About this Book

Welcome to the exciting world of hospitality and tourism! We explore fundamental concepts of the hospitality and tourism industries in this textbook. We begin with the key players: hosts, guests, and you. Hosts are professionals who work in the hospitality and tourism fields. Guests are travelers that hospitality and tourism professionals host. Finally, there is you. You are likely finding your place in our industries. Will you build a career path as an industry professional? Will you be a traveler to remote locations? We hope this textbook assists you in your adventures no matter whether you are a host or guest.

Audience

This book was written to provide new students with a basic understanding of the world of hospitality and tourism. The authors provide an overview of each industry sector, anticipating that readers will further their education in their career path of choice. The authors anticipate the audience already has some notion of hospitality and tourism and has experienced travel and tourism to some extent. Students may be English-language learners or international students studying abroad to advance their experiences. The authors anticipate the audience for this textbook are people exploring the hospitality and tourism industry for a possible life career.

How To Use This Textbook

This textbook is designed to be a comprehensive resource capable of providing you with a foundational understanding of the hospitality and tourism industries. It is essential to familiarize yourself with how the textbook is structured and how to effectively utilize its content to ensure you make the most of your learning experience.

Textbook Structure

The textbook is divided into chapters, each containing multiple connected industries from within the hospitality and tourism industries. Each chapter focuses on a specific area of hospitality and tourism and offers in-depth insights and knowledge for a specific area of the tourism sector. For example, chapters are dedicated to accommodations, food and beverage, cruise lines, destination management organizations, and more. These chapters explore aspects within each sector, providing a comprehensive overview of the industry.

The textbook is structured methodically. The first chapter will introduce important concepts related to the hospitality and tourism industry as well as provide perspective from a historical viewpoint.

Hospitality and tourism emerged from a foundation rooted in the recreation, park, and leisure industries. Thus, this is the second chapter.

The topics discussed in Chapters 3 (Destination Management Organizations), 4 (Travel Trade), and 5 (Transportation) are often more associated with the term “tourism” than “hospitality”. Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 are typically more associated with the term “hospitality” than “tourism”. These chapters include accommodations (e.g., lodging, hotels), visitor attractions, food and beverage, and event planning.

Finally, the textbook ends with a chapter on hospitality applications, which describes many career paths related to but often not labeled “hospitality”. The ideas offered in this chapter are mere examples of the wide array of industries where hospitality skill sets are useful.

Chapter Components

Each chapter follows a consistent structure. The chapter begins with an overview, key terms, and learning objectives. These provide you with a roadmap for what to expect and the core concepts you should grasp by the end of the chapter. Understanding these three sections will help you navigate the content effectively.

Each chapter moves to an introduction that explores the historical background of the specific area of hospitality and tourism. Understanding each industry’s history assists professionals in identifying trends and patterns that shape its development. This provides context and insights while allowing you to gain knowledge you can leverage as shibboleth later (see Chapter 1).

After establishing the historical foundation, each chapter then delves into the core ideas and concepts that are crucial for professionals in the industry. From industry norms and metrics to essential practices and emerging trends, these sections equip you with the fundamental knowledge necessary to build a successful career path. They offer a comprehensive overview of the industry’s key aspects. This ensures you are well-prepared to navigate your chosen field within hospitality and tourism once you finish the book.

Each chapter concludes with a summary section. The summary section provides a concise recap of the most important ideas covered throughout the chapter. The summaries aim to reinforce your understanding of the core concepts while serving as a helpful tool for review. You should take the time to read and reflect upon the summary. This will solidify your comprehension of each hospitality and tourism industry and ensure you remember the material.

Success with this Textbook

Active engagement with the material will enhance your learning experience. This includes doing such things as taking notes, highlighting important points, and seeking clarification when needed. We encourage you to supplement your textbook readings with further research, discussions, and practical applications to deepen your understanding of the hospitality and tourism industries.

Take note of the transferable skills referred to throughout this textbook. Hospitality and tourism, regardless of the specific industry, share common skills. Creativity, ingenuity, customer service, strategic thinking, communication skills, problem-solving, multi-tasking, teamwork, leadership, and more are essential skills that lead to success in a hospitality and/or tourism career. Remember to consider that just because a skill is described more in-depth in the chapter on Food and Beverage, for example, does not mean it is only applicable to food and beverage career pathways. By embracing these common skills and growth opportunities, you are one step closer to success in the exciting hospitality and tourism industry.

Acknowledgments

• Amy Isaacson Schoen
• Clayton Whitehead
• Ted Nelson
• Nish Patel
• Will DeSpain
• Betsy Harbison
• Brendan Croft
• Liz Day
• Cheryl Foster Hayes
• Michael Cassis
• Joshua Hewitt
• Ronda Dean
• Markus Ruediger

AI Use

Generative AI, particularly language models such as Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft’s Co-Pilot, were used to assist in converting the author’s lecture content into textbook chapters.