Understanding the global hotel business is not possible without paying specific attention to hotel chain management and dynamics. Chains are big business, approximately 80 percent of hotels currently being constructed around the world are chain affiliated and, in 2014, the five largest brands held over a one million rooms. The high economic importance of the hotel chains and their global presence justifies the academic research in the field however, despite this, there is no uniform coverage in the current body of literature. This Handbook aids in filling the gap by exploring and critically evaluates the debates, issues and controversies of all aspects of hotel chains from their nature, fundamentals of existence and operation, expansion, strategic and operational aspects of their activities and geographical presence. It brings together leading specialists from range of disciplinary backgrounds and regions to provide state-of-the-art theoretical reflection and empirical research on current issues and future debates. Each of the five inter-related section explores and evaluates issues that are of extreme importance to hotel chain management, focusing on theoretical issues, the expansion of hotel chains, strategic and operational issues, the view point of the individual affiliated hotel and finally the current and future debates in the theory and practice of hotel chain management arising from globalisation, demographic trends, sustainability, and new technology development. It provides an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in hotel management, hospitality, tourism and business encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study. This is essential reading for students, researchers and academics of Hospitality as well as those of Tourism, Marketing, Business and Events Management.

Hospitality is an industry characterised by its complex nature and numerous sectors including hotels, hostels, B&Bs, restaurants, pubs, nightclubs and contract catering. However, despite its segmentation, there are key issues that are pertinent to all subsectors. The Routledge Handbook of Hospitality Management adopts a strategic approach and explores and critically evaluates current debates, issues and controversies to enable the reader to learn from the industry’s past mistakes as well as future opportunities. Especially relevant at a time when many sectors of the industry have to re - evaluate and reinvent themselves in response to the economic downturn the Handbook brings together specialists from both industry and academia and from a range of geographical regions to provide state-of-the-art theoretical reflection and empirical research. Each of the five inter related sections explores and evaluates issues that are of extreme importance to hospitality organisations, many of which have not been adequately explored before: external and internal customers, debates surrounding finance, uncertainty risk and conflict, sustainability, and e-Hospitality and Technology. This book is an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in hospitality, encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study. It is essential reading for students, researchers & academics and managers of Hospitality as well as those of Tourism, Events, Marketing, and Business Management.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of hospitality as a social phenomenon. This interest has tended to arrive from two communities. The first comprises hospitality academics interested in exploring the wider meanings of hospitality as a way of better understanding guest and host relations and its implications for commercial settings. The second comprises social scientists using hosts and guests as a metaphor for understanding the relationship between host communities and guests as people from outside the community – migrants, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. The Routledge Handbook of Hospitality Studies encourages both the study of hospitality as a human phenomenon and the study for hospitality as an industrial activity embracing the service of food, drink and accommodation. Developed from specifically commissioned original contributions from recognised authors in the field, it is the most up-to-date and definitive resource on the subject. The volume is divided into four parts: the first looks at ways of seeing hospitality from an array of social science disciplines; the second highlights the experiences of hospitality from different guest perspectives; the third explores the need to be hospitable through various time periods and social structures, and across the globe; while the final section deals with the notions of sustainability and hospitality. This handbook is interdisciplinary in coverage and is also international in scope through authorship and content. The ‘state-of-the-art’ orientation of the book is achieved through a critical view of current debates and controversies in the field as well as future research issues and trends. It is designed to be a benchmark for any future assessment of the field and its development. This handbook offers the reader a comprehensive synthesis of this discipline, conveying the latest thinking, issues and research. It will be an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in hospitality, encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study. Chapters: Chapter 4 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

The Routledge Handbook of Halal Hospitality and Islamic Tourism provides a greater understanding of the current debates associated with Islamic tourism and halal hospitality in the context of businesses, communities, destinations, and the wider socio-political context. It therefore sheds substantial light on one of the most significant travel and consumer markets in the world today and the important role of religion in contemporary hospitality and tourism. The book examines halal hospitality and lodging, Islamic markets, product developments, heritage, certification, and emerging and future trends and issues. It integrates case studies from a range of countries and destinations and in doing so emphasises the significant differences that exist with respect to regulating and commodifying halal, as well as stressing that the Islamic market is not monolithic. Written by highly regarded international academics, it offers a range of perspectives and enables a comprehensive discussion of this integral part of Islam and contemporary society. This handbook will be of significant interest to upper level students, researchers, and academics in the various disciplines of Tourism, Hospitality, Food Studies, Marketing, Religious Studies, Geography, Sociology, and Islamic Studies.

This handbook analyzes the main issues in the field of hospitality marketing by focusing on past, present and future challenges and trends from a multidisciplinary global perspective. The book uniquely combines both theoretical and practical approaches in debating some of the most important marketing issues faced by the hospitality industry. Parts I and II define and examine the main hospitality marketing concepts and methodologies. Part III offers a comprehensive review of the development of hospitality marketing over the years. The remaining parts (IV–IX) address key cutting-edge marketing issues such as innovation in hospitality, sustainability, social media, peer-to-peer applications, Web 3.0 etc. in a wide variety of hospitality settings. In addition, this book provides a platform for debate and critical evaluation that enables the reader to learn from the industry’s past mistakes as well as future opportunities. The handbook is international in its constitution as it attempts to examine marketing issues, challenges and trends globally, drawing on the knowledge of experts from around the world. Because of the nature of hospitality, which often makes it inseparable from other industries such as tourism, events, sports and even retail, the book has a multidisciplinary approach that will appeal to these disciplines as well as others including management, human resources, technology, consumer behavior and anthropology.

Consumer behaviour is one of the most explored topics in tourism and hospitality marketing, interchangeably denoted by the terms ‘traveller behaviour’, ‘tourist behaviour’ or ‘guest behaviour’. Consumer behaviour acts as an origin for every tourism and hospitality marketing activity. It offers an understanding of why people tend to choose certain products or services and what sort of factors influence them in making their decision. The decision process of buying tourism products or services takes time, because they are mostly intangible in nature due to which there are many risks involved in their buying process. The Routledge Handbook of Consumer Behaviour in Hospitality and Tourism aims to explore and critically examine current debates, critical reflections of contemporary ideas, controversies and pertinent queries relating to the rapidly expanding discipline of consumer behaviour in hospitality and tourism. The Handbook offers a platform for dialogue across disciplinary and national boundaries and areas of study through its diverse coverage. It is divided into six parts: Part I offers an overview of consumer behaviour; Part II focuses on the service quality perspectives of consumer behaviour; Part III deliberates on customer satisfaction and consumer behaviour linkages; Part IV explores the re-patronage behaviour of consumers; Part V addresses the vital issues concerning online consumer behaviour; and Part VI elaborates upon other emerging paradigms of consumer behaviour. Although there is no dearth of empirical studies on different viewpoints of consumer behaviour, there is a scarcity of literature providing conceptual information. The present Handbook is organised to offer a comprehensive theoretical body of knowledge narrating consumer behaviour, especially for hospitality and tourism businesses and operations. It attempts to fill this research gap by offering a 'globalised' volume comprising chapters organised using both practical and academic approaches. This Handbook is essential reading for students, researchers and academics of Hospitality as well as those of Tourism, Marketing, International Business and Consumer Behaviour.

Tourism is much more than an economic sector, it is also a social, cultural, political, and environmental force that drives societal change. Understanding, responding to, and managing this change will inevitably require knowledge workers who are able to address a range of problems associated with tourism, travel, hospitality, and the increasingly complex operating environment within which they exist. The purpose of this Handbook is to provide an insightful and authoritative account of the various issues that are shaping the higher educational world of tourism, hospitality and events education and to highlight the creative, inventive and innovative ways that educators are responding to these issues. It takes as its central focus a dynamic curriculum space shaped by internal and external factors from global to local scales, a variety of values and perspectives contributed by a range of stakeholders, and shifting philosophies about education policy, pedagogy and teaching practice. A benchmark for future curriculum design and development, it critically reviews the development of conceptual and theoretical approaches to tourism and hospitality education. The Handbook is composed of contributions from specialists in the field, is interdisciplinary in coverage and international in scope through its authorship and content. Providing a systematic guide to the current state of knowledge on tourism and hospitality education and its future direction this is essential reading for students, researchers and academics in Tourism, Hospitality, Events, Recreation and Leisure Studies.