The Hotel Industry

THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

PAST AND PRESENT FEATURES

the development of hotel industry

The development of hotel industry is closely connected to the evolution of transport. The oldest establishments providing lodging and catering were roadside inns and taverns mainly situated at distances a horse could travel in a day. Country inns dated back to the Middle Ages and had traditionally been places offering shelter and food for travelers, pilgrims and wayfarers.

The birth of railways brought about the development of the first railway hotels clustered around the main railway stations. Examples of station hotels were the Euston, the Victoria and the Charing Cross in London as well as the hotels which were built around Grand Central terminal in New York.

The end of the century saw the rise of the luxury hotels in London. The Savoy, the Claridge's and the Berkley opened between 1889 and 1897.

The coming of the motor car resulted in the growth of motels which sprang up along motorways offering the motoring public services similar to those of a town hotel and providing convenient parking facilities.

It was however the development of air transport which caused the major changes in the hotel industry. In many distant places large resort hotels or holidays villages have been constructed which can be reached in a few hours' time. All this has extended the mobility of international tourist traffic and has developed once-isolated places into fashionable and exclusive resort areas. A characteristic of hotel industry is the construction of self-contained resort complexes known as holiday villages and consisting of a hotel and recreational facilities. The best example is given by the 'villages' built by the Club Méditerranée for its members.

Besides creating holiday resorts, the growth of tourism has also stimulated hotel building in capital cities, historic centres, seaside towns, spas, airports.

Hotel Guests

The hotel industry serves three major groups of guests: persons attending conventions, businessmen, tourists. The third group has evolved into a mass tourism characterized all over the world by countless flight and coach parties travelling and lodging on the basis of an all-inclusive package deal. The increasing importance of winter vacations has favoured the development of resort hotels in places of pleasure or relaxation where guests enjoy entertainment and recreational facilities or the scenery of the surrounding areas.

Hotel facilities and services

Large, modern hotels contain not only guest rooms. They also provide a number of facilities and services as well. Restaurants, bar lounges, convention rooms, exhibition rooms, business centres, recreational facilities, shops, health centres, parking areas are the most common facilities. The variety of services available to guests is as large: it includes financial services, travelling services, room services, baby sitting and baby listening, hairdressing, car hire, safe deposit for valuables, mail and messages, and secretarial service.

HOTEL COMPANIES

A common trend in the hotel industry of today concerns the hotel ownership and management. Many hotels are owned by large Corporations. Leading world chains include the American companies Marriott, Hyatt, Ramada, Holiday Inns of North America and Sheraton. Major chains in Britain are Forte Hotels, Mount Charlotte/Thistle Hotels, Queens Moat Hotels, Hilton Hotels (owned in the UK by Ladbroke) and Holiday Inn International. Other large organisations are the French giant Accor Hotels which have developed the super-budget chain Formule 1, Inter-Continental, Best Western.

Some of the hotel corporations operate on a franchise basis, whereby hotels are operated by individual franchisees paying royalties to the parent company for the privilege of operating under a brand name. These chains market their products working closely with large tour operating organisations, airlines and travel companies. They provide efficient distribution networks of computer reservations systems.

Practice

1. Answer these questions

  1. Which were the accommodation establishments of the past?
  2. What sort of clients did these establishments welcome?
  3. In what way did the railway affect hotel industry?
  4. What were the first station hotels in London?
  5. What luxury hotels were built in London by the end of the last century?
  6. What caused the birth and growth of motels?
  7. What determined the birth and spread of resort hotels?
  8. What are holiday villages?
  9. Which are the most common places where hotels are built?
  10. How are hotel guests grouped?
  11. What are the main features of mass tourism?
  12. What are the principal hotel facilities?
  13. What services do hotels provide?
  14. 14.What is the most common trend regarding hotel ownership?
  15. Which are the leading American hotel chains?
  16. Which major chains operate in Britain?

2. Fill in the blanks with the correct verb in the appropriate tense

grow (grew-grown), result in, date back, connect, operate, bring (brought-brought) about

1.His idea ...... a large profit.

2.The two flats were ...... by a corridor.

3.This luxury hotel ...... to the last century.

4.The spread of motor cars ...... the construction of motels.

5.The hotel industry ...... after 1950

6.The hotel is ...... by a multinational corporation.

3. Refer to 'The hotel industry' and find the suitable words to match the following meanings:

------it was a wine shop in Tudor England

------following the current fashion

------catering for few selected customers

------it does not need help or resources from outside

------a place with a curative mineral spring

------equipment, plants, installations

------very many, innumerable

------worldwide

------an agreement or arrangement

------obtainable

------looking after children

------jewellery worth a lot of money