Professor Conrad Lashley
Professorship of Applied Sciences
Academy of International Hospitality Research (Stenden AIHR)
Stenden Hotel Management School
Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Hospitality
Studies
Introduction
Host
Psychological needs
Physiological needs
Although the hospitality title may have initially been intended as something of a public
relations device (Lashley, 2015); it did encourage the study of hosts and guests, and
hospitableness. Exploring the hosting phenomenon from an array of social science
perspectives is the basis of the hospitality studies agenda. The study of hospitality,
therefore, concerns the relationship between hosts and guest in all domains, domestic
and commercial, as well as their cultural settings. From these perspectives, hospitality
can be seen as a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of human life. Studied through
anthropology, and other social sciences, hospitality and hospitableness present
fascinating topics in their own right, but they also develop critical tools through which
to better inform the study of commercial hospitality and hospitality management (Blain
& Lashley, 2014).
These wider definitions of hospitality demand a breadth of academic enquiry that
allows the analysis of hospitality activities in ‘cultural’, and ‘domestic’, as well as ‘commercial’ domains (Lashley & Morrison, 2000). Put simply each domain represents an
aspect of hospitality activity which is both independent and overlapping. The cultural
domain of hospitality considers the social settings in which hospitality and acts of
hospitableness take place together with the impacts of social forces and belief systems,
on the production and consumption of food/drink/and accommodation. The domestic
domain considers the range of issues associated with the provision of food, drink
and accommodation in the home, as well as considering the impact of host and guest
obligations in this context (Heal, 1990: Visser, 1991: Nouwen,1998; O’Gorman, 2007).
The commercial domain concerns the provision of hospitality as an economic activity
providing food, drink and accommodation for money exchange. Clearly, this commercial
domain has been the key focus of academic study for the hospitality industry, but there
has until recently been limited study of the cultural and domestic domains, and their
impact on the commercial. Fundamentally, the actual experiences of hospitality, in
whatever setting, are likely to be an outcome of the influence of each of these domains.
Figure 1 is an attempt to show these relationships in visual form. This Venn diagram
maps these settings and potential domains of the subject. The following discussion
expands on the diagram and aims to build an agenda through which the boundaries of
hospitality management educational can be extended, and will inform academic enquiry
and the research agenda.
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Extraction of surplus
Services for porfit
Producer limitations
Market limitations
PRIVATE
SOCIAL
Dealing with strangers
Mutuality Status and prestige
COMMERCIAL
Hospitality
Experiences
Figure 1: The domains of hospitality
The Cultural Domain of hospitality activities suggests the need to study the social
context in which particular hospitality activities take place. Current notions about
hospitality are a relatively recent development (Molz & Gibson, 2007; Lashley, Morrison
& Lynch, 2007; Lashley & Morrison, 2000). In pre-industrial societies, hospitality
occupies a much more central position in the value-system (O’Gorman, 2007). Indeed in
contemporary pre-industrial societies today, as in earlier historical periods, hospitality
and the duty to entertain both neighbors and strangers represent a fundamental, moral,
imperative (Melwani, 2009; Meehan, 2009; Cole, 2007). Frequently, the duty to provide
hospitality, act with generosity as a host, and to protect visitors is more than a matter
left to the preferences of individuals. Beliefs about hospitality, and obligations to others,
are located in views and visions about the nature of society, and the natural order of
things. Thus any failure to act appropriately is treated with social condemnation. The
centrality of hospitality activities has been noted in a wide range of studies of Homeric
Greece, early Rome, medieval Provence, the Maori, Indian tribes of Canada, early
modern England and in Mediterranean societies (Heal, 1990). Whilst modern industrial
economies no longer have the same intensive moral obligations to be hospitable, and
much hospitality experience takes place in commercial settings, the study of the
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cultural domain provides a valuable set of insights with which to critically evaluate and
inform commercial provision.
The Domestic Domain helps with the consideration of some of the issues related
to the meaning of hospitality, hosting and ‘hospitableness’. Hospitality involves
supplying food, drink, and accommodation to people who are not members of the
household. Whilst much current research and published material focuses exclusively
on the commercial market exchange between the recipient and supplier of hospitality,
the domestic setting is revealing because the parties concerned are performing roles
that extend beyond the narrow market relationships of a service interaction. The
provision of food, drink and accommodation represents an act of friendship; it creates
symbolic ties between people that establish bonds amongst those involved in sharing
hospitality. In pre-industrial societies, the receipt and kindly treatment of strangers
was highly valued in most societies, though as Heal (1990) shows the motives were
not always solely altruistic. Receiving strangers into the household helped to monitor
the behavior of outsiders. Visser (1991) links the relationship between the host and
the guest through the common linguistic root of the two words. Both originate from a
common Indo-European word that means ‘stranger’ and thereby ‘enemy’ (hospitality
and hostile have a similar root), but the link to this single term, ‘refers not so much
to the individual people, the guest and the host, as to the relationship between them’
(p91). It is a relationship frequently based on mutual obligations and ultimately on
reciprocity. The guest may become the host on another occasion. Importantly, however,
most individuals have their first experiences of both consuming and supplying food,
drink and accommodation in domestic settings. Indeed few employees, or would be
entrepreneurs, enter the commercial sectors of hospitality as workers without having
some experiences of hospitality in domestic settings.
The commercial provision of hospitality takes place in most Western societies in a
context where hospitality does not occupy a central position in the value system.
Clearly our studies of these wider domains of hospitality is, in part, to establish a
robust understanding of the breadth and significance of hospitality related activities
so that we can better understand their commercial application. Without wishing to
deny the benefits that commercial provision of hospitality activities brings in the form
of opportunities for travel, intercourse with others, etc., the commercial provision of
hospitality activities is chiefly driven by the need to extract surplus value (profit) from
the service interaction. This commercial imperative, however, creates a number of
tensions and contradictions that become apparent when we develop a better understanding of the ‘cultural’ and the ‘domestic’ domains of hospitality activities. Fundamentally,
the real world study of hospitality management will be better informed when rooted in
an understanding of hospitality as a deeply embedded human activity.
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Combing the work of Heal (1984), Nouwen (1998), Telfer (2000) and O’Gorman
(2007) it is possible to detect a number of motives for hosts offering hospitality to
guests. Figure 2 provides a graphical representation of this array of motives. These
can be mapped along a continuum showing the more calculative reasons for providing
hospitality through to the most generous. In other words, where hospitality is offered
with the hope of ensuing gain, to situations whereby hospitality is offered merely for
the joy and pleasure of hosting.
Figure 2: A continuum of hospitality
Ulterior
Motives
Containing
Hospitality Hospitality
Commercial
Hospitality
Reciprocal
Hospitality
Redistributive
Hospitality
Altruistic
Hospitality
Telfer (2000) identified the offering of food, drink and accommodation with some
expectation of subsequent gain as Ulterior Motives Hospitality. It is assumed that the
guest is able to benefit the host and hospitality is offered as a means of gaining that
benefit. Here the business lunch or dinner for the boss, or the client, can be examples
of hospitality being offered with the intention of creating a favourable impression,
with the hope that this will ultimately benefit the host. Writing in the early fifteen
hundreds Nicholo Machiavelli says, ‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.’
In this sense Containing Hospitality is motivated by a fear of the stranger, but which
advocates close monitoring by including the stranger in the household. Wagner’s opera
Die Walkure, involves Hunding offering Seigmund hospitality even though Hunding
knows Seigmund to be an enemy. This provides an insight into both the obligation to
offer hospitality to all, irrespective of who they are, but also suggests the motive is to
monitor and contain the enemy (Wagner, 1870).
On one level, ‘Treat the customers as though they were guests in your own home’
is attempting tap into restaurant workers’ hosting experience in domestic settings
(Ashness & Lashley, 1995). Hopefully, the service worker will engage on an emotional
level, as hosts serving their customers, as personal guests. Yet the provision of
Commercial Hospitality involves a financial transaction whereby hospitality is offered
to guests at a price, and would be withdrawn if the payment could not be made. Hence
commercial hospitality can be said to represent a contradiction, and cannot deliver
true hospitableness (Ward & Martins, 2000; Ritzer, 2004; 2007). Telfer (2000) however,
reminds us that this is a somewhat simplistic view because it may be that hospitable
people are drawn to work in bars, hotels and restaurants, and offer hospitableness
beyond and in spite of, the commercial transaction and materialistic instructions
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from owners. Also it may be that hospitable people are drawn to set up hospitality
businesses in guesthouses, pubs and restaurants because it allows them to be both
entrepreneurial and hospitable at the same time.
A number of writers suggest that hospitality involves reciprocity whereby hospitality is
offered on the understanding that it will be reciprocated at some later date (O’Gorman,
2007). Hospitality practiced by elite families in Augustinian Rome was founded on
the principle of reciprocity as an early form of tourism. Affluent Romans developed
networks of relationships with other families with whom they stayed as guests and
then acted as hosts when their former hosts were intending to travel. Cole’s (2007)
work with the Ngadha tribe in Indonesia provides some fascinating insights into
contemporary hospitality and tourism in a remote community today. The tribe practice
reciprocal hospitality through tribe members hosting pig-roasting events for other
tribe members. Thus, Reciprocal Hospitality involves hospitality being offered within
a context whereby hosts become guests and guests become hosts, at different times.
Yet another form of hospitality takes place when Redistributive Hospitality is offered in
settings where food and drink are provided with no immediate expectation of return,
repayment or reciprocity. Those who had more, share with those who had less, and
the status of families and individuals is a reflection what they give, not what they
acquire. The study of the potlatch practiced by North American Indians is an example,
of this redistributive effect. Clearly the inclusion of the poor and needy in hospitality
settings offered in the early middle ages noted by Heal (1990) also had a redistributive
effect. Finally Altruistic Hospitality involves the offer of hospitableness as an act of
generosity and benevolence, and a willingness to give pleasure to others. Telfer, (2000)
describes this as ‘genuine‘ hospitality, whilst Derrida, (2002) calls it ‘radical’ hospitality.
It provides an ideal type, or a pure form, of hospitality, devoid of personal gain for the
host, apart from the emotional satisfaction arising from the practice of hospitableness. I
prefer to label this as Altruistic hospitality because it more clearly expresses the motive
for offering hospitality as being about generosity.
The study of hospitality engages with research and academic enquiry informed by social
science, and encouraging the development of critical thinking. These aid and inform
research, academic thought, and the development of reflective practice within future
sector managers. Hospitality represents a robust field of study in it own right, but it
also encourages critical thinking and a concern for host guest relations that influence
the practice and development of those entering managerial roles in the sector. Flowing
from this is the study of the motives being engaged by those offering hospitality. These
motives can be perceived in a ranking system that ranges hospitality offered for ulterior
motives through to hospitality offered for the joy of giving.
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The commercial domain
One of the key issues relating to hospitality provision in the commercial sector relates
to the authenticity of the hospitality provided. Are commercial hospitality products
and services merely another service? Can commercial hospitality ever be genuinely
hospitable? Are models of cultural and privates hospitality of any value? Slattery
(2002) argues that restaurant, bar and hotel services are essentially economic and
involve a management activity. The study of hospitality from wider social science
perspectives has, therefore, limited utility. In this view the guest-host transaction is
essential a monetary transaction.
Ritzer (2007) supports this view by suggesting that there are powerful drivers in
commercial hospitality organizations that will lead hospitality provision to become
‘inhospitable’. Ritzer’s comments on McDonaldization says that corporate drivers to
increases efficiency, calculability, predictability and control lead ultimately to the
creation of systems that acts as a barrier to the frontline delivery of hospitableness.
These McDonaldizing processes inhibit performances that are hospitable, and at
the same time they generate customer feelings of being undervalued as individuals.
Standardizing and systemizing processes, therefore, are a fundamental aspect of the
approach to managing hospitality services in bars, restaurants and hotels and in effect
remove the ‘hospitality’ from the transaction. In Telfer’s (2000) terms, the commercial
transaction provides an ulterior motive for offering hospitality and therefore prevents
‘genuine’ hospitality. Warde and Martens found that interviewees regarded eating out
in restaurants as less than authentic. In contrast to the somewhat pessimistic views by
Warde and Martens (2000) and Ritzer (2007), Telfer (2000) does suggest that it is not
inevitable that commercial hospitality will invariably be a less than authentic version of
hospitality in the home. She suggests that it is possible that those who have an interest
in, and who value, hospitality will be drawn to work in the commercial hospitality
sector. They may run their own hospitality businesses, or choose to work in roles that
enable them to be hospitable.
Work by Lashley, Morrison and Randle, (2003) on ‘memorable meals’ suggests that the
emotional dimensions of the meal where much more significant than the quality of the
food in creating memorable meals. The research asked respondents to provide a written
account of their most memorable meal. The texts were subjected to semiotic analysis
and a multi-dimensional image of the meal emerged – nature of the occasion of the
meal; fellow diners who made up the company with whom they dined; characteristics
that contributed to the atmosphere; food eaten; overall setting; and the service provided. The occasion was typically some significant event in which the social dynamic of
the meal reinforced the emotional significance of the event. Hospitality settings creates
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Acceptance of the central importance of the guest experience has some major implications for the management of hospitality and tourism service providers (Lashley, Lynch,
& Morrison, 2007). Policies that train, support and empower frontline staff become
essential, and have to be seen as core to the management task. Training frontline staff
in how to build friendly relations with the stranger/guest is not just a nice idea, or an
expensive luxury to be jettisoned when times get tough. Similarly, the management of
staff retention is core to being able to build the relationship. It is impossible to train
frontline staff appropriately if there is a constant churn of new employees through the
organization. Similarly, it is also difficult to build these relationships if customers rarely
see the same service face twice.
AND
POLICTICS
OF SPACE
HOST - GUEST
TRANSACTION
CULTURAL
PERFORMANCE
DOMESTIC
DISCOURSE
LAWS
The problem is that many hospitality and tourism operators give priority to tangible
aspect of the customer offer. The quality of the food, facilities and comfort of the room,
the range and quality of the drinks on offer, etc., but fail to see that it is the quality of
the employee performance which creates guest emotional experience that impacts upon
long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. Herzberg’s (1966) concept of motivation
theory provides a useful metaphor, the physical aspects of the resort; the décor; physical facilities, the meals and drinks supplied; are potentially ‘dissatisfiers.’ If standards
do not meet expectations, customers will be dissatisfied. However, exceeding their
expectations in these tangible aspects will not produce satisfaction (Balmer & Baum,
1993). Customer satisfaction will be created by the quality of the emotions generated
from their experiences – staff performance – the qualities of hospitableness – fellow
diners - and the performance of line management; are the key source to producing
customer satisfaction, through their emotional experiences as guests. Long-term
customer loyalty, and repeat custom to the venue are dependent on the emotions
generated by these elements. Highly satisfied hospitality and tourism visitors are more
likely to return, or to recommend the establishment to family and friends.
that rely heavily the emotional dimensions of these experiences. Figure 3 is an attempt
to show how these various factors interact to create guest experiences
SOCIAL
and added significance. The occasion of the meal, or holiday, is often a celebration of
bonding and togetherness with family and friends. The company of others comes across
strongly in these accounts, and although one report involved the company of just one
other person, most involved groups of people, and none involved an individual diner
alone. The atmosphere created by the setting, other people and their treatment by hosts
provide emotional dimensions to meal occasions that are vital to creating memorable
occasions. Interestingly, few of the respondents mentioned the food consumed or
quality of dishes as part of their descriptions. The dominant impression is that these
emotional dimensions of hospitality are what make these meal occasions special, and it
will be these emotional dimensions of their visit that will make for memorable hospitality and tourism events. Interestingly, when asked to recount their most memorable
meal experiences about half the respondents quoted occasions that were in domestic
settings, whilst the other half occasions were in commercial restaurants, pubs or bars.
COMMERCE
This paper suggests that the study of hospitality from wider social science perspectives
enable an understanding of guest and host transactions that can inform much management practice and prerogatives. Traditional understandings of hospitality require hosts
to be primarily concerned with ensuring guests well-being, and the emotional needs of
their guests. Using some of these traditional models of hospitality offers the opportunity to convert strangers into friends. In a commercial context, this could be translated
to converting customers into friends (Lashley & Morrison, 2000), thereby providing the
basis for competitive advantage and building a loyal customer base. At root, operators
can be trained to recognize and engage with the provision of hospitality experiences
8
TYPES
OF SITES
DIMENSIONS
Figure 3: A contextual understanding of commercial hospitality
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The returning guest is unlikely to feel like a friend if there is no continuity amongst
the people who meet, greet and serve them. There is now a well-proven link between
employment practices, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Acceptance
of the emotional importance and the need to establish friendly relations with guests
intensifies the need for stable employment relationships and recognize the asset value
of service personnel.
In conclusion, this presentation has attempted to identify the themes and issues that
the study of hospitality will embrace. Clearly, the focus of programs and of much
research and consultancy activity will continue to be the commercial provision of
accommodation, food and drink. However the study of hospitality allows for investigations that explore the cultural and social as well as the domestic and private settings
in which hospitality is also practiced. These avenues are interesting scholarly fields in
their-own right, but they also provide valuable insights that have application to the
commercial scene.
Lashley, C. and Morrison, A. (Eds.) (2000) In Search of Hospitality: Theoretical perspectives and debates, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann
Lashley, C., Morrison, A., & Randall, S., (2003) ‘My most memorable meal ever: some
observations on the emotions of hospitality’ in Sloan, D. ed. Culinary Taste, ButterworthHeinemann: Oxford
Lashley, C., Lynch, P. and Morrison, A. (Eds.) (2007) Hospitality: A Social Lens,
Amsterdam, Elsevier.
Meehan, S., (2013) Hospitality in Islam: the joy of honoring guests, Understanding the
Ethics of Islam
Melwani, L. (2003) Hindu Hospitality (The glories and woes of a gratious tradition).
Hinduism Today. Hawaii, Himalayan Academy.
Molz, J. G. and Gibson, S. (Eds.) (2007) Mobilizing Hospitality: The Ethics of Social
Relations in a Mobile World, Aldershot, Ashgate.
Nouwen, H. (1998) Reaching Out: A Special Edition of the Spiritual Classic including
Beyond the Mirror, London, Fount (an Imprint of Harper Collins).
References
Ashness, D., & Lashley, C., (1995) ‘Empowering Service Workers at Harvester
Restaurants’, Personnel Review Vol. 24, No 8, pages 501-519
Balmer, S., and Baum, T., (1993) Applying Herzberg’s Hygiene Factors to the Changing
Accommodation Environment, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, Vol. 5, No. 2
O’Gorman, K. D. (2007a) The hospitality phenomenon: philosophical enlightenment?
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1, 189 – 202
Ritzer, G. (2004) The McDonaldization of Society: Revised New Century Edition, London,
Sage.
Ritzer, G. (2007) Inhospitable Hospitality? in Lashley, C., Morrison, A. & Lynch, P. (Eds.)
Hospitality: A Social Lens. Amsterdam, Elsevier.
Blain, M., & Lashley, C., (2014) Hospitableness: the new service metaphor? Developing
an instrument for measuring hosting, Research in Hospitality Management, Volume 4,
No. 1/2, 1-8
Slattery, P., (2002) Finding the hospitality industry, in Journal of Hospitality, Leisure,
Sports and Tourism Education, Vol1, No 1, 3-6
Cole, S., (2007) Hospitality and Tourism in Ngadha: an ethnographic exploration, in
Lashley, C., Lynch, P., and Morrison, Hospitality: a social lens, Oxford: Elsevier
Telfer, E. (2000) The philosophy of hospitableness. in Lashley, C. and Morrison,
A. (Eds.) In Search of Hospitality: Theoretical perpectives and debates. Oxford,
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Derrida, J. (2002) Acts of Religion, London, Routledge.
Heal, F. (1990) The Idea of Hospitality in Early Modern England. Past and Present,
66-93.
Herzberg, F. (1966) Work And The Nature of Man, World Publishing Co: New York
Lashley, C., (2015) Hospitality and Hospitableness, Research in Hospitality Management,
Volume 5, No. 1, (paper accepted)
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Visser, M. (1991) The Rituals of Dinner: The Origin, Evolution, Eccentricities and Meaning
of Table Manners. HarperCollins, 1991
Wagner, R. (1870) Die Walkurie, Libretto
Warde, A. and Martens, L. (2000) Eating out: Social Differentiation, Consumption, and
Pleasure, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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Conrad Lashley has been appointed as professor at several British
universities since 1999. He is the author or editor of sixteen books,
as well authoring over one hundred papers in refereed research
journals and sets of conference proceedings. He is the former
editor of Hospitality Review and is currently co-editor of Research
in Hospitality Management, and Editor Emeritus of Hospitality &
Society. He has worked extensively with industry and generated
commercial income from commercial research and consultancy,
as well as from the development and delivery of in-company
management programs. His research interests are principally
concerned with understanding the meanings of hospitableness as
a social phenomenon that has significance for commercial provision
as a potential source of competitive advantage.
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