Intertwinement of Commercial Hospitality and Social Hospitality

The Case of Migrants and Tourism in Ogasawara/Bonin Islands

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between commercial hospitality and social hospitality from the perspective of how they affect tourists and migrants who arrive in Japan's Ogasawara (sometimes known as Bonin) islands. Ogasawara is one of the most famous tourist areas in Japan. Tourism is an important industry in the Ogasawara Islands, particularly because it played a significant role in reconstructing the local economy in the years after the postwar American occupation. Moreover, the Ogasawara Islands have attracted more tourists after they were selected as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 2011. Tourists are not the only visitors to the islands, however, in that there are a substantial number of migrants that arrive in there each year. This study illustrates that examining only the overlap between commercial and social hospitality is not enough to fully understand hospitality as it exists in tourist areas. Rather, looking at how the forms of hospitality——as practiced by various groups——are intertwined will provide a wider understanding of hospitality and tourism.