Overview

Much of the world's economy is now transnational, international or global by nature. Several of the hospitality industry's major companies have long been large- scale international players. Specific sectors of the hospitality industry have, for many years, been international by nature. Most deluxe hotels and many top restaurants anywhere in the world expect that a significant proportion of their visitors will be foreign. Much of the industry in Britain, as it is today, has been significantly influenced by overseas managers and staff. Some of Britain's top hotels and restaurants of the last hundred years, such as the Savoy and the Ritz, were designed and run from over the Channel by people such as Cesar Ritz. The former Forte plc, one of the world's foremost hospitality companies of the twentieth century (taken over by Granada in 1997), was founded by Charles Forte, of Italian origin, and the Stakis group (now part of Hilton) was formed by Reo Stakis of Cypriot origin. Significant companies and also small independent businesses in the hotel, restaurant, brewery, fast food and takeaway sectors are run by people of Asian origin. Furthermore, many of the managers and staff in certain sectors of the industry are of foreign nationality or origin. In turn, leading British-based hotel companies such as Hilton International and Holiday Inn run hotels throughout the world. One crucial point about the industry which has made this possible is that the knowledge and skills necessary to work in the industry are readily exportable or...