In this 2013 article for Medical Tourism Magazine entitled “Cultural and Linguistic Competency and Medical Tourism’s Bottom Line”, cultural competence and international business communications expert Suzanne Salimbene discusses the need to incorporate cultural competences skills in the training and work of tourism professionals. Although the main focus of the article is cultural competence in the growing field of medical tourism, the points made are acutely applicable to any tourism field from recreational to cultural to adventure tourism.
According to Salimbene, one of the primary areas where cultural competence is necessary in tourism is in marketing. Salimbene argues that nowadays hotels, airlines, tour agency and other medical tourism focused stakeholders access a large and growing number of their clients and customers over the Internet. Accordingly, if a potential client’s first impression of a tour agency is that they have culturally offensive imagery or poor language skills; the chances are that the customer will not use their services. Consequently, the first step in any culturally competent tourism professional or agency is being able to correctly “is the primary language of the targeted audience” as well as what cultural taboos to avoid (Salimbene).
Salimbene goes on to argue that cultural competence is not only necessary to attracting customers but is also essential to keeping them. This is achieved by increasing customer enjoyment and satisfaction in the services provided. For medical tourism this is illustrated in customers receiving the appropriate treatments in a timely manner. For other types of tourism this could be demonstrated in anticipating a customer’s wants, such as having hotel staff members that can speak multiple languages.
Lastly, Salimbene states that the definition of good service or an enjoyable trip is determined by the customer themselves rather than the tourism industry stakeholder. Accordingly, stakeholders need as broad and diverse an understanding of the different cultural expectations their known and potential customers may have. This will not only allow management to understand what services need to be provided but which customers expect what services to be offered.
In essence, Salimbene argues that cultural competence can no longer be seen as a luxury in the tourism industry but now must be seen as a necessary element of any tourism professional or organization that wants to be successful.
Works Cited
Salimbene, Suzanne. “Cultural and Linguistic Competency and Medical Tourism’s Bottom Line.” Medical Tourism Magazine. medicaltourismmag.com, 11 Jun. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2016 <http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/cultural-linguistic-competency-and-medical-tourisms-bottom-line/>
