Change can also raise dilemmas, such as the need to address new competitors, contend with a crisis or cope with a lack of available employees.
Depending on how it’s viewed, with the appropriate perspective and pliancy, change can present an organization with new opportunities-the possibility of taking advantage of changing demographics, new technologies, or the emergence of new markets. Prolific business author John Kotter states that the main role of leadership is dealing with change. These changes and ambiguities present new challenges, both large and small, for the hospitality industry, requiring those at the forefront of the field to anticipate and respond to the subsequent fallout. In the U.S., national discussion about travel bans, new barriers to hiring non-domestic seasonal workers (a key element in New England’s summer tourist season), possible elimination of the national Brand USA marketing effort, and tenuous Cuba travel policies are all creating uncertainty in the tourism market. For reference, the second highest spenders were Americans at $110 billion. Chinese travelers also spent the most money, roughly $250 billion in 2015. China has become the largest exporter of tourists in the world, totaling almost 100 million outbound travelers and representing almost one in ten tourists in the world. Image sources: Creative Commons InterContinental and Tru Hotel companies are expanding their portfolios to include Millennial-focused brands like InterContinental’s EVEN Hotels and Tru by Hilton. Millennials’ preferences have pushed the development of new brands with new thinking about hotel design, as demonstrated with Hilton’s Tru, Best Western’s Vib and Glo chains, and Intercontinental’s EVEN. Mergers and acquisitions continue to multiply, exemplified most notably by Marriott’s purchase of Starwood to create the world’s largest hotel company with 30 brands. Travelers may choose among many alternatives to hotels for lodging, including AirBnB, HomeAway, Flipkey, and VBRO. While customers used to be able to pick up the phone and call a hotel’s reservations center or use their local travel agency to book a room, today online distribution systems like Expedia, Travelocity, and Kayak are powerful intermediaries that have all but replaced traditional consumer travel agencies. Two decades ago, a Marriott hotel was commonly owned and managed by Marriott now, many are owned by one company, franchised with the Marriott name, and managed by a third company. Over the past 15-20 years, changes in hotel ownership and management, the growth and development of online reservation systems and the proliferation of lodging alternatives have altered the hospitality landscape, bringing new complexity to the industry.
Change in the Hospitality Industry: New Paradigms, Frames, and Perspectives
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