Hospitality Industry

Hospitality is the defining feature of India and Indians. In the era where national boundaries are fading fuelled by rapid movement of culture, capital and knowledge across borders, hospitality industry has emerged as one of the largest employers in the world. It is second only to the oil industry, in terms of turnover and exchange of foreign currency.

The Indian hospitality industry is growing at a rate of 6% and is expected to reach INR 230 billion by 2015. It contributes around 2.2% to its GDP. According to The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), this industry employees 24 lakh people, which is around 8.78 % of the total employed population in India. This makes it one of the most sought after industry for the cross fertilization of cultures.

The hospitality industry is a cluster of fields within the overall service sector that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. Hotels and restaurants would be the key focus of the article revolving around the phenomenon of the liberalization, the tangible trends it has adopted and intangible prospects it has provided. While on one side there has been an immense advancement in technology and global capital market, on the flip side even a microscopic change in other economies has a cascading effect to the industry. Information like sector status, operating performance and hotel classifications will be supplementing the fundamentals. The numerous initiatives taken by the government to unlock the potential has helped to prevent the brain drain to an extent. In fact, with globalization and liberalization, top talent from the developed countries is increasingly considering working for the Indian hospitality industry.