ABSTRACT

The objective of this chapter is to provide a generalist view of the evolution of hospitality research, the researchers and the value of their work, the status and future of the body of knowledge, research methods and the future of scholarly work. It is not an attempt to provide a comprehensive review of the research over the 20th century because that has been amply done in such works as Brotherton (1999), VNR’s Encyclopedia of Hospitality and Tourism (Khan et al., 1993) or in recent special editions of journals, including the International Journal of Hospitality Management Vol. 17, No. 2. It is instead a commentary on where we started from in the early part of the 20th

century and where we may be going now. It is also meant to be provocative and challenging.