Your hotel has a spectacular ocean view, a luxury mattress, and a breakfast buffet worthy of royalty. Then you taste the coffee—and suddenly the five-star experience feels like a two-star mistake. From overpriced airport cappuccinos to Ethiopia’s ancient coffee traditions, coffee shapes how travelers experience the world. It generates billions, influences jet lag, and supports entire communities. So why does the global tourism industry still get something so simple so spectacularly wrong?
If playback is interrupted, you can restart it.
Coffee is a global economic force, a cultural ambassador, and a daily necessity for millions of travelers. Yet hotels, airports, and tourism destinations frequently underestimate its value—and sometimes the people who grow it benefit least.
Coffee is one of the most frequently encountered products in global travel, connecting airport concessions, hotel breakfasts, independent cafés, coffee-growing destinations, and millions of workers. Yet despite its commercial and cultural importance, coffee quality remains an inconsistent part of the hospitality experience.
For travelers, the difference between an excellent espresso and a disappointing hotel breakfast brew can influence the impression of an entire stay. For tourism businesses, coffee creates revenue, shapes brand loyalty, and offers opportunities to support local communities. But who benefits most from this global addiction to caffeine—and why does an industry capable of designing extraordinary luxury experiences still struggle to serve a decent cup of coffee?
Coffee: A Global Industry Hidden in Plain Sight
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that world coffee production exceeded 11 million tonnes in 2024, with international trade valued at more than $34 billion.
These figures describe the agricultural and trading economy, not the total value of coffee sold in hotels, airports, cafés, restaurants, and retail outlets. The broader economic footprint is considerably larger, although there is no single universally accepted figure for coffee’s contribution to tourism.
Coffee generates both direct and indirect economic benefits. Farmers, exporters, roasters, baristas, equipment suppliers, logistics companies, and hospitality operators all participate in the value chain.
An airport cappuccino may sell for several dollars, but the farmer who grew its beans receives only a fraction of the final retail price.
This is where tourism’s coffee story becomes more complicated. The industry celebrates authentic coffee experiences, yet much of the higher-value processing, branding, and retail profit may occur far from coffee-producing communities.
For destinations such as Colombia, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, and Vietnam, coffee tourism offers an opportunity to retain more visitor spending locally through farm visits, tastings, accommodation, guided experiences, and direct sales.
The question is whether tourism creates meaningful additional income for farmers or merely another attractive photograph for visitors.
Airport Coffee: A Luxury, a Necessity, or a Captive Market?
World Tourism Network (WTN)
WTN is the Voice for Small and Medium Size Businesses (SMEs) for the Global Travel and Tourism Industry in more than 130 countries.
At 5 a.m., an airport coffee shop may be the most important business in the terminal.
Travelers are tired, anxious about connections, and frequently operating in a different time zone. A familiar coffee brand provides reassurance.
Starbucks has built an international identity around predictable drinks, recognizable menus, and convenience. Einstein Bros. Bagels combines coffee with breakfast products, making the coffee-and-bagel combination attractive to passengers seeking something quick before departure.
Independent airport cafés can provide a more distinctive experience, particularly when they showcase local coffee roasters or regional traditions.
But airports also create a commercial problem: passengers have limited choices once they pass security.
High concession rents, labor expenses, extended operating hours, and logistical requirements contribute to airport food-and-beverage prices. However, travelers are entitled to question whether those costs justify mediocre coffee at premium prices.
A passenger who pays $7 for a cappuccino should not receive something resembling warm milk that once attended a coffee seminar.
Airport operators should recognize that coffee influences the perception of airport quality, not just concession revenue.
Hotels: The Five-Star Breakfast With Two-Star Coffee
The modern hotel industry has mastered the art of presenting breakfast as an experience.
Guests encounter artisanal breads, imported cheeses, fresh fruit displays, elaborate egg stations, and sometimes champagne.
Then they approach the coffee machine.
One button promises espresso. Another promises cappuccino. A third produces something described as café latte, although its connection to Italian coffee culture may be purely theoretical.
Not all automated machines produce poor coffee. Many deliver excellent results when properly maintained and supplied with quality beans.
The problem is that coffee is often treated as a low-priority operational cost rather than an important part of guest satisfaction.
Hotels should understand that travelers have different preferences.
American visitors may expect freshly brewed filter coffee with refills. Italian guests may prefer a short, strong espresso. Germans often appreciate filter coffee as well as cappuccino and other espresso drinks. Scandinavian travelers may prioritize high-quality light-roasted brewed coffee.
These are cultural tendencies, not universal rules.
A well-designed international breakfast should offer meaningful choices, not assume that one automatic machine satisfies every nationality.
The irony is difficult to ignore: some hotels will spend thousands of dollars upgrading bathroom amenities while continuing to serve coffee that tastes like a complaint waiting to happen.
From Ethiopia to Vienna: Coffee Was Global Before Tourism Became Global
Coffee’s history is itself a story of international movement.
Its origins are closely associated with Ethiopia, while Yemen played a central role in developing coffee drinking and its early international trade. Coffee spread through the Ottoman world before becoming established in European cities.
Coffeehouses eventually became places where merchants conducted business, intellectuals debated politics, and travelers exchanged information.
In many ways, coffeehouses were early international networking centers—without membership fees, conference badges, or complicated registration platforms.
Vienna developed one of Europe’s most distinctive coffeehouse traditions. Austrian authorities included Viennese coffeehouse culture in the national inventory of intangible cultural heritage in 2011.
Österreichische UNESCO-Kommission
Coffee became part of a destination’s identity, not simply something consumed between sightseeing activities.
That cultural role remains important today.
