ABSTRACT
The subject of this chapter is the nature of the conceptual relationships that are shared by events and hospitality. This type of analysis does not appear to have been attempted before and yet those who plan and attend events frequently have cause to both provide for, and consume, hospitality. Equally, some events, for example weddings, are defined principally by the provision of hospitality. Beginning with a brief consideration of how the sphere of events has been defined, the chapter explores the role of temporality, spatiality and scale in both events and hospitality, drawing on the substantial theoretical developments in the latter to highlight points of contact between the two subject areas. These touch points are then examined for their synergistic potential and, while such potential is found at the conceptual level, it is suggested that at the level of practice within the events field, hospitality and hospitableness are construed in solely mechanistic ways that emphasize the procurement and coordination of resources. In concluding, it is suggested that an understanding of wider intellectual currents in the social scientific analysis of management is useful to both an abstract and concrete appreciation of the relationships that exist between events and hospitality.
