Mankind has been driven by a plethora of theories. Theories best describe the usual instances of our surroundings. They can best describe a period. What if we focus on human generations? And what if we, as humans, think about our future? Yes indeed. That’s what would be perfectly applicable to best define Generation Z, or simply GenZ. GenZ sets apart those people who are born after the year 1996. They come directly after Millenials, which sets apart the people born between 1977 and 1995.
It is apparent that theorists from previous generations has coined the term GenZ. The common myths on GenZs that has been put forward is that GenZs are technologically more advanced and is the driving factor of a digital world. It is believed that GenZs spend more time on internet, social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and a lots more. But what does a student from a hotel school has to say? Believe it or not, he has a lot to tell!!
Being a student in Hotel Institute Montreux (HIM) in Switzerland, and also being a GenZ, I have the perfect opportunity to express my views of being a part of this generation. Being digitally more advanced has its advantages. If I tell you how many GenZs we have would you believe me? Well, we have about 2 Billion !! This definitely fuels the hotel industry nowadays. In the near future, hotels will be run by GenZs and mostly advertised for GenZs, fully supporting the exclamation,’GenZs in Hospitality Industry’. Here in Hotel Institute Montreux, the teachers, even though they are not GenZs, has to understand the basic mindset of GenZs, which according to me, has been fully implemented and they have been performing well enough to make us GenZs understand the importance of present and future generations.
After reading some of the articles involving ‘GenZ in the hoteL industry’, it becomes much easier to decipher what I had exclaimed earlier. Most of the hotels in the world has had what I would say a ‘Digital Revolution’ which states that nowadays, every operation in the hotel industry are somewhat carried out digitally. As a student in Hotel Institute Montreux, I have been trained in a more digital way in order to understand the ‘Digital Culture’. We know that most of our guests in our hotels will be GenZs, and to cater them, we have to be digital. The common myths about GenZs that has driven us so far, has directly influenced us to implement digital attributes that will enable the guest to do everything digitally. This of course includes high quality wifi which enables our guests to surf internet nonstop, directly abiding the ‘laws of GenZ’. Also, nowadays hotels have introduced online check-in, where the guests need not engage himself in an interaction with the receptionist and can directly check himself in using one of the many check in kiosks. This clearly states the extent of GenZs in Hospitality Industry.
But myths are myths. If I say that common myths on GenZs have been perfectly coined with respect to Hospitality Industry, indeed it is very useful in order to fuel business and customer satisfaction. But if we keep aside Hospitality Industry for the moment, do you think it's always right? Well I have some other opinions. Of course all what I have analysed about GenZs are totally based on what I think personally and how I act. We have a general idea of how a typical GenZ would be like. ‘Facebook’ing, ‘Instagram’ing, ‘Snapchat’ing and what not! And generally it’s a belief that we do not bother to interact face to face. On the contrary, we GenZs (maybe not all) interact more often and here in Hotel Institute Montreux, we have a perfect mix of different nationalities and here, we are taught not only to study but also to interact. We have interactive sessions and a lot of group projects which are aimed to basically bring students (majority of them being GenZs) together and interact in a fun way. Yes we do have conflicts and that’s not uncommon or avoidable. Being engrossed in social media, as believed by theorists, does not help solve conflicts, which is a totally contradictory statement or belief, as, according to me, GenZs are excellent Mediators and Negotiators. Hotel Institue Montreux even holds courses based on Conflicts and Mediation, and trust me!!, 7 out of 10 GenZs are good in conflict solving. These Common Myths on GenZs have had made a biased view on us.
Since we live in a world based on theories and generations, it is apparent to understand completely how the present generation functions, especially for the older generations, and the world indeed works on the virtues of the future. Future generations (in our case, the GenZs) are the ones that will shape our future as well the power of GenZs in Hospitality Industry will be thoroughly demonstrated. Hotel Institute Montreux completely understands the current situation and does its best to train its students the way the globalized market expects.
These ideas are totally based on what I personally think and few GenZs I personally know. But it might not be the same for all the GenZs. So if you are a GenZ, what are your views about them? Do you think the same as I do? Or do you have a different view? If you would like to share your ideas with me, please do leave a comment below! If you like my blog, do not forget to hit the like button!
Mr. Sagnik Sinha, Hospitality Bachelor student at Hotel Institute Montreux (India)