Research: The essence of hospitality and service
Chapter (2011) by: Giuseppe Pezzotti. Source: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119200901.ch2. Book: The Cornell School of Hotel Administration on Hospitality: Cutting Edge Thinking and Practice - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119200901.
I have read the chapter so you don't have to. The 5 biggest lessons that teach you about the essence of hospitality, tourism and leisure management.
When I talk about hospitality, I talk about guests, and purposely do not use the word customers. I believe that the word customer is a less welcoming word than guest, because customer focuses us on the financial transaction, while guest brings out the full dimensions of hospitality.
The word customer derives from the word customary, and may imply taking the client for granted. In the hospitality industry, however, we need to greet our guests or clients with a warm, genuine welcome. Under this circumstance, we can see that we create an environment that reduces stress and is completely different from the outside world. Here, we expect a warm and hospitable surrounding with a prompt, proper, expedient, and professionally delivered service.
- Great service means being personal.
- Great service means providing extra value in unexpected ways.
- Great service means having a personal touch.
In each of these three examples, we see that what makes the difference is the person—and it is the person who has the power to deliver hospitality and service.
Clearly, hospitality and service are not descriptions of a business, so much as they are innate qualities and special attributes that a person possesses. You cannot buy them. You either possess them or you do not. You cannot invent them. Hospitality comes from inside a human being.
If hospitality is heavily qualitative, then service is more quantitative. Service can be scripted and dictated, mechanical and drilled. You can evaluate service more easily than hospitality. Service is repetitive, efficient, consistent, continuous, tailored, customized, and sustainable. Unlike hospitality, service is much easier to perfect through training, drill, exercise, and continuous commitment. With such practice, service can be taken to the highest level of technical perfection. But for true excellence, service and hospitality must combine. One cannot exist without the other.
Hospitality and service are two critical concepts that are unavoidably intertwined. Hospitality and service should work in conjunction and synchronicity, to borrow from the Sting song, so you can provide a total experience for the guest.
“To me, hospitality is the art of making someone feel welcomed, appreciated, and important. It’s conveyed by words, facial expressions, and body language. During that person’s visit, the art of hospitality is continually reinforced. It’s not a one-time thing. It’s an experience that lasts the entire course of the visit.” – Burton Sack, chairman and partner Classic Restaurant Concept
“Hospitality is the art and service is the act of giving. Hospitality is a sincere and selfless relationship, connection between a host and a guest. Service is the way the host builds and demonstrates that connection.” – Deniz Omurgonulsen, vice president, membership, Leading Hotels of the World
“Hospitality is showing others you are on their side. It builds relationship, has a warm feeling, offers flexibility, understanding and comes from the heart. Service is the technical procedure of doing our work. It is the transaction; has trained/industry knowledge; is systematized, competent, and comes from the intellect. Service defines what we do and hospitality personalizes how we do it.” – Chick Evans, owner, Maxie’s Supper Club and Oyster Bar
“Service is the technical delivery of a product—or how well you do your job. Hospitality is how the delivery of that product makes its recipient feel—or who you are while you do your job. Service is a monologue—we decide how we want to do things and set our own standards for service. Hospitality, on the other hand, is a dialogue.” – Danny Meyer, owner, Union Square Hospitality Group
“Ultimately, service is the ability to deliver a great customer experience either as a solution to a customer problem or to provide an unmet need. Very few services are new to the world, just new to the company providing them; otherwise, customers would provide the service themselves.” – Michael D. Johnson, Dean, E. M. Statler Professor, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration
“There is no ‘definition’ for service. No customer is the same, and each has their preferences of the type of service they want. For example, a first-time flier appreciates constant attention from our flight attendants. But the frequent flier prefers to be left alone. Korean Air has a high standard of customer service because we train our employees to adapt to each individual rather than become a smiling robot. This is not an easy task because we are not mind readers and the world is our customer.” – Yang Ho Cho, Korean Air chairman and chief executive officer
“Service can be conducted in a mechanical manner by a trained service professional, based on procedures established by management . . . this is the level at which many establishments deliver service and that most people experience as acceptable but not memorable—therefore, not necessarily worth a second visit. The guest experience, however, can be enhanced when delivered by a hospitable service professional.” – Elizabeth Ngonzi, president, Amazing Taste
