Intercultural Communication in TourismLaajuus (5 cr)

Objective

The tourism and hospitality industry is perhaps the most international and intercultural profession in a world where most every profession is exposed to aspects of intercultural interaction. In addition, the field requires a wide variety of “soft skills” for to complete tasks within one’s own culture and in another’s. These skills include, for example, problem solving, successful interpersonal engagement, professional writing, presentation skills, teamwork, communication competency, and many more. Thus the objective of this course is to expose the student to a variety of basic concepts of intercultural interaction as well as to use many soft skills as a means to put that knowledge into action.

Through this course, the student will develop knowledge of many concepts that influence interaction within the tourism industry, not just when abroad but also within one’s home culture, and how these apply to one’s clients, one’s professional interaction, and one’s own attitudes and behaviors.

The student will have opportunity to apply a variety of soft skills in translating intercultural concepts into actions, thereby increasing one’s professional competencies.

Finally, the students will lay the foundation for learning how to work with dissimilar others that will facilitate not only their academic studies but also their career goals within the tourism and hospitality industry.

Content

The nature of culture
Dimensions of cultural variability
Cultural values and expression
Culture’s impact on communication
How to apply meta-communication
The non-neutrality of knowledge
Conflict negotiation and management
Culture’s impact on teamwork

Qualifications

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Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

1 (Sufficient) Student has achieved the basic knowledge and applicability of cultural issues within the industry and soft skills practices. Thus, the student may be able to identify aspects of culture and intercultural interaction but possesses only a superficial understanding of the complexities that international or intercultural environments bring to interpersonal and professional activities.

2 (Satisfactory) Student has demonstrated a general understanding and applicability of cultural concepts and has a developed a basic ability to express those concepts through the soft skills necessary for a professional career in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

3 (Good) Student presents a clear understanding of the various elements of intercultural interaction and can demonstrate through the soft skills the relationship between knowledge and practice in intercultural contexts.

4 (Very Good) Student demonstrates understanding of intercultural issues, perspectives, and concepts, how these relate to the tourism and hospitality industry, and can present well many of the soft skills introduced during the course.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

5 (Excellent) Student consistently demonstrates his/her ability to synthesize various perspectives on and concepts related to culture and intergroup interaction as well as reflect well on how those components of culture impact their own life and future work in the tourism and hospitality industry. These individuals also demonstrate significant skill in the various soft skills introduced throughout the course.