I hate to bump an old thread, but I'm actually looking for this feature. I recognize it's not common (although I'll cite examples in a moment), nor is it in the IPTC structure. However, it's pretty useful for organizing, in my opinion. For example, suppose I want to tag a photo as being taken in some city. With hierarchical tagging, the photo would then automatically pick up state and country tags, without requiring the additional clicks. Same with organizing people. Friends and family groups? Tag a person, and be able to search for all pictures with friends or family?
As for software that supports this, I believe digikam does, as well as the iPhoto plugin Keyword Manager. I know it's not the most common thing to do, but it makes tagging go a lot more quickly....