The tourism and hospitality industry is a rapidly growing, fast paced and dynamic industry. The tourism and hospitality industry had a major transformation around the nineteen-sixties, when hotels were no longer exclusively found in city centres, but saw the development of new locations. This fueled the expansion of the industry. Around the nineteen-eighties, the industry evolved a strategy centred on the pampering of the guest.

The industry’s growth has been rapid and fast paced. This growth is continuing today, and, the more the industry grows and advances, the more complex their customers/guests become. Service excellence in the tourism and hospitality industry has, therefore, advanced tremendously since a decade ago, and guests have also transformed and became more sophisticated. They demand customized service; they expect service excellence at all times; and they complain much more often than ever before about every possible aspect of their experience. Because of the demand from guests, the industry spends much time training staff on service excellence, motivating staff to prioritize guest experience, and putting measures in place to make sure that the rules are adhered to and guests are happy with the service they receive. The trends in the current experience of hotels includes, for example, staffing kitchens with master chefs to stylize the guests’ dining experience at all mealtimes. Therefore, experience has become a key motivator in how service is being customized for the guest.

Key words: hospitality industry, service excellence, customer orientated service.