Discovering commercial hospitality in ancient Rome

Commercial hospitality in Ancient Rome, argues Kevin O'Gorman, was complex and sophisticated. He is concerned that over-reliance on the surviving texts can lead to confusion: it is important to examine physical historical sites, like Pompeii, to get a sense of how these establishments worked, and to investigate them within a context of what we know about hospitality throughout history

Getting on with the job : a response to Jones and Lockwood

Peter Jones and Andrew Lockwood identified some of the reasons that hospitality management research and education is in a potential spiral of decline. Undeniably one of the main reasons is that the existence of the independent Hotel School model, within a university business school, is being questioned. Marketing, human resource management, finance, operations can all be taught by subject specialists, ideally underpinned by leading research. Hotel Schools per se are not a thing of the past, far from it, world-class centres exist, they are just not the subject of this reflection

Introduction to The origins of hospitality and tourism

The key focus of the book is on exploring the textural evidence from and about Classical Antiquity in order to identify aspects of the origins of hospitality and tourism. In nearly all cases the prime purpose of the texts was not to do with recording the history of hospitality. The content of this book focuses on the analysis of the incidences of hospitality that were identified. Consequently this is not a history book, although references are made and detail provided to help the reader to locate the incidences within the historic framework

Editorial: Hospitality in Universities... ماهنامه صنعت گردشگری

In the case of a university a good host is the one who believes that their guest is carrying a promise that they want to reveal to anyone who shows genuine interest. Through mutual support we encourage each other to reflect on life and develop a vision for our own journey through it. As this year begins let us hope for the peace that will allow us to continue to show true hospitality to each other

Origins of the commercial hospitality industry : from the fanciful to factual

Explores some of the different historical roots of commercial hospitality in three distinct epochs with the intention of promoting further empirical research and beginning an informed debate into the origins and evolution of the contemporary hospitality industry. Reports on empirical research based on texts, artefacts and archaeological evidence. Wherever possible all the primary sources were consulted in the original languages; all translations are the author's own unless otherwise stated. Contrary to established and often fanciful rhetoric, commercial hospitality has at least 4000 years of history in the area of investigation. The rich and incredibly diverse heritage of the hospitality industry is illustrated and the conclusions emphasise that hospitality research should focus on deepening understanding of the industry through empirical research; learning from the past helps to inform the future. The particular focus of this article is restricted to reporting to empirical studies of three epochs: Mesopotamia (c. 2000 BC); Pompeii (79 AD), and Middle Eastern Trade Routes (c. 700 AD onwards). These distinct time periods illustrate the different roots and highlight the need for further research into the evolution of the commercial hospitality industry. The origins of commercial hospitality is an under-researched area in hospitality management and this paper highlights the rich data that is available through disciplined empirical study

Modern hospitality: lessons from the past

This article presents a summary of findings from a continuing investigation into the historical origins of hospitality in the ancient and classical worlds, focusing mainly on the Greek and Roman civilisations. After considering the etymology of hospitality, the article goes on to explore hospitality and mythology, hospitality and the household, public hospitality, commercial hospitality and hospitality in contemporaneous religious writings. The evaluation of the outcomes leads to the identification of five dimensions of hospitality (honourable tradition, fundamental to human existence, stratified, diversified and central to human endeavour) that have been evolving from the beginning of human history

Review of 'Philosophical Issues in Tourism: Aspects of Tourism' By J. Tribe (Ed) Channel View Publications, Bristol (2009)

The eleventh century philosopher and Archbishop of Canterbury St Anselm wrote, 'I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand' (Anselm Proslogion 154-5). Anselm was asserting that, from a philosophical stance, nothing is achieved or ascertained by merely speculating from the sidelines; a certain level of committed thought and involvement is necessary. The editor and authors of this book have written an enlightening, refreshing text which exhibits that commitment to which St Anselm refers. The text does not speculate from the sidelines, but rather the authors, no doubt due to the clear direction of the editor, aim to immerse themselves in the considerable gap in understanding some of the philosophical issues that underpin contemporary comprehension of tourism

Monastic hospitality: the enduring legacy

This paper summarises the origins of western monastic hospitality, illustrates how it influences modern civic, commercial and domestic practices and reports on an empirical investigation into contemporary monastic hospitality. Research into the phenomenon of hospitality continues to broaden through an ever-increasing dialogue and alignment with a greater number of academic disciplines. This paper reports on an investigation into the hospitality offered by Benedictine monasteries and demonstrates how an enhanced understanding of hospitality can be achieved through synergy between social anthropology, philosophy and practical theology. All monastic hospitality takes its direction from St Benedict's Rule (530 AD); this foundational document became the basis of all western European religious hospitality. During the Middle Ages the western monasteries (as well as being the custodians of civilisation, knowledge and learning) had provided detailed and formalised rules for religious hospitality, the care of the sick and the poor, and responsibilities for refugees. The Protestant Reformation (c 1540) was to have a transforming affect on religious hospitality. Hospitable activities became separated from their Christian ties as the state increasingly took over more responsibility for them, although they adopted the principles of hospitality that had already been established within the monastic tradition and are still evident in civic, commercial and domestic hospitality. The empirical information on contemporary monastic hospitality presented in this paper was gathered by living in the monastic cloister with the monks themselves, sharing their day, their life, and their work. During the research it became clear that within the environment of the monastic community hospitality provision is extremely complex; there was a hierarchy of guests within the monastery and differing levels of hospitality provision. The research highlighted the use and division of space for the monks and their guests, types of accommodation, inclusion and exclusion, hospitality rules and rituals and the dichotomy between the social and commercial manifestation of hospitality within the monastery. The paper concludes by observing that the prima-facie purpose of a monastery is not to offer hospitality, it is to house the monks in a community environment so that they can dedicate their lives and live their vocation to the service of God. The Rule is clearly of the utmost importance to the running of the monasteries, however an element of change has been necessary to ensure the continuing survival of the monastery and its hospitality provision. Within the monastic community hospitality and the ritual reception of guests and the provision of hospitality play an important role by being both the bridge and the barrier between the monastic and secular worlds

Jacques Derrida's philosophy of hospitality

In the latest of our occasional series on theorists of hospitality, Kevin O'Gorman explores how the controversial philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) contributes to our understanding of hospitality. Derrida's meditation on the contradictions within the language of hospitality are identified, along with his attempts to illuminate a variety of contemporary hospitality scenarios

Modern hospitality : medieval foundations

This paper reports on continuing doctoral research and specifically focuses on the development and regulation of hospitality in the Western European monasteries, from the beginning of the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance. It builds on previous research, into the Greco-Roman worlds, which had identified five key dimensions of hospitality. The establishment and development of the western monastic hospitality tradition is explored together with the changing significance of the monasteries in Western European development, and the adsorption of the principles of monastic hospitality into the secular world. Through the translation, modernisation and secularisation of monastic hospitality this paper demonstrates its relevance for the hospitality and tourism industries of today. A set of principals of hospitality provision and management have been derived which are instantly recognisable to modern hospitality managers, despite their mediaeval origins