Hospitality can be defined as the ‘friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests and strangers’.
Offering or accepting a drink is an indication of a social relationship, the acknowledgement of social obligation. Hospitality has its rules.
In Egypt, the host and hostess serve guests a range of beverages, sometimes specially brewed coffee and other times, juices from fresh fruits or sugar cane.
In Mongolia, the tradition is an offering of hot tea to visitor.
In Botswana, tea also has become a social drink that is offered to visitors in most households. Tea is consumed by adults and used to be drunk with fresh milk.
Beverages are also important on a larger diplomatic scale, where toasts of rice wine were the social highlights of President Nixon’s initial visits to the China and vodka toasts are central to diplomatic missions to Russia.
By offering the beverages and hospitality, customer looks for fulfillment of needs relating to self-esteem, status and security.
Historically many societies valued the social setting in which hospitality occurs, particularly the trait to act with generosity as host to visitors. This traditionally involved being charitable to strangers, giving drink was basic part of the social fabric.
Beverages and Hospitality
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