Free Ethics And Morals In Hospitality And Tourism Essay Example

Act Utilitarian and Rule Utilitarian

Utilitarian ethics is based on the idea that if an act is right it will benefit the greatest number of people possible in a positive way. An industry situation where utilitarian ethics would come into play in collective bargaining with a labor union. Employees with more seniority will earn more and be eligible for promotion before newer employees and all employees will receive a raise at the commencement of the new contract. Everyone would benefit from this situation in that all employees are receiving a raise, the senior employees will continue to make more based on their seniority and their expertise will benefit less senior employees as supervisors. This would be considered rule utilitarianism (Negriz, Kozak & Balta 2014).
With act utilitarianism, the idea that the end justifies the means prevails. The difficulty with act utilitarianism is that is difficult or impossible to quantify. Act utilitarianism could also be applied to the labor negotiations as well. Those with the least amount of seniority would have to work the overnight shifts more frequently while those with seniority are scheduled for better and more convenient shifts (Negriz, Kozak & Balta 2014).

Government and Utilitarian Thinking

Most recently in the United States, pharmaceutical companies are allowed to distribute and sell prescription medications that may have terrible side effects for some people in the population The government allows these drugs to be sold and distributed because they are scientifically proven to cure a disease or alleviate the symptoms of a disease. Everyone who takes the medication will receive the drug’s benefits, however a percentage of the population will also experience uncomfortable side effects from the drug. This is a classic example of utilitarianism as employed by the government (Lieberman & Nissen 2008).

Utilitarian, Hedonistic and Egoistic Perspectives in Hospitality

The nature of the tourism industry is for people to enjoy themselves, this is a hedonistic in nature. When people travel they want to enjoy themselves in hedonistic pursuits: beaches; dining; nature a; museums and shopping. In the utilitarian perspective, tourism brings everyone happiness and pleasure. The tourist is spending money and popularizing a destination and the local residents are making money and earning a living from the tourist industry. The individual egoistic perspective is a tourist will seek out what is important to them and pursue a course of action to obtain what they want. Universal egoistic ethics allows for every individual to seek out what is best for them as well (Lieberman & Nissen 2008).
All of these perspectives can cause issues for the tourism and hospitality industry. The industry is built on making all customers happy and satisfied with their experience. Making one customer happy could be detrimental to other customers (allowing a loud dance club to remain open until 3 AM in the lobby of a hotel for example).
Specifically in hospitality, how do providers in the hospitality field balance the hedonistic and egoistic drives of consumers with the local population and resources?
Travelers and visitors to a destination are fulfilling their hedonistic and egoistic pursuits for happiness. It is the duty of the tourism industry in any geographic locale to protect the resources and people of this area. According to utilitarian ethics, in order for the maximum number of people to be happy the industry needs to instill rules and guidelines to balance the two sides of the business model (Negriz, Kozak & Balta 2014).

References

Lieberman, K. & Nissen,B. (2008). Ethics in the hospitality and tourism industry (2nd edition).
Lansing, MI.: American Lodging and Hotel Institute.
Nergiz, H., Kozak, M., & Balta, S. (2014). Ethical approaches and their application in hotel
managers’ decision making. Tourismos, An International Mutlidisciplinary Journal of
Tourism, 6(1), 84-104.