Astonishing Facts about the Hospitality Industry – A key player in the global market.

Most people think the hotel industry and hospitality industry are the same things when they're not. Hotels are only one part of the Hospitality industry while Aviation, Food and beverages, casinos and tourism all fall under this. Travel and tourism brought in USD 7.6 trillion in 2016 and the figure is estimated to easily surpass USD 10 trillion by the end of 2018 when the other sections of hospitality are all added in.

According to the reports in the USA, one in eight jobs is related to the travel and tourism field. This number is expected to increase to one in five jobs within the next 5 years. This is becoming the case with most countries across the world as well.

Some of the hotels people choose to vacation these days aren't popular because of their food, service or accommodation but because they are haunted and appeal to adrenaline junkies who are looking for a unique vacation experience. While most hotels list that they are haunted online some keep it as a surprise.

Drawing in more than 80 million people each year, France is the destination most people pick for their vacations. This comes as no surprise and France is home to some of the best wines in the world, delicious food and breath-taking scenery. Due to the fact that France has so much to see and do, accommodation options here are quite expensive.

As per the Guinness Book of world records, Koshu Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan located in Japan holds the record for being the oldest hotel in the world. The ownership of the hotel has been in the possession of the same family for 50 generations and is said to be more than 1300 years old. Since then the hotel industry has evolved because of hotel brands such as Minor Hotels who have set up hotel chains all over the world.

The cruise ship industry has about 300 cruise ships which entertain 300,000 tourists on a day-to-day basis. The Caribbean currently holds the record for being known as the most popular cruise destination. A cruise ship called "The world", is one of the most interesting cruise ships as it has been the permanent residence for the same group of travellers since 2002. The Harmony by Seas of the Royal Caribbean International is the largest cruise ship in the world at a length of 362 metres and has the ability to accommodate 6800 guests.

The first person to travel to space for tourism purposes was Dennis Tito, who made a trip to the International space station in 2001 for a thumping price of USD 20 million. Only about 600 people have travelled to space as tourists as of 2018 but the numbers are expected to increase with companies like Space X and Virgin Galactic launching space travel programmes that will be open to everyone.