Informal & Relaxed: Exercising the Role of Host in the Hospitality Industry in Denmark

Historically, the formality of European “grand” hotels represents social rituals originating in courtesies that reflect the behavior in the royal courts of Europe. Also today, many luxury hotels practice formality. If we were to replace “formal” with “informal” in King’s hospitality model, the social rituals, which guests would experience, are likely to be different from the formal social rituals of “grand hotels”. The aim of this paper is to examine a hosting practice that reflects “informality”, that is, a hosting practice that is the opposite of grand hotel formality. The data gathering method is semi-structured interviews. Data were gathered among upper- midscale and upscale hotels and restaurants in Denmark as Denmark, with a very low powerdistance, represents a relatively informal work culture. The findings show that the hosting practice in Denmark is informal and relaxed, in line with the informal culture in Denmark.