Editorial

Tracy Harkison and Keri-Anne Wikitera

Kia ora, ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa mo te tau hou.

Nau mai haere mai ki tenei hautaka, ko Hospitality Insights.

Greetings, and welcome to this issue of Hospitality Insights at a time when Aotearoa celebrates the Māori New Year. The new year welcomes in the star cluster Matariki, also known as Pleiades, and symbolises the time to reinvigorate and to advance knowledge for the year ahead.

This issue starts with an opinion piece related to Matariki and how Māori knowledge has and is influencing the hospitality industry in New Zealand. This is followed by another industry interview with an executive chef in Auckland on what makes New Zealand hospitality so unique. Other topics include how Kiwi hospitallers have responded to COVID-19, how family influences the career journeys of woman executive chefs in New Zealand, a summary of research on hospitality graduate career pathways from analysing LinkedIn profiles, and finally, the opportunity for using the Kiwi innovation A2 milk as a new way to offer a flat white.

There are no words that can capture the extreme challenges facing the world since the pandemic took hold. Our industry continues to be central to bringing people together, offering care and sustaining communities, be that in physical, economic, social or spiritual ways. This journal, through the dissemination of these research findings beyond academia, seeks to inspire dialogue that will lead to a healthier and more sustainable industry and hospitable workforce in the future.

In the spirit of Matariki, ngā Manaakitanga. Best wishes, The Editors