critical thinking skills in hospitality industry

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Critical Thinking and Hospitality Management Education: Exploring Potentials and Possibilities

Critical thinking has been praised as one of the most valuable dispositions university could offer to students who are pursuing a higher education. A number of theoreticians have proposed various forms of critical thinking, leading to the broadening of its definition, and the political and moral emphasis of its practice. Commenting on the current situation of hospitality management education, this paper presents the educational benefit of adopting one particular form of critical thinking, which is grounded in the educational philosophy of critical pedagogy, towards the teaching and learning of hospitality knowledge. And how such an educational experience plays a crucial role in promoting social wellbeing through the distinctive industrial landscape that the hospitality industries have forged.

Related Papers

Hospitality & Society

Kelvin Zhang

This article employs criticality, a concept that embodies various intellectual values, to evaluate the forms and degree of criticality currently manifested in hospitality higher education. Criticality is discussed in relation to the academic well-being of hospitality as an academic subject. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 55 academics working in nine universities in the United Kingdom, capturing how they interpret criticality in relation to teaching hospitality courses and conducting hospitality research. The study revealed that conceptualizations of criticality in relation to the academic subject of hospitality largely occupy an uncritical conceptual space. Hospitality is restrictively understood with its commercial manifestations, namely ‘the hotel industry’, with alternative understandings of hospitality and hospitality offerings largely missing. The primary purpose of teaching criticality is perceived as an essential competency crucial for graduate employability. Critical research is perceived as studies that are relevant and applicable to ‘the hotel industry’. The conceptualizations of criticality revealed an unwelcoming academic community, whereby a dismissive attitude was expressed towards alternative approaches to the study of hospitality. With the prevalent neoliberal influences on higher education, an uncritical conceptual space of hospitality raises serious concerns regarding the future development of hospitality as an academic subject in higher education.

Simone Fullagar

Cecile Benitez

Monica Berger

"This article describes a library workshop for freshman hospitality management students enrolled at New York City College of Technology, CUNY, which features a focus on critical thinking. An active learning experience uses an element of surprise. Students evaluate the Website of a bankrupt company where information about the company’s situation is not obvious. When the instructor guides the class to find unbiased information from newspapers, many students begin to think critically about sources."

Peter Lugosi

This paper discusses the development of critical hospitality management research (CHMR) and explores key issues that such approaches raise. The paper is split into two parts. The first reviews contemporary writings that reflect the changing nature of hospitality management research and accounts for the emergence of a critical tradition. The second part identifies eight areas which are central concerns for the future development of CHMR: criticality, ethics and advocacy, scale, claims of legitimacy and research quality, representation, audience, affiliation, institutions and institutional contexts, and the relationship between management research and pedagogy. Associated questions and challenges are surfaced and conclusions drawn.

Kellee Caton , Yaniv Belhassen

The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education

José-Carlos García-Rosell

Although problem-based learning (PBL) has been widely discussed in relation to tourism and hospitality education, the socially mediated and discursive nature of PBL approaches to tourism and hospitality education has been either neglected or given only cursory coverage in the literature. Most tourism and hospitality educators view PBL as an instruction method used to support students in acquiring and applying knowledge and professional competencies for managing tourism organizations in a rapidly and changing economy. Furthermore, due to its role in promoting teamwork, creativity and leadership, among other skills, PBL is regarded as a practical way to respond to the criticism that tourism and hospitality education lacks rigor and relevance. This view of PBL is in line with the idea of transforming educational processes into a matter of economic efficiency at the service of the tourism industry, rather than a matter of building societies. By drawing on the postmodern social-constructivist perspective on experiential learning and the relational social-constructionist orientation to management learning, I problematize PBL, arguing that it should also allow students to critically evaluate, analyze, and question the basic premises underlying contemporary tourism and hospitality practices. According to this view, PBL should go beyond the idea of producing human capital for the labor market to create spaces where students are encouraged to critically challenge the underlying assumptions of managerial tourism practices and to think more reflexively about how these assumptions affect other people’s lives. The application of PBL as a critical reflexive pedagogical tool is illustrated here using examples from a first-person action research study focusing on the development and implementation of two CSR courses based on hybrid PBL at the University of Lapland, Finland, between the years 2007 and 2010.

Drawing on qualitative data gathered from educators based in the United Kingdom, this paper examines their perceptions of significant challenges facing contemporary hospitality management education. These include: engaging contemporary students, particularly through new technologies; the growing presence of international students; institutional constraints, resource pressures and the distinctiveness of hospitality management education; ongoing tensions between hospitality's intellectual development and its practice focus; and new course designs, delivery models and partnerships. The study also explores their views on how those are likely to evolve in the future. The findings suggest that many of the key challenges are not unique to the hospitality management area, but they also highlight many pressing concerns specific to this sector. Importantly, the findings help to identify how individuals and institutions are responding to particular challenges in higher education. Highlights Explores challenges in supporting contemporary students and international cohorts Reflects on institutional constraints and the intensification of academic work Examines the position of hospitality education within business schools and faculties Highlights tensions between hospitality's intellectual growth and its practice focus Considers impacts of new course designs, partnerships and models of delivery

Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education

Daniela Pedrosa

Studies in Higher Education

Martin Davies

This study investigates all available literature related to critical thinking in business education in a survey of publications in the field produced from 1990-2019. It conducts a thematic analysis of 787 articles found in Web of Science and Google Scholar, including a specific focus on 55 highly-cited articles. The aim is to investigate the importance of critical thinking in business education, how it is conceptualised in business education research, the business contexts in which critical thinking is situated, and the key and more marginal themes related to critical thinking outlined in the business and business education literature. The paper outlines six key areas and topics associated with those areas. It suggests future directions for further scholarly work in the area of critical thinking in business education.

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• Hospitality Industry

The Skills Gap in the Hospitality Industry

September 04, 2023 •

4 min reading

Labor is the biggest single cost for hospitality institutions, yet many hotel and tourism industry employers are facing an industry-wide shortage of qualified employees. Travel and tourism may be up as global levels of wealth increase, but there are fewer qualified hospitality workers across the entire industry - from casinos and cruise ships to restaurants and hotels.

So what skills are current employees missing and how can hospitality students gain the right set of skills to plug the skills gap and save the industry in the future?

What caused the hospitality industry labor shortage?

Several different factors converge to create a labor shortage in the hospitality industry. Here are some of the most prominent:

• Wages: employees in roles that traditionally pay low or have tipped wages, such as the restaurant segment of the industry, tend to leave jobs at higher rates than employees in other sectors because wages are low.
• Burn-out: Younger workers are more aware of work-life balance and mental well-being and are searching for careers that pose less demand on them physically and mentally.
• Covid aftershock: when the hospitality industry sharply contracted in 2020 and subsequent years of the pandemic, many hospitality workers were let go and are scarred from that experience.
• Generational factors: as older employees who have decades' worth of experience in hospitality skills near retirement age.
• Technology: hotel employees are increasingly expected to use technology, and some workers (including older workers and those less familiar with technology) are pushed out.

How is the hospitality industry combatting the labor shortage?

When skilled workers decline in their droves, as we saw during the pandemic, hospitality businesses are forced to hire candidates who do not possess the full skillset required to do the job, resulting in the skills gap we see today.

Some hotels are turning to technology to fill the gap. Hotel culinary teams have been especially hard-hit by the skilled labor gap, so many are turning to cooking technologies that increase efficiency, such as pre-portioned, vacuum-sealed menu items. Others are scaling down the complexity or burdening existing team members with extra duties– tasking a prep cook to make bread instead of hiring a baker, for example.

Another example are so-called 'smart hotel rooms' which are reducing the burden on front desk staff by reducing guest interaction via the use of tools such as automated concierge and other in-room smart controls, giving guests more autonomy and streamlining staff tasks.

While these solutions have enabled industry players to keep up despite the labor gap, they are essentially stopgap measures. Technology can replace some amount of human labor, and workers can take on some amount of additional duties, but everything has its limit. The best solution is to equip a new generation of workers with the appropriate skills, entice them into choosing a career in the hospitality industry, and retain them with preferential working conditions.

Traditionally there has been a high turnover rate in hospitality. The industry poses demands that few others do. Consider that employees may work nights and weekends, limiting free time to spend with family or friends, and are expected to handle difficult customers and solve problems with grace. Employees who don't devote time to self-care may burn out and decide to leave the field for something easier.

So what skills do candidates need to acquire to work in hospitality?

How can hospitality students use the skills gap to their advantage

Soft skills are the skills that aren't necessarily taught in school but are part of good citizenship: Communication, leadership, critical thinking, organization, follow-through, cultural competency, flexibility, and customer service, just to name a few. These skills are missing in hospitality.

The guest comes first in hospitality. It's obvious, but have you thought about what it really means in terms of how you interact with guests?

Customer service skills will serve you time and again, as will creative thinking and flexibility. For young people today, who often interact with one another via technological devices, customer service requires a necessary reorientation to interacting with people, either face-to-face or over the phone.

Multitasking and maintaining a positive attitude are of critical importance for hospitality workers, who often work long shifts and must be prepared to jump in and lend a hand wherever it's needed. Workers who rise to the challenge without displaying negativity are more likely to be promoted, so there is something in it for you if you master these skills.

Employees who are organized are better able to multitask without losing track of critical tasks. This is a skill that is easy in theory but takes time to become a habit. Using checklists, for instance, offer a way to keep important tasks top-of-mind, so that no matter what comes up on a shift, you meet your obligations (and impress your manager).

Worldwide the growing skills gap could hurt the hospitality industry and on an individual hospitality business level, could diminish your brand reputation, customer loyalty, and revenue. It is in everyone's best interest that the hospitality skills gap be surmounted, and investing in the education of the next generation of hospitality employees is among the best ways to fill the gap.

As employers are focusing on soft skills over hard skills, which can be taught on the job, those candidates who will rise to the top of the pile are those who have demonstrated emotional intelligence and other soft skills. The candidate to get interviews will be those who point to soft skills on their resume and exhibit their skills during in-person or phone interviews.

The best candidates will always respond well even when interviews take unexpected turns, for example incorporating role play or impromptu assignments designed to test candidates' emotional intelligence and mastery of interpersonal soft skills . Current students in Hospitality Management degree courses are in a prime position to become the hospitality leaders of tomorrow if they manage to bridge the skills gap that is becoming ever larger.

Senior Lecturer at EHL Passugg

Keep reading

Enhancing hotel guests’ well-being: Academic insights for hoteliers

Apr 25, 2024

Luxury hotels and a ‘sense of place’: Brand identity and experiences

Apr 24, 2024

Luxury hotels and a ‘sense of place’: The branding imperative

Apr 17, 2024

Do you have the right skills to create emotional experiences?

In a hospitality management degree program, you not only acquire all the academic skills, but also the soft skills that can make the difference and lead to success. Find out more here.

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Big Sky Resort

Summer 2024 hospitality management internship program.

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Big Sky Resort’s customizable Hospitality Management Internship offers the opportunity for undergraduates and graduates to capitalize on the expertise of our leaders in their respective fields. The internship also serves as a Manager-in-Training program, allowing participants to accelerate their career path and have many of the tools to be successful and considered for future full-time year-round Management level positions at many of the Boyne Resorts.

The internship helps bridge the gap from school, developing on-the-job experience from our experienced professionals. Participants will gain exposure to both front and back-of-house operations and will train first-hand by working alongside our experienced staff and leadership teams. Interns have the opportunity to further advance their skills and become much more marketable employees.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for executing and observing day-to-day work in each department scheduled.
• Spend 3.5 weeks working as a Front Desk Associate at Big Sky Resort’s 3-star Huntley Lodge, 4-star Summit Hotel, or 4-star Village Center Hotel.
• Choose from: At Your Service, Basecamp, Bell Staff, Concierge, Conference Services, Housekeeping, and Mailroom.
• Spend 3.5 weeks shadowing/acting as one of the above-mentioned Hotels’ Assistant General Manager.
• Final Project to conclude the Internship

Qualifications

• Must complete the agreed-upon terms of the internship.
• Hospitality, Recreation, Tourism, or like-Major required.
• Desire to pursue work in the Hotel industry, post-education.
• Positive attitude
• Excellent communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Critical thinking skills

All full time seasonal employment at Big Sky Resort includes:

• FREE All Access Bike Haul Pass and discounted Golf Pass
• Discounted Golf and Mountain Biking for friends and family
• 25% – 50% off Food and Beverage and Retail discounts at all Boyne outlets
• Eligibility for affordable Team Member Housing
• Lodging discounts for friends and family
• FREE Basecamp activities including zip line course
• Wellness Day and Eligibility for PTO
• Eligible for seasonal loyalty bonus
• Monthly employee events

We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O'odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.