Commercial hospitality is just extension of hospitality in the home. Do you agree?

Hospitality is a difficult concept to define; numerous authors suggest it is both a social and commercial activity (Lugosi 2008). Nevertheless it’s important to highlight a dominant theme in accepted definitions of hospitality. Brotherton (1999) defined hospitality as “a contemporaneous human exchange, which is voluntarily entered into, and designed to enhance the mutual well-being of the parties concerned through the provision of accommodation, and/or food and drink”. Lashley (2000) sees hospitality as an overlap of three spatial domains including private, social and commercial. Thus hospitality is a broad conception in which social, domestic or private …show more content…

It is for this reason; the money involved in the host guest relationship that commercial hospitality is seen in its own domain.

Hospitableness is a sincere and emotional form of engagement and focuses on the role and motivation of the host (Lugosi 2008; Lashley 2000). Historically commercial hospitality was seen as a mundane form of hospitality, whereby food and drink was provided with minimal or no interaction between staff and customers, and so it was suggested commercial provision may not involve actual hospitableness (Lugosi 2009). However Thio (2008) suggests that if a commercial operation was able to incorporate the social and domestic domain into their operating activities and act with hospitability, then this will contribute to the success of a commercial business. For example the Sebel Hotel in Surry Hills Sydney provides a birthday cake and surprise for guests on their special day. The staff personally deliver the cake and surprise and sing happy birthday with the guest and their family. They may also be given a complimentary room upgrade and bottle of champagne. The incorporation of the cake reflecting the domestic domain and the birthday celebration reflecting the social domain has allowed for an emotional and sincere engagement with the guest, thus the act of hospitability has been created. The Sebel hotel has found that guests are most appreciative of this gesture and are highly likely