ABSTRACT
While the concept of international hospitality management as a specific business model has received much debate, this chapter describes an internationally derived model and key components associated with what is the ‘art of hospitality’. Second, it provides initial analysis of an adapted approach to training students and practitioners using analogies, metaphors, and examples (see Herdenstam et al., 2018) to express understanding as part of developing a professional hospitality culture. The authors defined an acronym for ‘the art of hospitality’ as TAOH; the resulting model included core aspects described as (1) the art of thinking small, (2) the art of innovation and creativity, (3) the art of tacit knowledge, (4) the art of the experience, (5) the art of exceeding expectations, and (6) instilling a hospitality heart. This chapter addresses – what is international hospitality business? Is it a business model? Does it have key factors that are shared across geographic locations? How might this be communicated to current and future professionals in the industry? While the authors do not propose that the six factors in the TAOH framework are all-inclusive, these factors emerged as important for integration into a socialization process, firm culture, and business logic mindset. An important chapter contribution is to express – how to plan training programs using dialogue methods to enhance understanding of TAOH and communicate to staff. This understanding by industry professionals is likely to increase empathy and understanding of consumer needs and values, create higher self-worth in understanding the importance of hospitality in stakeholders quality of life, and enhance understanding of how the concept of hospitality as an internationally derived business model can be articulated to peers and subordinates by leaders in the field.Keywords
