynamics, and how the industries can collaborate with local communities as we work to improve South Africa’s unemployment crisis.

The event will also see the launch of the Think Big Academy. This industry-wide initiative will seek to train and upskill school leavers in remote areas, preparing them for employment in the tourism industry.

“At this year's Africa Travel Indaba, the Deputy Minister of Tourism emphasised the need for collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity in shaping the future of Africa's tourism industry," says Chris Godenir, general manager of Dream Hotels’ Peninsula All-Suite Hotel in Cape Town.

"The point of this Think Tank is to do just that. We look forward to seeing our industry peers come together to discuss key learnings so that we can grow the country’s entire tourism ecosystem."

The Think Tank will be inviting and welcoming prominent leaders such as the Ministers of Tourism, Home Affairs, and Employment and Labour, and is being held in association with Satsa, TBCSA, Fedhasa and VOASA.

The day’s events will conclude with a gala dinner, where funds will be raised for the Reach for a Dream Foundation, with Dream Hotels partners through its Touching Dreams initiative.

Under the theme, “The Spirit of the Great Heart” celebrating young performing artists, guests will be treated to a live show by Jesse Clegg and performances by the Wits music department, the Wits drama department, and the non-profit organisation Moving into Dance.

We use cookies to ensure best experience for you

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalize content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audience is coming from. You can also read our privacy policy , We use cookies to ensure the best experience for you on our website.

• Leaders Speak
• Brand Solutions
• The Hotel Conclave to deliberate on sustainability issues of industry holistically

• P Krishna Kumar ,
• ETHospitalityWorld
• Published On Jun 10, 2024 at 06:00 PM IST

• By P Krishna Kumar ,
• Updated On Jun 10, 2024 at 06:00 PM IST

All Comments

By commenting, you agree to the Prohibited Content Policy

Find this Comment Offensive?

• Foul Language
• Inciting hatred against a certain community
• Out of Context / Spam

Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals

Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis., download ethospitalityworld app.

• Get Realtime updates
• Save your favourite articles

• sustainability
• hotel industry
• climate actions
• tourism industry
• sustainable tourism
• hotel owners
• engineering
• development
• et hospitalityworld

The promise of travel in the age of AI

Every generation has its own “golden age” of travel, often defined by the widespread adoption of new technology—from the jet engine of the 1950s that drastically reduced travel times to the dot-com period of the 1990s that allowed customers to build their dream itineraries online. Today, a new era of digitally enabled travel is upon us. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI (gen AI), and machine learning (ML) are equipping the industry to reimagine what it means to plan, book, and experience travel. This surge of innovation sets the stage for travel companies to rethink how they interact with customers, develop products and services, and manage operations.

Advances in technology have also transformed consumers’ expectations. Since 2013, time spent on digital devices has grown by 70 percent, and this trend only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic as online interactions increasingly replaced in-person contact. 1 Based on data from U.S. Census Bureau and Statista. See State of travel 2023 , Skift Research, July 21, 2023. However, traditional travel is unique in that it is an inherently human-centric experience. The industry, therefore, has an opportunity—perhaps even a duty—to define what travel will look like in the digital age.

Most travel companies aim to provide exceptional service and deliver the perfect trip. But, instead of ease, excitement, and delight, travel operators too often fall short of meeting baseline expectations of timing and quality. In fact, nearly 80 percent of American travelers experienced at least one travel-related problem in the first half of 2023. 2 Lane Gillespie, “Survey: 77% of travelers plagued by travel problems amid booming season; more than half saw higher prices,” Bankrate, July 10, 2023.

In the 2021 report, Rebooting customer experience to bring back the magic of travel , McKinsey and Skift Research found that leisure travelers were eager to get back to the sky, water, and road—so much so, that they were often willing to overlook customer-service issues and inconveniences. Customer satisfaction ratings at the time were high, even in a period of intense disruption when negative sentiment was on the rise. 3 Rebooting customer experience to bring back the magic of travel , a joint report from McKinsey and Skift Research, September 2021.

Today, that window of acceptance may have passed. Customer expectations are rising, and tolerance is wearing thin. Despite this, people still aspire to travel and, according to McKinsey’s ConsumerWise  Sentiment Survey, nearly a third of consumers intend to “splurge” on travel expenses in the next three months. 4 McKinsey ConsumerWise Global Sentiment Survey, August 2023, n=4,000. Through both established and new technologies, companies have the opportunity to keep the aspiration to travel alive by closing the persistent gap between the promise and reality of travel.

While larger companies may have more resources to develop in-house capabilities, a robust ecosystem of service providers makes new technologies accessible to companies of all sizes. According to McKinsey Digital estimates, companies that holistically address digital and analytics opportunities throughout their organizations have the potential to see a 15 to 25 percent earnings improvement.

A new report , The promise of travel in the age of AI , produced by McKinsey and Skift Research offers use cases and success stories that detail how technologies are being used, drawing from interviews with executives at 17 companies across five types of travel business. It explores how companies apply advanced data science to better understand and serve customers, delves into how digital and analytics tools can improve products and services, and examines how new technologies augment workforce capabilities and unlock operational capacity. This article highlights some key findings.

McKinsey Live event: Faces, places, and trends: The state of tourism & hospitality

Thursday, June 13 at 10:30 a.m EDT / 4:30 p.m CET

Know your customers like you know your friends

Over the past two decades, the variety and volume of customer data that travel companies can capture has increased dramatically; new tools and technologies such as AI-powered assistants are only accelerating this trend. However, this data is often difficult to process and does not always paint a full picture of the customer. Companies may turn to third-party sources to complete their understanding—combining and distilling commercial, operational, financial, and behavioral inputs. Robust marketing technologies can then help distinguish the “signal” from the “noise” in the data to better predict customer behavior.

Having gained a clear and comprehensive understanding, companies can create customer segments to guide how they interact with and serve different customers. Depending on the data available and the analytics capabilities at hand, segmentation can range from grouping customers into segments based on a single macro characteristic (e.g., business versus leisure) to individual “segments of one,” known as hyper-segmentation.

Drilling down to segments of one can enable hyper-personalization, which is broadly defined as the ability to uniquely tailor touchpoints to an individual customer’s needs, preferences, and behaviors. At its core, hyper-personalization is not only about increasing conversion rates, but about providing the customer with an end-to-end experience adapted to their specific context. Considering the level of personalization that is becoming the norm in many aspects of daily life, companies are adopting an ongoing test-and-learn approach to ensure their offers and actions resonate with customers’ rising expectations.

Hyper-personalization can also help companies rebuild trust if operations have gone wrong. Personalized communication reassures customers that they are at the forefront of the company’s mind and instills confidence that a thoughtful recovery plan is in place. For example, companies may share real-time status updates in moments of disruption and provide tailored solutions, or even proactive compensation, to ensure customers feel individually taken care of.

Design your products to surprise and delight

Recent advances are pushing the boundaries of what technology can accomplish. Nothing illustrates this better than the meteoric rise of AI platforms like ChatGPT which garnered one million users in only five days. 5 Steve Mollman, “ChatGPT gained 1 million users in under a week. Here’s why the AI chatbot is primed to disrupt search as we know it,” Yahoo News, December 9, 2022. While this pace of adoption may feel unsettling, it provides an impetus for companies to reimagine their product design and delivery using AI and digitization.

Historically, capabilities such as language, creativity, and aesthetic judgment—once considered uniquely human—could not be scaled through technology. AI, particularly gen AI, offers a new way to augment and scale these capabilities with the potential for enormous benefits: according to McKinsey research , generative AI has the potential to unlock between $2 trillion and $4 trillion in annual value across industries. 6 The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier , McKinsey, June 14, 2023. In the travel context, gen AI could take the form of a digital assistant that interacts with customers throughout the journey. It can provide personalized trip itineraries during discovery and booking, offer tailored recommendations based on preferences and real-time constraints during the trip, and help resolve unexpected disruptions.

However, AI is only part of the answer. Established digital technology also helps companies deliver on commitments made to customers. Many of these digital assets and tools rely on common systems and capabilities, making them widely attainable—freeing up staff to provide better face-to-face services and build relationships through the human touch. Several such applications can boost guest satisfaction and reduce points of friction in hotels, including guest apps, digital check-ins, digital room keys, and in-room tech. The magnitude of these individual tools is amplified when seamlessly integrated together, making it easier for customers to use digital applications throughout their hotel stay.

Empower your workforce to follow through on promises made

An engaged and productive workforce enables the delivery of experiences and products that satisfy customers. However, the travel industry faces structural labor hurdles and high turnover which makes attracting, training, and retaining top talent challenging. Fortunately, the industry can enhance and scale the capacity of its existing workforce by equipping the frontline with the right tools at the right time. This can free up employees to focus on the things they enjoy most and that make the travel industry tick: quality personal interactions with customers, in essence, the human touch.

Two promising opportunities to improve workforce and operational performance through technology stand out across the travel industry: augmenting frontline capacity and upskilling talent.

In the travel industry today, complex decisions still rely on human expertise and outdated technology such as greenscreen or rudimentary interfaces. This leads to a best-guess approach, the risk of negative outcomes, and a steep learning curve. Travel companies are developing new tools  for the frontline to process complex inputs and help guide “day-of” decision making. For example, advanced simulation models such as digital twins allow companies to conduct rapid “what-if” analyses and provide real-time guidance to the frontline.

According to McKinsey research , new technology, including gen AI, is also shortening training times for new hires while rapidly upskilling the existing workforce. For instance, virtual and augmented reality are used to simulate real-life scenarios to prepare frontline employees to hit the ground running, and gen-AI-enabled "teaching assistants” provide personalized coaching based on individual performance. 7 “ The organization of the future: Enabled by gen AI, driven by people ,” McKinsey, September 19, 2023.

Travel is ripe for innovation

Checklist for the age of ai.

Some travel companies are already successfully deploying digital technology, AI, and ML to reshape how they interact with customers, develop and deliver products and services, and manage people and operations. They’ve taken the following actions—are you on track?

General considerations

• created a digital wish list—as if the company had infinite time and resources
• prioritized wish list based on potential short- and long-term benefits as well as the company’s strategic vision and available resources
• assessed the skills and talent necessary to execute against the prioritized wish list
• built the right team and identified roadmap to fill remaining gaps
• inventoried existing internal customer data
• determined which data variables drive customer behavior and predict customer buying decisions
• identified relevant third-party data and integrated with internal data to build a complete customer picture
• considered using a robust MarTech stack to continuously learn and evolve with customers
• defined a dynamic segmentation and personalization approach based on customer personas
• adopted test-and-learn mindset to continually implement and refine
• mapped the end-to-end customer journey and identified pain points
• used analytics to determine which pain points impact customers the most
• considered new technology (like AI) to enhance and reimagine the customer journey
• brainstormed improvements to current digital offerings that would minimize pain points (such as more timely communication)
• built a product roadmap based on timing and importance of features
• diagnosed top day-to-day employee pain points
• determined if digital tools can resolve top pain points (for example, automate repetitive tasks)
• provided workforce with real-time visibility into critical areas of daily operations
• used simulation models to plan for multiple future-state scenarios
• built decision-making tools (such as digital twins) to choose optimal solutions for complex problems
• defined opportunities to improve training (using tools such as simulation training, VR, AR) and provide feedback (using smart-AI tool)

We believe this is a moment of optimism for the industry. Between reclaiming its historical share of GDP, benefiting from the ongoing corporate travel recovery, and catering to consumer demand for unique experiences, the stage is set for travel’s accelerated growth. Looking ahead, travel is forecasted to grow at an average of 5.8 percent a year through 2032—more than double the expected growth rate of the overall economy (at 2.7 percent a year). 8 “Travel & Tourism sector expected to create nearly 126 million new jobs within the next decade,” World Travel & Tourism Council, April 21, 2023.

This does not mean that travel companies can simply sit back and reap the benefits. Existing and new technologies provide an avenue for companies to capture their share of the industry’s anticipated growth by resetting how they interact with customers, deliver products and services, and empower their workforce. Fortunately, there are a growing number of ways—build, buy, or partner—to help companies get started. The only wrong move is no move.

Susann Almasi is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Carolinas office, Alex Cosmas is a partner in the New York office, Sam Cowan is a consultant in the Minneapolis office, and Ben Ellencweig is a senior partner in the Stamford office.

The authors wish to thank Skift’s Pranavi Agarwal, Seth Borko, and Wouter Geerts as well as McKinsey’s Marisa Ancona, Danielle Bozarth, Vik Krishnan, Nina Lind, Elena Patel, Alessandra Powell, Jules Seeley, and Nirva Vassa, for their contributions to this article.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

What every CEO should know about generative AI

Generative AI and the future of work in America

The future of tourism: Bridging the labor gap, enhancing customer experience