Conceptualising the “Hospitable Service Mindset” for the future hospitality workforce

Abstract

The ability to provide hospitable service is a differentiator for commercial hospitality firms. As a result, hospitality educators have a crucial role in developing hospitableness in the future hospitality workforce. Nonetheless, limited research investigates the stakeholder groups' perspectives of hospitableness and the competencies required for providing hospitable service. Through semi-structured interviews with hospitality educators, this paper explores the concept of “Hospitable Service Mindset” (HSM), a type of service mindset that imbues service provision with hospitableness in commercial hospitality. The findings illustrate that HSM is comprised of an understanding of what it means to be hospitable, which enables a set of competencies required for the delivery of hospitable service. Theoretically, the study contributes with the original conceptualisation of HSM as a medium enabling the translation of hospitableness into service provision. Practical implications related to the translation of hospitableness into organisational practices and the ‘pedagogy of hospitableness’ are also offered.