Hospitality
Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a guest and a host, and it also refers to the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception of and caring for guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill. While hospitality frequently refers to the hospitality industry and any service that deals with tourists, it is worth noting that the archaic meaning of hospital is a "hospice for travelers or pilgrims" that relates to hospitality as the act of generously providing care and kindness to travelers in need.
Contemporary usage
Contemporary usage seems different from historical uses that lend it personal connotations. Today's hospitality may pertain to staging of parties, hosts entertaining, etiquette, or, the hospitality services industry as it relates to the entertainment business. In contrast hospitality has traditionally been associated with a responsibility toward those appearing as 'strangers'.
Biblical and Middle Eastern
In Middle Eastern Culture, it was considered a cultural norm to take care of the strangers and foreigners living among you. These norms are reflected in many Biblical commands and examples.[1]
Perhaps the most extreme example is provided in Genesis. Lot provides hospitality to a group of angels (who he thinks are only men); when a mob tries to rape them, Lot goes so far as to offer his own daughters as a substitute, saying "Don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." (Genesis 19:8, NIV).
Further reading
Of Hospitality - Jacques Derrida, translated by Rachel Bowlby (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000).
