TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

Tourism and Travel • Tourism is often considered a separate field of study from commercial recreation, and it is the subject of RPTA 182 • There are several types of travel, not all of them are tourism

Travel and Tourism • Tourism specifically refers to travel that involves people from one place (point A), traveling to another place (point B) and then traveling back • The purpose of this travel must be for “leisure”

Travel and Tourism • Tourism studies (quite different from tourism) are generally considered to have begun in sociology with the publication of The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class by Dean MacCannell (1976), although MacCannell’s was not the first text written on tourism

Travel and Tourism • Tourism is cultural imperialism • Tourism is about simulacra • Tourism has become a contradiction of itself, with so much focus on the “work display” • Tourism is shopping

Travel and Tourism • Of the four main roots of tourism, the religious pilgrimage is the most significant to our modern idea of tourism and tourists

Travel and Tourism • In Europe, the three great pilgrimages were to: • Jerusalem • Rome • Compostela

Travel and Tourism • A pass to allow you through a port originated in 1388 by King Richard II (based on a practice of Ancient Rome) • The first US passport occurred in 1796, and were free until 1862

Travel and Tourism • The Grand Tour • 17th & 18th centuries • Wealthy young men, businessmen, scholars and diplomats • Taken from England to Europe • Lasted several years • Was a very complete knowledge of the visited place(s) • Required keen skills of observation and by the end, became much more observation than interaction

Travel and Tourism • The Package Tour • Combined transportation, lodgings, sightseeing, money exchange, etc • First organized by Thomas Cook (1841) • Cook organized them to allow people to attend temperance meetings (of the Baptist church) • Cook negotiated a special fare due to the large number of people (and received money from the train operators)

Travel and Tourism • Cook organized a tour to Paris in 1855 for the expo • By 1864, Cook had offices in Rome, New York, London, Paris and other major cities

Travel and Tourism • The Package Tour • Often imitated the stops of the Grand Tour, but for the middle class • Interaction was significantly reduced due to shortness of stay (often days or weeks, not years) • Knowledge of encountered country minimalized due to group nature of trip • Modern mass tourism is more closely based on the package tour than the Grand Tour

Hospitality • A common saying used to be…The only three business which will never go out of style over the centuries are... • "....food (people have to eat)" • "...lodging (people want a safe place to sleep)" • "...beverage (people like their beverages)"

Hospitality • The industry used to be something that was life-long…if you trained in it, you stayed in it • The relationship between the host and guest was vital, and the hosts cared tremendously about the quality of the service(s) they provided • Unfortunately, it’s not always the case in today’s industry

Hospitality • We all know travel and tourism are growing quickly • The fact that many people have more free time is part of it • The other reason is that most people see in travel a most attractive activity • People have always needed food, lodging and beverages • What has changed since ancient times is that with the higher money spent, people expect their dream vacations to be truly dream vacations

Hospitality • Advertisement is promising so much and often it's hard for the properties to live up to the pretty pictures which hooked and reeled the visitor aboard a certain hotel • The danger of making the dream vacation into the visitors greatest nightmare has never been bigger – and often it’s up to individual employees to make or break a hotel stay • However concerns about corporate profit and overly tight run departments often create unnecessary stress on their key employees - as a result a steady stream of good people leaves the hospitality world only to be replaced by lesser trained, lesser devoted employees

Hospitality • Hospitality in the most basic terms is the relationship between the host and the guest • RPTA 184 (formerly Resort Administration) focuses on the hospitality industry • The class is split between lodging and restaurant history/management

Hospitality • Naturally, tourism and hospitality are related – people wouldn’t need places to stay away from home if it weren’t for travel

Lodging, Food and Beverage • While the modern hotel has a varied history (ranging from the Roman bath house to the caravan tent), it is most certain that trade produced the earliest reasons for people to need a place to stay, and trade routes were most likely the locations of those places

Hospitality • Trade routes were often dangerous, so the inn provided a safe place to spend the night • Ancient Rome’s road system and single form of currency made travel fairly easy, and inns prospered as more people were able to pay for food and shelter without complication

Hospitality • In the US, the stagecoach arrived in 1650, and inns were often located at a tavern so that the two operated together • Accommodations were crude, and sleeping was usually in a large shared room • In 1710, the US Post Office created routes, and farmers often turned houses into inns – first for postal riders, then for others

Hospitality • Railroads were established in the 1800s, and depots often provided hotels connected directly to them • As personal travel increased, the need for lodging and food services increased, often at or very near the railroad depot

Hospitality • The guidebook first appeared in the US in 1732, and since has become a standard of the tourism/hospitality industry • Early guidebooks were often written by those taking the Grand Tour, and on the eastern coast of the US, a variation of the Grand Tour was created • As with much else in tourism, guidebooks are often the subject of sociology study as they tend to limit what tourists see of a location and by doing so, create stereotypical views of locations

Hospitality • The first hotel built in the US was the City Hotel, built in New York City in 1794 • The City Hotel, unlike other establishments, was built specifically to be a hotel • The City Hotel offered meeting rooms, as well as accommodations (70 rooms), and is the basis for the commercial hotel and the convention hotel in the US

Hospitality • The hotel was a concept imported from Europe, but it was further developed in the US • The first luxury hotel in the world was the Tremont House of Boston (1829)

Hospitality • The Tremont House had 170 rooms and was the first hotel to have indoor toilets and private bedrooms with doors that locked • The Tremont House had single and double rooms, free soap, French cuisine, bellboys, room service and a well trained staff • Designed by Isaiah Rogers (who also designed the Astor House, the Exchange Hotel and Burnett House) • This marked a point of separation from the inn, and lodging in America became either for the masses or for the elite

Hospitality • The East Coast continued to create hotels for the elite, but the West naturally lagged behind • In 1875, San Francisco opened the Palace for the price of $5 million • The Palace had 800 rooms and was located in the heart of the city, making San Francisco recognizable to the East Coast

Hospitality • The modern format for the commercial hotel comes from the Buffalo Statler, opened by Ellsworth Statler in 1908 • The Statler set the standard for most affordable hotels today: • Light switches next to the doors • Icewater • Private baths • Morning newspaper

Hospitality • America’s wildest period, the 1920s, saw a huge expansion of the hotel industry – especially on the luxury end • During this time period, the Stevens in Chicago and the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City opened

Waldorf=Astoria • Originally located at the site of the Empire State Building (Fifth Avenue and 34th ST) • Started by two rival cousins, William Waldorf Astor (The Waldorf Hotel) and Caroline Schermerhorn (the Astoria Hotel) • The two hotels were connected and often called “the Hyphen,” which accounts for the double hyphen (not an equal sign) in the hotel’s name • The Waldorf=Astoria is now owned by Hilton Hotels

The Stevens • Chicago became a center for the hospitality industry in the early 1900s, with three of the industry’s trade publications originating from the city • The Stevens, and other luxury hotels became common places for the elite to live in a city – a convenient way to set up a household • The Stevens had over 3000 guests rooms, and was easily the world’s largest hotel

The Stevens • Although in Chicago, the Stevens elevated the standards begun by the Statler hotel of Buffalo for meeting rooms and retail design at hotel properties, and the Stevens became both socially and financially the most successful hotel in the country • The Stevens, like the Waldorf=Astoria, is now owned by Hilton (Hilton also owns The Drake, another Chicago hotel landmark)

Hospitality • Another idea imported from Europe came in the early 1830s – the option of paying only for a room • This allowed guests to stay, but then dine wherever they chose • Prior to this time, hotels often operated like inns, and charged a flat fee for room and food

Hospitality • In 1853, the elevator was invented, and hotels were some of the first buildings to take advantage of this new technology • New York City’s first skyscraper was the six-story Adelphi Hotel (although the world’s first skyscraper was a Chicago department store)

Hospitality • As the industry developed, new types of lodging were invented: • Tourist cabins/Tourist courts • Motels/Motor Inns • Resort hotels • Convention hotels • Transient hotels (Commercial hotels) • Residence hotels/Apartment hotels • Boatels

Hospitality • Bed and breakfast hotels are a modern revival of the tavern/inn concept • Time shares have combined the condo and the hotel • Hotels are also major parts of modern cruises and casinos (both of these operations almost always incorporate a hotel on site)

Hospitality • Dubai’s Burj al Arab is the world’s first seven star hotel (there are two seven star hotels in the world, the other is the Abu Dhabi – also in UAE)

National Parks • One of the segmentations that resulted in the National Parks was the development of the grand lodges and chalets • Many of the lodges had been built before WWII, but became fashionable with a new set of tourists after the war

Ahwahnee, CA

Glacier Park Lodge, MT

Asilomar • Julia Morgan, Architect

Food and Beverage • Food and beverage rounds out the hospitality industry • The idea of serving food goes back 10,000s of years as many cultures prepared large amounts of food for groups – there was an established concept of some people preparing food, some serving food and some being waited on

Eating and Drinking and Sex • The Romans grouped services of “intense pleasure” together – drinking, eating and sex • These functions often existed in connection (often in secret) with the Roman bath house – also the origin of the industrial and modern resort

Roman Restaurants • The thermopolia of Ancient Rome were streetside counters that contained inset jars to hold food that could be heated from below

Cabaret • The cabaret (from the Hebrew word, cabar, which means, to assemble) originally existed as a place to sell fermented drinks – records show as far back as 4000BC • During the Middle Ages, cabarets also gradually became locations to consume alcohol, and the term became almost synonymous with tavern

End of Royalty • Also connected with France (and other countries) as royalty was ousted by revolution and uprising, many chefs had to find work, and setting up restaurants for the public provided a service and employment

American Taverns • The first American tavern was opened in 1634 in Massachusetts, and by 1656 the colony passed a law that each city must have at least one tavern or be fined • The first American coffeehouse opened in 1670 • British style food was the norm until the American Revolution, when a more French style cooking entered the colonies/states

American “Milestones” • A la carte menus became common in the early 1800s • The Bowery Savings Bank instituted employee meals in 1834 • Pullman developed railroad dining cars in the mid 1800s • H.J.Heinz opened his food business 1869 • Sears Roebuck opened its Chicago employee restaurant serving as many as 12,500 meals daily in 1870 • The hamburger is said to have been served first at the 1904 St. Louis World Fair • The first A&W root beer stand opened in 1919 (this also pioneered the food service franchise concept) • 1920 Prohibition threw a wrench into fine dining and wine • 1933 Prohibition was repealed • 1951 The American Food Service Industry had become of of the countries largest industries

1980s Upscale Decline • The early 1980s saw an increase in upscale dining in the US, which decreased dramatically by the end of the decade • Much of the increase in fine dining was connected to the alcohol industry (the restaurants all had bars) • Tough drunk driving laws significantly affected the way restaurants served liquor • Smoking became a target and alcohol sales plunged (for a period)

Pendulum • Of course, the industry, like any other, goes is waves • Currently, upscale dining (again, driven significantly by the increased popularity of more expensive wine) is on an upswing • Celebrity chefs, bartenders and sommeliers have added a new twist to restauranting – even at the local level

TOURISM & HOSPITALITY