A brief look at the wonderful world of hospitality, some challenges for the industry, and a few reasons why you might consider it as a career - by Andrew Lo

The word hospitality derives from the Latin verb hospitare, meaning “to receive as a guest.” Hospitality may bring to mind the times your relatives stayed over at your home, or the times your family went on vacation and stayed at a resort or hotel. As a guest, what do you need? Traditionally, the requirements of a guest are food, drink, and shelter. If the word hospitality refers to the provision of these three necessities to travelers, then the industry consists of businesses that do this. Some hosts, however, also provide entertainment for their guests, like on a cruise ship or a casino. The entertainment industry is far-reaching, including everything from theme parks to sports events. Unlike hospitality, entertainment is not associated with the provision of a traveler’s basic needs, and is a whole separate industry altogether.



The hospitality industry is, by itself, a giant 3.5 trillion dollar service sector and comprises hotels, resorts, clubs, restaurants, catering, meeting and event planning. According to the International Hotel & Restaurant Association, the hospitality industry includes 300,000 hotels, 8 million restaurants, and employs 60 million people worldwide. Read the entire article here