Towards a new dynamic in the hotel and catering industry

This research is the result of a reconnoitring expedition within the hotel and catering industry by order of Rik Daems, the Minister of Telecommunication and Public Enterprises, also responsible for the self-employed. The central research question contains the sketching of the bottlenecks which the sector is confronted with.

In a first part, “Profile of the sector” the employment and turnover situation are analysed. These results lead to the second part, “A socially and economically vulnerable sector”, in which the structural employment bottlenecks are discussed.
The third part considers, “A business economical vulnerable sector”, different business indicators such as the net exploitation surplus, the supplementary value, the cost-effectiveness and bankruptcies.
In the fourth chapter, “Beyond the particularistic lists of demands”, the traditional sector- and sub-sector- demands are marked as inadequate because they are not forthcoming to the structural problems of the sector.
In the “Conclusions en recommendations: To a new dynamic”, different lines of approach coupled to a long-term perspective, are presented to regulate the sector, make the sector endurable and to ensure the convivial character.