Hospitality is a subjective concept. Hospitality comes from many definitions like receiving guests in a generous and cordial manner, creating a pleasant or sustaining environment, satisfying a guest’s desires, generating a friendly and safe atmosphere. Hospitality means that the act or practice of one who is hospitable, reception and entertainment of strangers or guests without reward, or with kind and generous liberality. Some said that it is like an act or service of welcoming, receiving, hosting or entertaining guests. However, it is not being cast as a servant. Training for hospitality is very important. They must have the skills in other to maintain the relationships with the customer and also among the workers itself. Employees who possess a positive attitude toward constructive criticism prosper and progress in their career. All employees occasionally make errors in judgment and fail to meet standards. In order to do so, they should practicing promotional skills in their job. For example, front desk clerks who are comfortable with practicing promotional skills are a great asset to a front office manager. We must accept the challenge to sell products and services throughout the organization and seek ways to meet or exceed sales quotas. This quality allows a front desk to understand the total effort necessary to product a profit for the company. Furthermore, to have a quality in hospitality, they must do a screening process during the interview session. The interview should have some structure but be flexible enough for both the interviewer and the participant to express their concerns. For example, the front manager begins to develop a list of questions based on the job description to guide the interview. He or she wants to determine if the candidate has an outgoing personality, patience, the ability to accept constructive criticism, and the ability to sell. These are the most of question about the qualities for which a front manager wants to screen in an interview. Hospitality is a place and a feeling where they can build their own self-esteem and pride by providing positive memories and experiences to our guests. There are some criteria that should apply to Hospitality which are caring and sharing, trust, smiles, agreeable, attentive and welcoming. They are also should be a “peace” where by people can still be exceptional individuals, so that they can extend their own personality and style. (John J. Hogan).
According to Jed Arrogante, who is Director of Sales and Catering and Angela Hueth, The Westgate Hotel, San Diego, California, hospitality is “Providing your guest with the same amount of attention and service as you would expect if you were in their shoes.”
Furthermore, hospitality can also be define as to be invited and made to feel genuinely welcomed and relaxed. It will be treated with a disposition of cordiality, reception and support. It is also can be professionally guided by the host to meet and exceed the guest’s expectations. (Mike Henning, Founder and President Henning Family Business Center Effingham, IL).
According to Manhar P (Chief Operating Officer JHM Hotels, Greenville), hospitality is being a Service provider. A Hotelier taking care of their guests is like a Doctor treating, caring, comforting and thinking about the well being of their patients.
Other than that, there is a definition from an industry professional in academic that defined hospitality as “self discovery”. It is based on the tenet that as humans we need other people who allow us to discover our strengths and weaknesses. Hence, hospitality provides the medium for us to explore different places, culture and things. (Jennifer Calhoun MBA, CHE, Assistant Professor/Director, Hospitality and Tourism Institute (HTI), Prince George's Community College, Largo, Maryland)
According to Utsav Arora, Graduate of International Hotel Management Institute, Lucerne, Switzerland, he said that hospitality may have two different meanings. Firstly is about the guest and second one from the point of view of the service provider or server. A guest would define ‘hospitality’ as a process which takes place in a hotel, restaurant whereby they would receives a service that is beyond their expectations. However, on the other hand a server may define ‘hospitality’ as a simple process in which they can impress the guests without putting one’s life in danger. For example, if a server just smiles when they are serving the guests, they can count themselves in the good books of the guests.