🇮🇳 India
"Atithi Devo Bhava", the guest is god, is a saying from the Taittiriya Upanishad that still shapes the Indian welcome. A guest is offered water, tea and food at once, and is rarely allowed to leave hungry.
Read: Atithi Devo BhavaHospitality and welcome: compared across 20 places
The same idea in 20 places, grouped by region. Each entry is a short portrait; follow the link for the full tradition.
South Asia 2Southeast Asia 1East Asia 1Central Asia and the Caucasus 2Middle East 3North Africa 1Sub-Saharan Africa 2Europe 3North America 2Latin America and the Caribbean 1Oceania 2
South Asia
🇳🇵 Nepal
Guests are garlanded, given a tika on the forehead and offered tea, rice and dal. The host serves the meal and encourages second helpings.
Tika, being writtenSoutheast Asia
🇹🇭 Thailand
A guest in a Thai home is greeted with a wai, offered cold water first and then fruit or a snack. Generosity of the heart, nam jai, is the quality that a good host is meant to show.
Culture of Thailand, being writtenEast Asia
🇯🇵 Japan
Omotenashi is the wholehearted, anticipatory care of a guest, from the tea ceremony to the ryokan, where every detail is prepared before it is asked for. Shoes are left at the door and slippers are offered.
Omotenashi, being writtenCentral Asia and the Caucasus
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
A guest is seated opposite the door in the place of honour and is given tea and a dish of boiled meat, beshbarmak, with the head of the sheep offered to the most honoured. Guests who arrive unexpectedly are welcome.
Read: Beshbarmak🇬🇪 Georgia
The supra is a feast led by a tamada, or toastmaster, who proposes a series of toasts, with wine, khachapuri and kebabs. A guest is seen as a gift from God.
Supra, being writtenMiddle East
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
Arabic coffee, qahwa, with cardamom is poured by the host in tiny cups, starting with the eldest guest, and refilled until the guest shakes the cup. Dates are offered with it.
Read: Arabic coffee🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
Majlis, a sitting room where guests are received, is central to Emirati hospitality, with coffee, dates and incense. The host stays and serves, and the whole family joins on feast days.
Read: Majlis🇮🇷 Iran
The art of ta'arof, an elaborate politeness, has hosts insisting repeatedly and guests refusing politely before accepting. Tea, sweets and fruit are offered on arrival.
Read: TaarofNorth Africa
🇲🇦 Morocco
Mint tea poured from a height by the host, in three glasses, is the sign of welcome, followed by couscous and tagine. Refusing the tea can seem unfriendly.
Maghrebi mint tea, being writtenSub-Saharan Africa
🇪🇹 Ethiopia
The coffee ceremony takes about an hour, with beans roasted, ground and brewed in a jebena in front of the guests, and three rounds are served with popcorn or bread. It is a mark of friendship.
Read: Habesha coffee ceremony🇿🇦 South Africa
Ubuntu, the idea that a person is a person through other people, shapes the welcome. Neighbours share food and a braai, and a guest is offered a seat and a meal before any questions.
Ubuntu philosophy, being writtenEurope
🇬🇷 Greece
Xenia, the ancient duty to the stranger, lives on in the offering of spoon sweets, a glass of water and a coffee on arrival. A guest who refuses food can offend.
Read: Xenia🇷🇺 Russia
Bread and salt, khleb-sol, welcomes honoured guests on an embroidered towel, and a table is laden with zakuski, small dishes, and toasts. Guests are given slippers at the door.
Read: Bread and salt🇮🇪 Ireland
Visitors are immediately offered a cup of tea and something to eat, and an Irish host will say "you'll have a cup of tea" as an instruction. The phrase cead mile failte means a hundred thousand welcomes.
Hiberno-English, being writtenNorth America
🇺🇸 United States
Southern hospitality, with sweet tea, casseroles and a front porch, is well known. Native American nations also hold the custom of giveaway, in which the host gives gifts to the guests.
Southern hospitality, being written🇲🇽 Mexico
Mi casa es su casa is the saying, and a guest is offered food and drink, and the host will insist on refills. A late arrival is expected to a party and no one leaves empty-handed.
Mexican cuisine, being writtenLatin America and the Caribbean
🇵🇪 Peru
In the Andes a guest is offered chicha, coca leaves and a hearty meal, often pachamanca, food baked underground on hot stones. Refusing the first cup can seem unfriendly, so visitors take at least a sip.
Pachamanca, being writtenOceania
🇫🇯 Fiji
A visitor to a village presents kava roots, sevusevu, to the chief, who accepts them in a short ceremony and then shares the drink, with a clap before and after each bowl. Once the chief has accepted the gift, the visitor is a guest of the whole village and may move about freely.
Kava culture, being written🇳🇿 New Zealand
A powhiri welcomes visitors onto the marae with a call, speeches, songs and a hongi, and ends with a shared meal, a hakari. It is a spiritual and social meeting of hosts and guests.
Read: PōwhiriAbout this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.