An important cultural value that can be see in the Odyssey is that of Xenia, which depends on people far from their homes be shown generosity. Why might this hospitality have more significance in Homer’s day than today?
My answer: You can compare it to the traditions of hospitality which can still be found among certain poor, and often among nomadic, peoples today. In Homer's Greece, as in some areas today, travel was very dangerous and difficult, and if you couldn't depend on help from strangers you probably wouldn't survive. It was also an age when travel was becoming more important, as people explored more and territories were expanded; so the traveler was a person of importance, and might be a source of goods or interesting news. Finally, the ancient religions tended to see the stranger as sacred - possibly even a disguised god - and to attack a strange visitor
could be seen as unlucky.
Am I on the right track?
Yes, you are. This is also sometimes known as the tradition of "guest-friendship" and was very important in those days. Nowadays we have hotels and inns, but there were very few (if any) in the ancient countries.
=)