How may I serve you? A slice of tourism and hospitality reception practice

This paper explores the experience and meanings of hotel receptionist work in the tourism industry. It begins with the definitions of hospitality and hospitality reception and the skills required for this kind of work which the industry has developed. Following this, is a narrative description and phenomenological exploration of a significant incident in hotel reception work seeking to uncover what hospitality work is actually like as a lived experience and what kind of meanings hospitality workers associate with it. The themes that emerge are then briefly discussed in relation to theories of emotional labour and cultural difference.