‘Last hospitality’ as an overlooked dimension in contemporary hospitality theory and practice

Abstract

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on how hospitality should be defined and what constitutes hospitality as a social and commercial phenomenon. The paper takes a conceptual approach, reviewing the literature relevant to hospitality and funeral care provision, and proposing a reclassification of hospitality. The paper reveals that funeral care holds a number of core attributes that have long been associated with (more) conventional hospitality services. The paper articulates these similarities and introduces the notion of 'last hospitality', which is conceptualised as the hospitality services provided by funeral directors to the deceased and their families and friends. The paper argues that 'last hospitality' alongside the related services of funeral directors should be subsumed into traditional notions of hospitality. The paper discusses the implications of this inclusion for hospitality research, theory and practice. Highlights  Revisits the traditional vision of hospitality as a social and commercial phenomenon  Elaborates on the importance of hospitability in funeral care provision  Introduces the notion of 'last hospitality'  Advocates the need to include funeral care into traditional understandings of hospitality  Discusses the implications for hospitality theory, practice and research 3

Harmless flirtations or co-creation? Exploring flirtatious encounters in hospitable experiences

“…Throughout this paper, the author will apply these dictionary definitions in order to contextualise naturalness to the hospitable experience. Hospitableness is the quality or state of being hospitable alongside the willingness to be hospitable for its own sake, without any expectation of recompense or reciprocity (Heal, 1990;Telfer, 1995Telfer, , 1996Derrida, 2000;Hemmington, 2007;Lashley, 2007Lashley, , 2014O'Gorman, 2007;Ariffin, 2013;Lugosi, 2014;Tasci et al, 2016;Lynch, 2017;Pijls et al, 2017;Filimoanu and Brown, 2018). Co-creation is seen by an initiative, or form of strategy, that brings different parties together (in this instancestaff, customers and managers of hospitality servicescapes), in order to jointly produce a hospitable experience (Marques et al, 2015;Chathoth et al, 2016;Dimitrios and Yeyen, 2019;Kim et al, 2019;Lin et al, 2019;Shulgar and Busser, 2020).…”

The empowering role of hospitable telemedicine experience in reducing isolation and anxiety: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

“…This study contributes to the existing literature on hospitality and telemedicine in meaningful and insightful ways. For hospitality literature, this study represents one of the few studies that push the boundary of redefining and reconceptualizing hospitality into other “non-hedonic” and “dark” service sectors including health care, senior living and funeral homes (Filimonau and Brown, 2018; Kelly et al , 2016; Pizam, 2014, 2020; Severt et al , 2008; Suess and Mody, 2017). Historically, hospitality embodies settings where guests voluntarily seek pleasure, relaxation and entertainment while traveling for leisure or business (Severt et al , 2008).…”

“…Hotels, restaurants and bars are the traditional research sectors. The recent scientific discourse in hospitality, however, has expanded beyond its industry boundary to explore the theoretical underpinning of hospitality service (Filimonau and Brown, 2018). Existing literature has reconceptualized hospitality service based on exceptional quality customer services (Filimonau and Brown, 2018), memorable experience (Sipe and Testa, 2018), experiencescape and aesthetic architectural appeal (Pizam and Tasci, 2019; Suess and Mody, 2017) and organizational culture (Pizam, 2020).…”

Developing and publishing interdisciplinary research: Creating dialogue, taking risks

“…In contrast, there are opportunities to develop what can be called 'provocative exportation': taking field-specific concepts or techniques and extending their application to new disciplinary areas and audiences. For example, previous work has applied hospitality concepts and principles in studies of hospital and healthcare practices (Justesen, Gyimóthy and Mikkelsen 2014;Kelly, Losekoot and Wright-StClair 2016), hospital design (Suess and Mody 2017), funerals (Filimonau and Brown 2018;Hay 2020), organisations (Lugosi 2011(Lugosi , 2014, urbanity and governance, including planning scenarios (Broek Chávez and van der Rest 2014; Morton and Johnson 2019) and service sectors (Solnet et al 2019). This work may still be published in hospitality or closely aligned outlets, such as tourism or services management.…”