Date of Award
5-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Primary Advisor
Dennis J. Marquardt
Secondary Advisor
Jeanene Reese
Committee Reader
Jacqueline Morrison
Abstract
Hospitality is a global practice that takes different forms from culture to culture. At first glance, it may seem that these differences are not of importance or do not reflect the cultures they are a part of, but this is a limited view of the scope of hospitality influence. This thesis gives a brief overview of the concept of hospitality. It then discusses the importance of proper use of hospitality practices and the positives and negatives of the use of hospitality in a cross-cultural context. Next, this work reflects on interviews held on the topic of hospitality with American individuals who have resided in the nations of Germany, France, and England. These interviews helped to frame an image of how hospitality differs from the United States in these western European nations and cultures. It then challenges the standard of hospitality the United States has cultivated and offers suggestions for bettering the current practices. This work concludes by asserting the need for anyone entering a hospitality encounter different from their own to be educated and open minded about the practices and customs that may differ from what they are accustomed to.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Finney, Catherine, "Hospitality in Culture: A Study of Differences and Influences of the Hospitality Industry in the U.S. and Western Europe" (2019). Honors College. 54.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/honors/54