The Language of Tourism and Hospitality: An Exploration of Intercultural Communication Issues in Hotels in the Netherlands

Abstract

This exploratory investigation has been based on research by Blue and Harun (2003), in which cross-cultural communication in the hospitality sector and the language associated with host-guest interactions was investigated. Other studies were used to give a complete overview of the relationship between tourism and language. In addition, relevant literature concerning effective intercultural communication training methods for this field of work was included. Taking all literature into account, this exploratory study employed examples taken of interviews conducted with hotel staff in the Netherlands, a web search on Tripadvisor.nl and Booking.com, and questionnaires distributed among Chinese and German tourists.