Hospitality

Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt describes hospitality in the Encyclopédie as the virtue of a great soul that cares for the whole universe through the ties of humanity. Hospitality is also the way people treat others, for example in the service of welcoming and receiving guests in hotels. Hospitality plays a role in augmenting or decreasing the volume of sales of an organization. Hospitality ethics is a discipline that studies this usage of hospitality. "Hospitality" derives from the Latin hospes, meaning "host", "guest", or "stranger". Hospes is formed from hostis, which means "stranger" or "enemy" (the latter being where terms like "hostile" derive). By metonymy, the Latin word hospitalis means a guest-chamber, guest's lodging, an inn. Hospes/hostis is thus the root for the English words host, hospitality, hospice, hostel, and hotel. In ancient cultures, hospitality involved welcoming the stranger and offering him food, shelter, and safety. Xenia (Greek) In Ancient Greece, hospitality was a right, with the host being expected to make sure the needs of his guests were met. Conversely, the guest was expected to abide by a set code of behaviour. The ancient Greek term xenia—or theoxenia when a god was involved—expressed this ritualized guest-friendship relation. This relationship was codified in the Homeric epics, and especially in the Odyssey. In Greek society, a person's ability to abide by the laws of hospitality determined nobility and social standing. The ancient Greeks, since the time of Homer, believed that the goddess of hospitality and hearth was Hestia, one of the original six Olympians. In India and Nepal hospitality is based on the principle Atithi Devo Bhava, meaning "the guest is God". This principle is shown in a number of stories where a guest is revealed to be a god who rewards the provider of hospitality.