2.1. What is Hospitality?

‘’Hospitality means extending a welcome to travellers or offering a home away from home, and the word is derived from the Latin word “hospes” meaning visitor or stranger. Hospitality indicates the attitude of a host towards the guest; communicating, servicing and accepting guests by the host’’. It is important to mention that hospitality in different cultures has different categories. Hospitality may imply, in some cultures, welcoming, greeting and a smile to any guest or unknown to others, while in other cultures a guest is treated as a family member and is introduced into the intimacy of home’’.

2.2. Steps to follow for hospitality

Hospitality is imperative in the tourism industry and especially in Agritourism. Below are some guidelines for improving hospitality in Agritourism.

• Proper use and interpretation of cultural resources and traditions in order to secure an authentic experience need to be at the core of the hospitality strategy. Awareness through training is the most effective tool in order to achieve this objective
• A prerequisite for successful hospitality management in agrotourism is to understand clients’ needs and invest on the human factor in order to cater properly their needs and offer quality service.  It is also necessary to ensure a continuous feedback form your clientele 
• Make familiar local people with best practices from other areas and countries proved to be very useful
• Use of local products and correct interpretation of cultural heritage and tradition 
• Create opportunities for synergies among rural businesses and local authorities
• Include senior citizens and young generation in the experiences provided and other services
• Lack of personnel is usually a restrictive factor in improving hospitality standards. Incentive schemes need to be set to attract young people in rural areas.
• Employee training, empowerment and commitment is a crucial factor in securing authentic hospitality.   
• The human factor is also crucial. Clients evaluate the interaction with local people and their involvement in local activities. For the design and offer of such activities synergies need to be built with the local authority and other stakeholders.
• Developing a code of conduct for employees in agritourism businesses with specific guidelines is an important tool to promote hospitality standards.
• Technology can also play a constructive role in proper access to digital tools for hospitality management (after stay communication with customers, reviews etc).