Introduction

In designing the encyclopedia the Chief Editor was guided by three principles. First, that the entries should be representative of the main sectors of the hospitality industry. Thus, great care was taken to include entries relevant to the lodging, foodservice, events, clubs, and timeshare sectors of the hospitality industry. Second, that the entries should reflect all the major managerial disciplines prevalent in the hospitality industry. Therefore, important entries were incorporated which are common in the disciplines of accounting and finance, marketing, human resources, information technology, strategic management, and facilities management. Third, that the entries should denote the global and cross-cultural nature of the hospitality industry. For that reason, the entries were written by authors who practice or teach hospitality management in different countries around the world.