Great Expectations: How Changing Consumer Expectations Are Impacting the Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry is currently riding a wave of growth. Business travel reached an unprecedented $1.2 trillion around the world in 2015 and healthy growth is projected to continue through 2017—though competition for those dollars has been and will continue to be fierce, with new brands and new hospitality and F&B concepts emerging, and a climate where innovation and creativity are rewarded. The status quo is no longer acceptable, especially in F&B concepts—the boring three meal a day restaurant is dead, hence the huge rise in independents over the last few years and the establishment of soft brands.

Today’s 'big thing' is tomorrow’s 'no big deal' and it is incumbent upon F&B professionals to recognize and respond to those shifts.

While big-picture economic factors always play an important role in influencing what the landscape of the industry will look like in the months and years ahead, this is a space that is increasingly tied to consumer preferences and…