Article 1: Knowledge and Culture in Tourism Organization Management by Ēriks Lingebērziņš
There is considerable information loss between incoming tour operators and their customers who come from emerging, non-Western markets, yet the extent of this loss resists measurement.
It is important to integrate cultural competencies into the management processes and practices of international tourism organizations in order to minimize information loss and contribute to the experience of a diverse range of customers.
Cultural competency means more than just hiring staff from various countries or who speak more than one language; it includes values, beliefs, and attitudes.
International tourism organizations must constantly be in a learning mode in order to understand the needs and preferences of newer travelers from emerging markets.
Article 2: Sustainable tourism pedagogy and academic-community collaboration: A progressive service-learning approach by Tarim Jamal, Justin Taillon, and Dianne Dredge
There are six core literacies that students studying sustainable tourism must master: technical, analytical, ecological, multi-cultural, ethical, policy and political.
Experiential education and collaborative service learning are two approaches that facilitate the teaching of the six core literacies noted above.
Conventional tourism education often focuses on learning as a means to employment when, alternatively, it should have a more expansive focus to include topics such as ethical decision-making and sustainability.
There are often deeper considerations in making tourism decisions than one might imagine, such as how to name and label spaces that are contested between two or more ethnic groups.
Article 3: Cultural Issues in Medical Tourism by I-Chun Liu and Chii-ching Chen
Medical tourism, wherein someone from one country travels to another country in order to obtain healthcare, is increasing and with it the potential for catastrophic miscommunication between healthcare providers and patients of different cultures.
There is no generally accepted definition of cultural competence in the medical field at the global level, which means that standards vary widely from one nation to another.
In order to manage these cultural differences, patients of certain nationalities tend to prefer a particular provider nation over others, such as when British patients prefer to obtain healthcare in India.
People from different nations often have fundamentally different understandings of disease, based upon the religious, social and other characteristics of their native cultures.
Article 4: Developing Hospitality Managers' Intercultural Communication Abilities: The Cocktail Party Simulation by Daphne Jameson
Intercultural education can be expensive for hospitality students to obtain, as this type of training is not traditionally offered in many tourism or hospitality programs.
One way of managing the expense while providing quality intercultural experiences for students is to conduct simulations.
Staging a cocktail party is a good way of providing opportunities for students to identify and practice intercultural competencies, provided that a debriefing discussion follows the simulation.
Cultural identity goes beyond nationality to include factors such as religion, political heritage, values and beliefs.
Works Cited
I-Chun, L. and Chii-ching, C. (2013). Cultural issues in medical tourism. American Journal of Tourism Research, 2(1), 78-83. doi: 10.11634/216837861302318
Jamal, T., Taillon, J. and Dredge, D. (2011). Sustainable tourism pedagogy and academic- community collaboration: A progressive service-learning approach. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 11, 133-147. doi: 10.1057/thr.2011.3
Jameson, D. A. (2007). Developing hospitality managers’ intercultural communication abilities: The cocktail party simulation. Cornell Hospitality Tools, 9, 6-20.
Lingebērziņš, E. (2013). Knowledge and culture in tourism organization management. Economics and Business, 24, 78-84. doi: 10.7250/eb.2013.009
