Assignment        2
    
“Commercial Hospitality is just extension of hospitality in the home”
We live in a world where tourism is a great part of our lives. In order to break away from mundane nature and monotony of everyday life, we often like taking a break in order to get the much needed feeling of escapism. However, many a times, our zeal to travel profusely and explore more take us to distant parts of the world. It is not uncommon for a man from Australia to roam around the exotic tropical city of Kenya or a brushing against the harsh winds of Siberia. It ultimately boils down to taste and preference of the travellers. However, whenever we plan a trip, one of the most fundamental things we care about is our accommodation. Travelling is fun, exuberant and thrilling at times, but getting a good place to stay is indeed one of our top most priorities and hence accommodation is one of those factors that can singlehandedly make or break our vacation.
There is an ongoing discussion that commercial activity is just an extension of hospitality in the home, however using the word ‘just’ would undermine the significance of commercialization of hospitalisation. Hospitality is a big business and it has been in vogue since ages. It is being reported that the inception of commercial hospitality dates back to at least 2000AD. O’Gorman (2009) stated that dorms were discovered in Mesopotamia that closely resembles what we call today hotels or inns. Mesopotamia was a big multi-cultural and trading hub in its heyday; hence it is rational enough to make the conjecture that it must have been a city commonly frequented by tourists, traders and many different artisans.
It is often ambiguous to define hospitality as a pure social or commercial activity at times, the lines do get blurry and at times, there is often clear cut distinction between the two. It depends on the type of establishment and the types of services offered to customers with or without cost.
Brotherton (1999) argued 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”. On the other hand, Lashley (2000) views hospitality as a broad concept that encompasses private, commercial as well as social realm. According to his viewpoint, hospitality albeit carrying a commercial connotation, is extremely social as it gives chance for people to interact in their most private and intimate setting.
Hence, many of the authors asserted that the fundamental elements found in hospitality are accommodation along with provision of...