MODULE 6: HANDLING GUEST AND 2.

Know your job with passion

MULTICULTURAL PEER DIVERSITIES
- Knowing exactly the why, what, how, and when
HANDLING GUEST OR CUSTOMER of your job will give you required confidence to be
DIVERSITIES able to be of service to your customers or guests.
Many foreigners can be intimidating in their
• As tourism professionals, handling our
approach. Some can be exact opposite. the way,
guests or customers is the most important
knowing your job well is the best tool to address
responsibility we perform day and day out
all kinds of people. Try to imagine a situation
• Our customers or guests are, first and when you are confronted by a highly aggressive
foremost , the people who are paying our and demanding person, someone in a hurry. If
respective companies for a service, be it you are not familiar with all the tasks you are
an airline ticket, a hotel room, a limousine expected to know, that aggression will become
ride, a buffet lunch, or a package tour. worse.

TEN WAYS TOURISM PROFESSIONALS Five tips on how you can always have an
SHOULD HANDLE CUSTOMER OR GUEST excellent understanding of your job:
DIVERSITIES:
-know and understand your detailed job
1. In everything, the first rule is to always be description by heart.
professional
-Familiarize yourself with the standards and
2. Know your job with passion
procedures pertinent to your section and
3. Learn how to be a good listener
department.
4. Go beyond the basics of being friendly
5. Be efficient -Read and remember all current memoranda
6. Embrace all differences pertinent to your section department
7. Understand to be understood
-Always attend and be present for operational
8. Become a walking Wikipedia
meetings, regular training programs, and other
9. Observe the basic rules of engagement
special programs.
10. Be yourself. In everything, be yourself
-Do your research and study the current trends
pertinent to your job and industry.
1. In everything, the first rule is to always be
professional
3. Learn how to be a good listener
- In all your dealings with everyone. Being
professionals is a basic requirement in the - In our world, which is full of diverse
workplace. Being professionals should be an personalities, a tourism professionals is expected
attitude from within one of us. This not need to be to lead the way in bringing people from all parts of
taught. You do not require mentorship to become the globe together. This become even true if you
professionals, in the tourism industry, in instances are working as a crew member of the leading
when a staff members becomes unprofessional cruise liners in the world. These cruise liners,
towards his customers or guests, it is taken very which travel the major capitals and tourism
seriously. destinations, can accommodate thousands of
passengers in a single cruise, and this
The major characteristics of a tourism
passengers are a mix of nationalities from the
professional are:
seven continents. Passengers in cruises know
-punctuality that , once onboard, meeting other passengers
and having fun together is part of the experience.
-maturity
-alertness
-sociability
-being organized
Five techniques of a good listener Five ways to remain efficient all the time
- Maintain eye contact with the speaker -Focus on the task at hand, do not multitask.
- Listen very carefully with sincere interest. -Learn how to delegate
- Empathize when necessary. -Communicate accordingly, using the right media
to do so.
- Seek clarification to ensure complete
understanding. -Time all tasks, taking downtime into
consideration
- Always keep an open mind.
-Plan ahead

4. Go beyond the basics of being friendly

6. Embrace all differences
-In our industry, being courteous and friendly is a
basic requirement. Some staff take this a little bit -Multicultural diversity is about embracing
to naively. If they greet customer or guest with a everything we are not. We don’t necessarily have
smile, they are doing what is expected of them at to love or agree to anything that is not us, but we
the minimum.. Good tourism professionals should can respectful of other religions, languages, and
know how to engage their customers or guests dialects, customs and traditions, and sexual
with some conversational banter. They generally preferences. We live in a world where diversity
appreciate talking about their countries., their should be able to bring us together to leave in
nationalities, or some prominent people you know peace despite this differences.
from this countries.

7. Understand to be understood
Five reminders to ensure you remain consistently
- When diversity is the norm in your workplace,
friendly:
being understanding of the faults or shortcomings
-Have a friendly, welcoming demeanor all the of others, especially your customers or guests, is
time. a very good way to opening the doors to a
mutually beneficial interaction, but also a long
-Listen before talking, do not grab the spotlight.
term relationships.
-Do not use your devices when having
conversation with people.
8. Become a walking Wikipedia
-Be tune with everyone around you.
-Regarding knowledge about countries,
-Show sincere interest by asking question.
nationalities, cultures, traditions, and religions,
tourism professionals should learn as much as
possible. By so doing, you will be able to have a
5. Be efficient meaningful conversations with your customers or
-Customers or guests judge our service by our guests when these conversations are merited. In
efficiency first and foremost. Courteousness and our industry, this is quite often the case specially
friendliness are just as important but still come for tour guides, cabin crew, hotel guest service
second to being efficient. In the developed officers, butlers, and bar tenders.
countries, which include many of our neighbors
like Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, efficiency
is king. In Switzerland, punctuality and efficiency 9. Observe the basic rules of engagement
are basic to their population. In Germany, as in
-The first rule is to look at the customer or guest
most industrialized nations on earth, efficiency in
in the eye at all appropriate times. This will make
the production lines is the foundation of their
the customer or guest feel they are the most
manufacturing success.
important person you are engaging with at the
moment.
-The second rule to greet the customer or guest the members of your team and all the other
by their name, not by calling them just “Sir” employees of your company, you must be
Ma’am.” able to deal with your own diversity issues.
When someone is being considered a “plastic”
- The third and final rule is that at the end of the
person, that means they are hiding the truth
conversation or engagement, you thank the
beneath their persona.
customer or guest and wish to see them again,
soon. Remember, do not just thank the customer - In this case, they will be a big failure in the
or guest,. Sincerely tell them you wish to see aspect of being able to successfully deal with
them again. peer diversities because they themselves are
heaving an issue in dealing with their own.

10. Be yourself. In everything, be yourself

2. Be a team player
-You are a microcosm of the bigger version of
yourself, which is supposed to be your company. - Successful teams equal successful companies.
Even though companies are clear about their You are one among many team members of
vision, mission, amd values, you, on the other diverse personalities. The general idea in team
hand, as an individual, will have to see how your building is that there can be unity in adverse
individuality can compliment your company’s settings. The challenge with teams is that,
brand identity. sometimes, one team member can full down the
entire team by behaving against the standard
- Do not try to be someone else you are not. It
norms of the team behavior.
does not work the way. This industry is not a
theater. It is not the movies, it is real life, real time.
Your customers or guests look at you, stare at
Five characteristics of a good team player
you, and observe you all the time: but does not
mean you have to wear a mask, or a façade. • He/She embraces collaboration
• He/she should himself/herself accountable
• He/She is flexible
HANDLING MULTICULTURAL PEER • He/She is positive and supportive
DIVERSITIES
TEN WAYS TOURISM PROFESSIONALS
SHOULD HANDLE PEER DIVERSITIES: 3. Become an inspiration to others

1. the first rule is to always be yourself. -By having in a manner that will send signals
2. Be a team player to others that you are a highly mature and
3. Become an inspiration to others caring person, your peers will look up to you
4. Engage your peers in cultural diversity and aspire to be like you. The more members
discussions in your team start inspiring one another, the
5. Become a walking Wikipedia more the team will be cohesive and ready for
6. Find time for your peers, even outside any challenges ahead, including the sensitive
work handling of issues surrounding peer cultural
7. Include short three minute diversity diversities.
quotes/learnings in everyday meetings - These issues are real and, sometimes, if not
8. Around the world in 12 months properly addressed can be causes for
9. Be discreet and sensitive disfunction, and disfunctions is something
10. Celebrate each other’s diversities companies guards against daily, because
disfunction leads to low productivity and low
morale.
1. the first rule is to always be yourself.
-This behavior in colloquial lingo is referred to
as people who are “plastic.” So, even before
being able to handle peer diversities among
 4. Engage your peers in cultural diversity involved in the importance of delivery
discussions awareness.
-The more you intelligently discuss the
different aspects of diversity like nationalities,
8. Around the world in 12 months
regions, languages, dialects, practices,
traditions, and sex among your peers, the - The human capital department of a company
better you will understand one onother. The should consider a program whereby all staff
more you will learn to respect one another, activities for a particular month will delve
The more you will know about each other’s around a selected country. The selection of
differences. this twelve countries should be done based on
their representation in the workplace.
• - Staff activities, like the monthly birthday
5. Become a walking Wikipedia
celebrations, can be programmed with fun
-A “walking Wikipedia” only regarding learning learning activities and games about these
more about countries, provinces, nationalities, countries. This approach is highly popular,
languages, dialects, cultures, traditions, and with the citizens from this countries
religions. By so doing, you will be able to have contributing a great deal. This program
a meaningful conversations with your peers also keeps motivation high among all staff
as often as possible. It would be a wonderful because they always have something new
experience to hear firsthand stories about to look forward to.
fiestas and how our peers celebrate these in
their respective towns or cities.
9. Be discreet and sensitive
-Diversity issues like religion and sex are
6. Find time for your peers, even outside
among the most sensitive of all diversities.
work
Many would rather keep their religion or
-Working eight hours a day, five days a week can sexual life as private as possible, without
be grueling sometimes. You and your peers can having to share the details of these either their
try your best to also relax and enjoy yourselves peers. You must always be discrete and
over dinner or a cocktail; party every now and sensitive in cases of this nature and ensure
then. It is a very good idea to join this bonding your respect their stand on the matters.
time outside the workplace because all of you will
be in a happy and celebratory mood.
10. Celebrate each other’s diversities
- Many times, peers make it a rule not to talk
about their work, but these is easier said than -It is only when you start sincerely celebrating
done. These get-together are a very good way of each other’s diversity that you can say you
getting to know your peers in a more informal have conquered the multicultural diversity
setting. Peers usually open about themselves challenges in the workplace. Celebration
more easily in this occasions. means total acceptance and understanding of
our differences without any judgement ,
without any comparison, without any rating as
7. Include short three minute diversity to who is excellent, very good, average,
qoutes/learnings in everyday meetings marginal, or poor.
- In the tourism industry, staff usually start - celebration means entering and praying in
their shifts with a short daily 15-30 minutes mosques even if you are Catholic when
operation briefing. It will be a good idea to invited by your Muslimfriends. Celebration
encourage multicultural diversity awareness means attending an LGBTQ party when invite
among everyone by including a 1-3 minute by your LGBTQ friends. Celebration means
daily sharing by a member of the team on standing in attention when the national
anything related to diversity in the workplace. anthem of your friend’s country is being
It could be a quotation, a prayer, an article, or played during an occasion you have invited to
anything of positive value. This short sharing by foriegn friend.
is easy to implement and gets team members