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Facilitator Guide CULTURAL ISSUES IN TOURISM [email protected]

www.teachingtourism.com


Cultural Issues in TourismA TOURISM SURVIVAL KIT

by Leslie Robinson, M Ed

Facilitator Guidewww.teachingtourism.com


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Table of ContentsCourse description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Suggested class schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Cultural introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Class introductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Introduce self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduce course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Icebreakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A better world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Culture bingo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Defining culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 How we see culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Cultural examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Cultural elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Aspects of culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Traditional and non traditional cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Collectivist and individualistic cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Monocultural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Multicultural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Cultural coat of arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Personal culture worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Public and private self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Cultural collage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Only in Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Culture shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The process of culture shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Symptoms of culture shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Reactions to culture shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Declaring your culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 I am Canadian… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Declaring your culture exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 I am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39


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Cultural Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Cultural snowflakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Cultural differences exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Prejudice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 You know you’re from Canada when . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 The cold within . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Draw a house exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Cultural presentation and activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Cultural presentation sign-up sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Marking grid for cultural activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Labaland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Cultural issues in tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Legality and morality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Research project 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Research project 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Marking grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Strategies for cultural adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Makes you think… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The earth’s population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The stone game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Guatemalan hand flap game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The human knot game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Just like me… a meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Suggested reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Tourism Career Samplers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Tourism Survival Kits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Cultural Issues evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

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Course descriptionLearn to work with clients and customers from different cultures by better understanding the concept of culture and issues related to that concept. We’ll communicate across cultures and explore issues of differing beliefs, values, and behaviours encountered in the tourism workplace.

Objectives

• Upon course completion participants will be able to• define culture and cultural terminology• define and describe their own culture• describe global, national and local cultural trends• describe and explain culture shock• demonstrate effective cross cultural communication skills• design strategies for cultural adaptation• accept and celebrate cultural differences

Evaluation

• Define your own culture worksheet and collage 25%• Cultural issue research proposal 5%• Research cultural issue project 30%• Research project presentation 10%• Cultural activity presentation 15%• Five sense table top presentation 15%


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Suggested Class schedule

DATE SUBJECT DUE DATE

Day 1 Introductions and definitionsWhat is culture?

Day 2 Defining our own culture

Day 3 Culture shock Worksheet and collage

Day 4 Cultural differences

Day 5 Role of culture in tourism Research proposal

Day 6 Strategies for cultural

Day 7 Cultural communication

Day 8 Cultural issues in tourism Cultural activityFive Senses


Day 10 Cultural issues in tourism Research project


Day 12 Cultural issues in tourismPresentations

Presentations10%

Day 13 Future directions of cultural tourism

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Cultural introduc� ionLock classroom doors and post notices for students to wait outside in the hall until they are invited in.

Create two communications areas in classroom. Push desks aside leaving space for class to sit cross legged in a circle on the floor as if around a campfire. The second area sees desks pushed together so that students may sit around desks as if in a boardroom.

Have quiet music from another culture playing softly in the background (I favour didgeridoo music from the Australian aboriginals).

Incense or room fragrance will heighten their awareness of their new surroundings (but be sensitive to possible allergies!)

Darken the room by closing blinds and turning off the lights.

Place a lit candle in the middle of the floor. Participants will be invited to sit around the candle when they come in. Many cultures use a candle as a symbol of enlightenment. Today it will serve as both enlightenment and a constant refocusing of energy towards the centre of the group instead of towards the instructor.

Using the class list, determine the order of participants to enter the classroom. If class mix shows 50–50 men and women, then have woman-man-woman-man… If class mix suggests multicultural, encourage a mixing such as Asian, Caucasian, and African.


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Class introduc� ionsWhen the room is ready and the participants have all assembled in the hall, go into the hall, greeting students politely and invite them to come closer to receive their instructions.

Advise participants to enter the room silently in the order prescribed and make a circle around the candle and sit cross-legged. They may place their backpacks, purses, binders, etc directly behind them in the circle. Encourage them to absorb elements of the new culture.

Once everyone is seated, quietly welcome them to their learning experience in cross cultural issues in tourism. Before beginning, we will meet our neighbours. Count off participants into pairs. Advise each person in the newly formed couples to interview the other without using English. Each participant is to find out the following using any

• means of communication available to them:• name• where they were born• how many brothers and sisters they have• where they fit in their family (i.e. oldest child, middle child)• favourite hobby, craft or sport• favourite cultural celebration (Christmas, Hanukkah, wedding) and why

Then swap so the interviewee becomes the interviewer.

Participants may use gestures, pencil and paper, photos in their wallets or maps, although I let them discover these resources themselves rather than suggesting them.

Each participant will then introduce their partner to the group identifying effective elements of communication.

Following interviews, extinguish the candle, turn off music, open the blinds, turn on the lights and encourage participants to sit around the table beside their partner. Place the candle in the middle of the table and re-light.

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Introduce self

Introduce yourself without listing your professional experience. Here is an example of a matriarchal introduction:

I am Leslie, daughter of Daphne who was born in Capetown, South Africa, grand daughter of Amelia of the Lake District in England and Annie from the highlands of Scotland, mother of Vanessa and Alexander from the provincial capital of British Columbia, Victoria.

My father was a medical man who chose to immigrate to the new world to give his family a good life. His father was a dry goods merchants and my mother’s father was a sea captain.

I have chosen the pursuit of learning as my life’s quest and so am here today to assist you in your learning.



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Introduce course

Advise participants to turn to page 3 in their workbooks

Cross-cultural issues in tourism is a different sort of course with different sorts of learning and assignments. It is designed to raise awareness and understanding of culture, communication, and how the relate to tourism issues.

Many course delivered through educational institutions require us to use our

• heads (cognitive domain of learning) and• hands and bodies (psychomotor domain of learning)

This course requires us to use ourhearts (affective domain of learning)

This means we will be examining our

• thoughts• feelings• perceptions• values

The challenge is to keep an open mind. There will be many new concepts, ways of looking at the world, cultural issues, and values presented during the course.

I personally challenge you right now to listen to and observe your own opinions and behaviours and then give equal weight to those of others in the class.www.teachingtourism.com

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Throughout the course, we will explore and examine cultural elements and terminology.We will define our own cultures through

• exercises• worksheets• visual collages

How else can we understand others if we do not first know ourselves?

We will discuss culture shock and the problems that occur when two cultures meet.

We will meet people from our local cultural community to learn what is happening.

We will research cultural issues in tourism examining their

• origins• problems and• strategies for adaptation and success

This will be an in-depth research paper to be shared in class through presentations.

Finally, each participant will lead us in sharing a cultural activity…a celebration from one culture to the others. Many believe that only by sharing our differences can we understand and finally accept these differences to bring harmony not just to the tourism industry but to the entire world.

It is important to attend and participate fully as this course occurs in the affective domain.





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BackgroundAdvise participants to turn to page 6 in their workbooks

Cross-cultural communication is not new. It has been occurring since early cultures encountered each other through exploration, pilgrimages, and trade.

Traders moved through the region now known as the Middle East, indigenous peoples travelled from Asia to the Americas over the land bridge in the Bering Sea. Marco Polo, James Cook, and Christopher Columbus journeyed to distant lands and explored with local guides, and secured accommodations and food from the locals. The first to observe new cultures, these explorers certainly did not know the language or customs of the locals.

Victorian traveller Thomas Cook’s tours of the European continent encountered the locals and wrote about them in journals to be read aloud to their friends and families around the crackling fire.

The systematic study of cross-cultural issues is, however, new.

Since the 1960’s and 70’s the world has been shrinking due to an increase in technologies. Today, for the price of an airline ticket, travellers can visit almost any part of the earth in a matter of hours and experience the customs, habits, languages, food, and accommodation of almost any culture. Within hours of war erupting, the media will be broadcasting details live into our living rooms. The economies of nations are now recognised as a global economy. We can do business from computers in our basements over the internet. But… with whom are we communicating? What values do they hold dear? Are we offending them?




Defining cultureDivide the class into groups of 3–5.

Ask each group to define the word culture.

Invite each group to write their definitions then share the following definitions.

Create a working definition of culture by combining elements from each definition.

Culture may be determined by

• nationality• race• religious preferences and observances• gender• socio-economic group• union or non union participation

The most immutable barrier in natureis between

one man’s thoughts and another’s

William James

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Cultural coat of arms


Using the blank picture of a coat of arms, complete each of the six boxes with pictures of the following:

1. your main interest or hobby2. favourite part of an average day3. an important event in your life4. a strong family value5. philosophy, spirituality or religion6. socio-economic goal

Choose four words you would like people to say about you when you are much older… Place these words in the ribbon beneath the coat of arms.





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Cultural coat of arms






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Personal culture worksheet


Imagine yourself in the middle of Africa chatting with some local people who, fortunately for you, speak English. They are most curious about you and your culture. They ask you to describe your culture to them. The following list of questions will help you focus your answers. Take an hour to contemplate your response thoughtfully. This is an internal, reflective and very personal exercise that is best completed without speaking. You may like to have some reference books at hand.

There is no right or wrong answer. Marks are given on thoughtful, descriptive and thorough completion.

What is your first name?

What is the significance of your first name (family name, named for famous or important person, translation, origin of your name)?

What is your family name?

What is the significance of your family name (meaning, translation)?

With how many siblings did you grow up?

What is your position within your siblings (oldest girl, youngest, middle boy)?

If your immediate family came together for an important event such as a wedding or funeral, how many family members would come?

Remember a moment of great personal fulfillment when you were a child. Why was it so fulfilling?

Tell a teaching from a grandparent figure.





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Cultural issues in tourismAdvise participants to turn to page 41 in their workbooks.

The following structured controversies arise when tourists or guests visit a host culture. Each cross-cultural issue presented here is based on a real scenario with the names left out. Encourage participants to come up with their own ideas to debate.

In groups of 6–20 participants, choose your issue from the following: safety, beliefs, health, legal or moral. Each group will then subdivide into two smaller groups of 3–5 participants and give their position on the cultural issue. Take about 15 minutes to discuss your position and prepare your case.

Alternately, take several days or a week to formally research your issue and position.

Each group will be given 2 minutes to present their case. When each case has been heard, the table is open for discussion. The discussion may last 15 minutes, longer if necessary.

At the end, each group will be given two minutes to summarise their position and to propose a solution.

These topics are good for two sided debates.

Solutions may be drafted in the form of a press release. You may decide to take the issue farther by holding a “press conference’ where the solutions are presented as brief statements to the press. In the press gallery is:

• an environmentalist• a relief agency (Red Cross, World Vision, Save the Children)• a politician• a member of the “public”• a newspaper reporter• a business person looking to turn this into a business opportunity





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Makes you think…


The following was written by a Columbine High School student:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; moreconveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, butless sense; more knowledge, but less judgement; moreexperts, but less solutions; more medicine, but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possession, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate to often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life;we’ve added years to life, not life to years.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but havetrouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space;we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we’vesplit the atom, but not our prejudice.

We have higher incomes, but lower morals; we’ve becomelong on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of tall men, and short character;steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domesticwarfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; offancier houses, but broken homes.

It is a time when there is much in the show window andnothing in the stockroom.

Discuss

What do you want to do about it?What role can tourism play?


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