A post from the Director: Xenia in 2019

Taken from Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt’s LinkedIn blog.

In the old times in Greece, Xenia or hospitality was held in such high esteem that not only Hestia, goddess of the hearth, but Zeus himself was responsible to take care of it. As some of you may recall, it was in Eumeneia in Phyrgia (in today’s Turkey), that Zeus and Hermes, travelling in disguise, were turned away by all its wealthy inhabitants when they asked for food and shelter. Only Philemon and Baucia, an old couple and the poorest people living in the city, shared their last provisions with them. Eumeneia and its xenophobic inhabitants were punished by being drowned in a deluge, while Philemon and Baucia were granted to live on for hundreds of years on top of the hill overlooking the ruined city in the form of an oak tree and a linden, their branches forever intertwined.

Midas, king of Phyrgia and son of Gordias, creator of the Gordian knot, on the other hand started well when he entertained a strange traveller at his court. He turned out to be Silenius, a close friend of Dionysus and able to almost completely deplete the considerable stocks of wine and food within ten days, without Midas voicing any complaint. When Dionysus granted a wish to Midas to reward him for his treatment of Silenius in the spirit of Xenia, however, Midas foolishly asked that everything he touched should be turned immediately into solid gold – with known result.

2019 unfortunately shows many signs of developing into a year which will be ruled rather by xenophobia and greed than by hospitality and sustainability. Let all of us in the hospitality and tourism industry, bearing in its very name the ideas of Xenia and of circular movement, strive to do our share to move the world into the right direction, in Phyrgia and elsewhere.

Best wishes to all friends and colleagues for 2019!

Image source: L’HOTEL PORTOBAY SÃO PAULO . Buffet by PortoBay Hotels & Resorts Source: Flickr Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)