HISTORY, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOTEL INDUSTRY AROUND THE

WORLD

The development of the travel and tourism industry played a major role in the origin, growth
and development of the hospitality industry. People travel from one place to another for a
variety of reasons such as commercial, personal, to visit friends and relatives, for recreation,
educational purpose, or some kind of religious activity or to get access to quality health care
facilities.

In the ancient times, the common mode of transport for men comprised of animals like
horses and camels. For security reasons, they would travel in groups called caravans; and
would stay put at a particular destination during the night, to avoid being looted as well as for
protection from wild animals. Due to the animals getting tired, there were constraints on the
distance that was being covered by them during day time. So, a place that offered water,
food and safety was their main anchor for the night halt.

The concept of inns and lodging houses came into being to satisfy this need of the travelers.
The earliest recorded inns were in 500 years B.C. They were the earliest form of hospitality
service. Swain & Mishra (2011) stated that the term 'inn' is derived from the word 'malon'
signifying a resting place for the night.

Inns at first were usually managed by families, or husband-wife teams who offered large
halls to travelers to sleep, in the beginning with many beds, like modern dormitories. Simple
homely fare was offered to the visitors as refreshments, at an additional charge. Changing
travel patterns resulted in upgrading of facilities.

There were no high standards of cleanliness or hygiene, as is evident in the modern-day

Men started travelling for trading purpose in around the fifteenth century A.D and looked for
safe venues where they could rest during their long voyage. These were merchants and
were not satisfied with plain inns and their simple fare; they wanted something more
luxurious with delicacies for the palate.

With the beginning of the seventeenth century A.D comfortable and hardy carriages were
routinely used for travelling longer distances, with frequent stops at roadside inns. These
inns by now had evolved into good places of accommodation where the guests could relax in
a safe environment and were operational round the year. They had become more spacious
and looked after the privacy

of the guests.

The early history of accommodation for travelers in Europe can be traced back to the Greek
word 'Xenia', which encompassed hospitality as well as shelter given to a traveler from
discomforts. It decreed that the city was bound to offer hospitality. In the early period,
diplomats, philosophers, intellectuals and researchers were the main travelers. Noblemen
invited guests to come and stay with them. There were buildings known as 'Leonidio'
constructed in the 4th century.

The Romans constructed lodges for use by government officers when they travelled on
business. Structured hotel business probably first originated in Europe, especially
Switzerland, the patrons of which were the noblemen of that era.

In the fifteenth century, France & England started having legal requirements governing
hotels like keeping a register. Inns in England also became famous for their hospitality
around this time, which had rooms off a courtyard on both sides and public rooms in front.
Hotels started advertising their special gastronomical offerings using special signboards
outside their properties.

The 'Grand Tour' of Europe- a concept that emerged in the second half of the eighteenth
century was very helpful to the development of the hotel industry of this time, especially in
Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Ireland. Heirs of rich British families and
aristocracy were sent on this tour, which often lasted for up to a few years and required
lodging, transport and entertainment facilities. It was a precursor to the modern day
hospitality industry.

The world's first tour operator was Thomas Cook, a British cabinet maker and part-time
publisher, who organized an excursion of eleven miles from Leicester to Loughborough by
rail transport in 1841, and thus gained this title. He later started a travel agency that offered
package tours throughout Europe to tourists, by coordinating with the railways and
steamship companies. His company too played a vital role in the expansion of the travel
business throughout the world.

After the invention of air transport and commercial passenger flights, international travel
received a boost, as tourists started travelling longer distances and stayed at destinations for
a longer period of time. They started travelling across the Atlantic Ocean.

This resulted in greater turnover for both the hospitality, as well as the tourism industry. The
needs of leisure as well as travelers increased and they demanded better facilities, which led
to the building of large hotels in cities and towns to satisfy them.

The world's first ski resorts opened in the Swiss towns of St. Moritz & Gstaad in the early
1920's,

which saw a lot of foreign tourists making their way to these places. This was followed by the
emergence of destinations like Spain, Greece & Yugoslavia, as well as Portugal and the
Scandinavian countries as popular tourist destinations.

In early times, the lodging facilities in America were based on European-style taverns. Later
on, it was the American businessmen who caused a transformation in the perception of
hotels, due to their revolutionary concepts and strong marketing skills.
The nineteenth century saw the launch of more luxury properties like Grand Pacific, the
Palmer House. The Sherman House in Chicago and the 800 room The Palace in San
Francisco. The 450 room Statler Hotel in Buffalo, New York was the first business hotel,
which commenced operations in the year 1908.

Travelling reduced after the Second World War due to wide-spread destruction and
economic melt-down, but slowly regained its fascination among people in the 1950s. Road
transport improved with the construction of highways, leading to hotels on highways, called
as motels. Tourists started visiting seashores, mountains, hills, rivers and lakes, for pleasure
and to spend vacations, which led to the creation of resorts at these venues.

Motels grew at a rapid rate in the next few decades and budget hotels providing limited
facilities at lesser rates came into existence. All these developed into countrywide and
international chains.

In the 1970's, hotels started being built exclusively for business people like business hotel.
They started presenting a larger number of facilities, as well as a greater variety of cuisines
to the discerning travelers.

In the 1980's and the 1990's, this development continued unhindered, with more and more
properties opening up, offering a plethora of services. At a certain point of time the events
occurring in Middle East Asia. It was at this time that hoteliers started coming up with
innovative marketing strategies like tie-ups with airlines to have 'frequent flier programs' to
increase their business.

There are various types of hotels; apart from resorts and motels. Airport hotels are located
near the airports. Business hotels are located near the commercial centers of cities. Heritage
hotels are those that have been converted from erstwhile castles, palaces and forts, built
before 1950.

Apartment hotels have suites with kitchen facilities, where the guests can make their own
food. Casino hotels are those that have gambling facilities on the premises. Convention
hotels have plenty of space to hold large gatherings and conferences. Timeshare properties
are those properties that sell ownership to an individual for a specific part of the year.