engleski

INTERCULTURAL ASPECTS IN RESOLVING CONFLICT RELATIONSHIPS IN TOURISM

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the intercultural competencies that tourism workers must possess in order to deliver a quality tourism service. Intercultural competencies are key in resolving conflicts to eliminate the negative consequences that may manifest themselves for the further operation of the tourism organization. The aim of this paper is to show how globalization has affected communication, but also the ethics of people during their relationships with other nations and cultures. The research primarily uses a quantitative method in which a questionnaire survey was used. The questionnaire survey consisted of several sets of questions on a sample of fifty tourism workers, which allowed the assessment of subjective perception of intercultural competencies and relationship in conflict situations. The selection of tourism workers was based on those who have direct communication with tourists and perform various activities such as work at the reception, in tourist boards and as waiters in restaurants. The main results of the research highlighted that tourism workers speak at least one foreign language, and during a conflict relationship they make sure that it is resolved with minimal consequences for the guest, but also for the further business of the organization. According to the research, the opinion was formed that tourism workers acquired intercultural competencies during their education and later work experience. The contribution of the paper is reflected in the review of different stereotypes related to the "tourist - host" relationship as well as different environmental influences. Given the constant changes in the circulation of tourists and the opening of new markets, tourism workers are required to receive additional training on raising awareness of the importance of intercultural competencies in the context of tourism workers which will provise further recommendations for future research.

intercultural competences, conflict, tourists, tourism workers

Zbornik je indeksiran u Web of Science, EBSCOhost, RePEc, EconPapers, Socionet