Southern Hospitality

peter Lowenstein

People around the world welcome others in their own way, unique to different cultures. Traditions and customs might be different, but welcoming other’s is a display of good hospitality. Hospitality is evident in airports, stores, hotels, and restaurants all around the United States. Businesses, especially those in the tourism industry, have made it an integral aspect of their operations. While businesses are teaching hospitality, it is imbedded into Southern people and culture. Southern Hospitality is a staple of the region, giving the South a reputation of being the most welcoming places in the country. In the South hospitality is more than just a greeting and a bed to stay in, it’s showing, and welcoming, guests into every aspect of the culture. It creates a positive environment for tourists, businessmen, travelers and anyone else who steps foot below the Mason-Dixon line. From the area, or not, people often associate hospitality with the South, creating a prosperous tourism opportunities for large cities. With the tourism opportunities comes ethical controversy, which further unveils  a history of questionable motives behind southern hospitality. Southern hospitality engulfs the South with a reputation of being welcoming, but it derives from racism, has perpetuated inequality, and is now seen by some as just a myth used to attract tourism.