Consultancy answers a question. Interim management answers a question and then does the work. Hospitality businesses that already know what is wrong rarely need another diagnostic — they need someone to run the business while the fix is delivered.
Consultancy fits well where the issue is genuinely strategic: a new concept, a market entry, a brand repositioning, an investment case. There is a defined question, and the value is in the answer.
Interim management fits where the operation is the problem. Standards have slipped, the leadership team is short, margins are eroding and the business needs someone on site making decisions this week.
In practice many assignments start as one and become the other. What matters is that the person holding the plan has the authority to execute it.