Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research

Post-baby-boomers, the generation following the baby boom, present the hospitality industry with an unusual marketing opportunity. Marketing strategies that appealed to the baby-boom generation will have to be revamped to gain the loyalty of this skeptical and cautious group of consumers. Post-boomers are distinctly different from the optimistic, self-indulgent baby boomers. They are family-oriented communitarians, a group of consumers who will search for community, belonging, and safety throughout their lives. As hospitality consumers at the turn of the century, they will be few in number, tough in spirit, pragmatic, and technologically sawy.

The continued rapid growth of the elderly population in the first decade of the 21 st century previews the unprecedented aging of the population to occur in subsequent decades. The time window under discussion in this article-present to 2010—is essentially the last opportunity for the hospitality industry to prepare for the onset of a truly aged society. While overall demographic characteristics of the aging popula tion are impressive, the variability among subgroups within the older age cohorts are the most important factors in predicting hospitality needs and opportunities. In particular, demographic variability among the elderly, with regard to health status, income, and family structure, is critical to various future scenarios. Additionally, the aging population will progressively be better educated and more experienced consumers of hospitality services and products. It is suggested that the psychological construct of "personal control" will be increasingly important to developers as a criterion in judging the acceptability of hospitality industry products intended for this more sophisticated, aging clientele of the future. Several examples of services oriented toward significant subgroups of the future elderly are described.

Americans' use and perception of time will influence the future of the hospitality industry. During the last few decades, it appears that hours of work have declined, measured either as hours of work for those in the labor force or as a percentage of all the hours of an individual's life. Public perception, however, is that hours of work are increasing. There is overwhelming evidence that Americans feel more rushed than in the past and that the pace of life is speeding up. Important changes in the nature of both work and leisure are examined, and implications for the hospitality industry drawn.

Most of the trends that will shape the foodservice industry during the early 21 st century already have their genesis in the 1990s. This article explores the various demographic, social, and psychological patterns which will be the subject of intense analysis as we near the year 2000.

This article examines the forces that influence our understanding of and responses to diversity in the work place. Conceptually, diversity may either be understood as variety, in which all people are regarded as unique individuals, or as difference, in which specific groups of people (e.g., nonwhites and women), are regarded as being different with respect to a dominant group (e.g., white men). From either perspective, today's work force is becoming increasingly diverse as a result of changes in immigration patterns; demographic trends; and the increasing polar ization of society with respect to education, skills, and wealth. In the past, because of the influence of mechanistic management principles, organizations typically responded to diversity by minimizing or eliminating differences. In the future, the particular needs ofselectgroups of people willlikely be accommodated. In the distant future, organizations that fail to acknowledge the full range of variety inherent in their employee and customer populations will have difficulty surviving.

The authors propose that human resources management will become a mainstay in the strategic business of hospitality organizations in the 21 st century. To remain viable, hospitality organizations will need to create partnerships with employees, guests, and universities. It is proposed that these essential partner ships will incorporate six critical human resources management (HRM) domains: technology; power paradigms; training and development; compensation; em ployee relations; and family, society, and work balance. A survey of hospitality employees and leaders indicated they felt that all six domains would be important or very important to their jobs.

Changing customer needs, increased competition, technological advances, globalization, and a more diverse work force are current patterns which will lead toward a system-level redesign of tomorrow's organizations. This article discusses the importance of rethinking how we do business and the necessity of working with the inherent contradictions of organizing in a dynamic environment. The article considers the plausibility ofnetwork organizational designs, contracted workers, and flexible part-time workers.

By the beginning of the new millennium, hotel technology will be entrenched in every phase of hotel management, marketing, and operations. Powerful new microchips will provide dramatic increases in power perdollarinvested. High-speed, high-capacity fiber-optic cable will link the world for faster, less costly telecommuni cations and will help change how hotels communicate with their guests and with headquarters. New hotel PBXs, telephone sets, and voice messaging systems will improve guest service, while the arrival of wireless pocket phones will mean that hotel guests carry their communication devices with them. Interactive, three- dimensional, high-definition television will change how and what TV-based guest- room services are delivered, while private videoconferencing networks will impact hotel revenues as more businesses use them to reduce travel and hotel costs. The TV set, the telephone, and the computer will be linked in the culmination of the growing trend already under way to merge communications technologies. Many other new tech-based tools and challenges will emerge.

This article investigates the prospects for improvements in management effectiveness given the rapidly changing developments in new information technolo gies. One of the principal problems facing managers in the future will be how to ensure service quality with fewer managers. The view offered here is that information technology, despite large reductions in the number of managers, can lead to the creation of new types of organizational structures that will, in turn, lead to more effective management while still ensuring service quality.

This article covers some of the fundamentals of communication systems. More people can communicate in an increasing number of ways because of the continual growth in the worldwide communication system. The move to all-digital networks and the increasing use of fiber optics and remote communication mediums are the enabling mechanisms for this trend.

As demanding as a foodservice manager's job already is, the future is liable to demand more. To address the changes, the Delphi method was used to address the issues of the future. This article summarizes the findings of the study.

The quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry is increasingly becoming global. Cooperation over conflict (a state ofinterbeing) is expected to be the order of the 21 st century. Service will be the primary tool of strategic advantage in the QSR industry. Successful firms may gain competitive advantage through segment diffusion, em ployee empowerment, and maximization of brand equity. Changes in U.S. franchise legislation will distinctly affect the industry. The carousel concepts and other new concepts will emerge as developments take place. The QSR menus are expected to change dramatically to include genetically altered animal and vegetable products to meet nutritional demands of aging baby boomers.

School foodservice programs have grown from small kitchens serving lunch in a few schools to a multibillion-dollar industry serving breakfast and lunch to school children year-round and preparing food for child and adult care centers. The industry is expected to grow as universal meal programs are implemented. School programs will be challenged by forces such as educational restructuring, nutrition, and health and its relationship to learning ability, demographic changes, government, re sources and technology, competitive marketing, and environmental concerns. Career opportunities exist for foodservice and hospitality management graduates. University faculty can provide teaching and research expertise for the school- foodservice segment of the industry.

America has come to rely on the automobile for most of its transportation needs, even in urban areas. Both federal and local mandates, however, may force this reliance to end. This article examines current developments in localized ground transportation and predicts their impact on the hospitality industry. America's most densely populated state, New Jersey, is used as the focus.

Major steps in the development of tourism have been linked with advancements in transport, the system that creates the structural linkage between origins and destinations. The objective of this article is to shed some light on the nature and complexity of transport as an integral component of tourism infrastructure. More specifically, this article examines current advancements and gives scenarios of future transport infrastructure.

The Earth Summit, held in June 1992, focused international attention on the state of the environment. Critical environmental threats that affect the hospitality and tourism industry include solid waste, water quality and availability, energy, and air pollution. An overview of each of these and initiatives to address them are discussed. The purposes of this article are to stimulate dialogue among hospitality profession als, to emphasize the need for research and training in the industry, and to encourage education programs regarding environmental threats.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the future of foodservice waste management. First, the evolution of environmental concerns in the United States is presented. Trends and future research topics for foodservice waste management are then discussed, and the need for a "metabolic restaurant" is proposed by the authors. Finally, the authors contend that foodservice operators and consumers must jointly address the societal demand for conservation, preservation, and restoration of ecologically and consumer friendly foodservice facilities.

This article traces the history of information technology in education, reviews the current uses of information technology, and projects what hospitality classrooms might look like in 2005. The discussion is extended to the implications for training in the hospitality industry. To achieve the forecasted changes, the view of education must shift from training to performance and from documentation to the application of knowledge.

Technology is advancing at an exponential rate. A review of literature on hospitality education programs reveals current major technology issues, such as computer literacy and computer hardware and software programs. Yet, as evi denced by current computer research issues, the computer technology referred to is apparently obsolete. Very few of the education technology issues are centered on noncomputer technology, such as robotics, building facilities, environment control, foodservice technology, or even managing technological systems. Several sce narios involving hospitality technology in the 21 st century are presented, and all are based on currently known technology.

Hospitality management education hasn't changed with the times, and 10 years from now, many current North American programs will cease to exist. To survive, programs must pay greater attention to quality teaching and quality, real-world research that addresses the way companies are really run.

The hospitality higher education paradigm needs to change. The general business and trade press report that the current work force in the United States is not adequately skilled or educated to meet the technological needs of the next decade. There is reason to question the content and delivery of hospitality education in institutions of higher education.

This article addresses the question of whether hospitality education will survive for another generation. The authors contend that hotel, restaurant, and institutional management education will be alive and productive in 2010. The hospitality environment and the implications of that environment are discussed, along with views of how the hospitality curriculum may evolve in the early 21st century.