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This article aims to first summarize and explain major services operations research foci from the past century. Second, this article relates how hospitality scholars have conducted operations-related research with a particular focus on research related to hotels and lodging. Finally, the article makes recommendations regarding potential future areas of concentration of operations research in hospitality.

The article presents a scholarly literature review, where literature from hospitality and general operations management (OM) was reviewed to document research foci throughout recent periods in history.

Hospitality scholars have been conducting research, which reflects trends in general OM literature. Additionally, the research being conducting, which focuses on services in OM, is becoming more commonplace and more distinct from production-based research.

The article provides a compilation of literature regarding OM and how hospitality scholars have applied those principles to hotel and lodging operations. Additionally, recommendations regarding potential future topical areas and methodologies are provided for scholars.

This chapter covers four main concepts: (a) providing an understanding of service; (b) organizing hospitality decisions and processes; (c) defining strategic service visions; and (d) dissecting operations strategies for hospitality services. In the first section, the definition of service, the five service dimensions, and the service package are covered. In the second section, hospitality decisions and processes are framed by service concepts and the service-profit chain. A service concept is the starting point for developing hospitality operations strategies, while the service-profit chain explains the link from customer satisfaction and customer loyalty to a service firm’s growth and profitability. In the third section, the strategic service vision is explored. Successful service firms all have a strategic service vision, which includes a set of ideas and actions organized in a systematic way to maximize a firm’s performance. In the fourth and final section, the operations strategy for hospitality services is covered. Successful service operations occur when management defines and adheres to a competitive operations strategy.

Presents an approach to hospitality operations management curriculum development in higher education programmes. The method proposed was developed in the context of the hospitality product and the management decision making involved in operations management. The determination of curriculum content is illustrated using the accounting contribution as an example.

Such are the breadth and diversity of the hospitality industry, that a millennial review requires a specific focused perspective. This article proposes a triangular framework for analysis based on the hospitality cycle of practice of knowledge, in which the increased sophistication of practice and operations requires the development of theoretical paradigms for research and education purposes. The nature of the industry and its challenges are introduced in preparation for a series of six articles by academic experts.

In the next millennium there will be more large firms in the hospitality industry, and these large firms will get larger. But despite the fact that we have had such chains for nearly 50 years, we know remarkably little about the operational management of chains. This article considers the importance of chain operations and reviews alternative theoretical perspectives on how such chains should be managed. It proposes a new model of multi‐unit management based around six key activities – integration, location, configuration, organisation, implementation and adaptation.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and explore blockchain technology and its potential implementation to hospitality and tourism firms’ wide range of business operations and transactions from a technological and functional point of view. This study’s central interest is to produce novel and rigorous in-depth-review analysis and foundations for a broad discussion and outlook on the potential applications of blockchain technology benefiting hospitality and tourism research, as well as the industry as a whole.

This study identifies and proposes several potential areas of the adoption and implementation of blockchain technology to the hospitality and tourism industry, including payment and cryptocurrencies, tracking and service customization, the disintermediation of hospitality and tourism, innovative loyalty programs, smart contracts, integrated property management systems, verified rating and review systems, collaborative initiatives and due diligence and smart tourism, each of which represents fertile avenues for future research.

This paper provides extensive critical discussions, reviews and answers to a fundamental question: “What critical functions of Blockchain mechanisms can be implemented to the existing core operational (i.e. booking and reservation systems, guest management, etc.) and business functions (i.e. loyalty/reward programs, agent transactions, etc.) of hospitality and tourism companies?”.

Future studies should specifically delve further into various angles of this “BizTech” environment based not only on business operations and competition but also on vendor and customer collaboration.

This study intends to serve as a guidance for future research, facilitate knowledge accumulation and create a new understanding and awareness in both practice and academia. One of the most important applications of blockchain in this industry would be that pertaining to direct booking, online reservation systems (i.e. airlines and online travel agencies) and check-in/out with digital identities. With industry-wide blockchain adoption, guests’ personal information can be digitally validated, saved and secured as previously established cryptographically secured codes verify one’s identity without disclosing essential personal information.

It is obvious that the hospitality and tourism industry needs urgent technological transformation, industrial innovations and new growth avenues such as the adoption of blockchain technology and systems to maintain its global market share in the future. Therefore, the implementation of blockchain systems can promote the formation of multi-center (i.e. guest operations and customer service), weakly intermediated (i.e. loyalty programs and/or review and rating systems) areas in this industry.

Increasing complexity and scale in hospitality company operations combined with intensifying competition in a maturing market is creating an unstable and rapidly changing strategic and operational environment for the hospitality industry. Such instability often leads to the generation of unnecessary and undesirable variety in organisational structures, processes and products. The consequence of this is frequently an increase in complexity for the hospitality operations manager. This issue is addressed through an analysis of the sources of variability and a consideration of potential techniques to avoid, reduce or eliminate the incidence of this instability as a means to reduce complexity and enhance performance.

Outlines the changes which have occurred in the hospitality business environment during the period 19901995 and reviews the resulting changes in skills, attitudes and competences now required of hospitality managers. It is important that these developments are reflected in the hospitality operations management curriculum. Discusses ways in which this might happen and discusses new curriculum styles and teaching materials which aim to achieve this result.

Operations management involves utilizing given resources as efficiently as possible to deliver services to customers and meet business goals. Developing efficient business operations requires a hospitality organization to design efficient service environments, as part of its mission. This chapter articulates the key design and planning strategies for the development of a successful hospitality organization. The first section covers the process of location selection, as the most important factor leading to the success of a hospitality organization. The second section discusses strategies for estimating the number of users (service employees and customers) during peak and idle times to justify a costly financial investment. The third section concerns the readers with the topic of layout planning, with the goal of service optimization for a targeted number of customers. The fourth section deliberates workflow conditions, and finally, the last section addresses the ambience and design of the physical hospitality environment, which is crucial for customer evaluation of a hospitality organization as it creates a first impression.