CHAPTER 1 UNDERSTANDING CULTURE

Culture
Culture refers to the socially constructed and learned ways of behaving that identify individual
and distinct social groups. It is a shared practice of a group of people. These may include the following:
beliefs, values, knowledge, assumptions, experiences and ideas, customs, rituals, symbols, myths and
legends of the people in the community, social activities, economics, politics, agriculture, industries,
laws and ways of justice, security, health, environment, education, and religion.

Culture shapes a person’s identity and influences the way how he/ she thinks, behaves, and
forms his/her values system. It is a dynamic based on new developments in society that can impact a
group of people. These are passed on from one generation to the next, and some of the elements may
change over time.

These elements of the culture are transmitted or passed on to other generations through a
combination of communication, oral and or writing (language), and art (such as music , song,
storytelling, painting, and dance), and they are institutionalized as acceptable for the current group or
community. Oftentimes, the change in culture standards from generation to generation would result in
gaps in the understanding of the different age groups.

Elements of Culture

The selected elements of culture that impact the tourism professional are the following:
1. Art
2. Beliefs and Values
3. Geography
4. Language
5. Law and Politics
6. Religion
7. Technology
8. Social Organization

Art
As mentioned by Price (2018) in his blog, “The Importance of Art in out Society”, art is an
expression of the creative ideas and imagination, and the artist can choose a medium to express their
craft. Artists can translate their imagination and ideas into something tangible, and these are valued
by other people as they appreciate and comprehend meaning from the works of the artists.

These creations, physical objects or visuals, can be held, viewed , and reflect a society’s
development at a particular period. The paintings, artifacts, clothing. Music, sculptures, dances, plays
literature, architecture, and other man-made creations hold meaning or significance to a group of
people.These pieces of art use human creative skills that express or apply imagination and may
typically take a visual form that can be held or touched, such as painting or a sculpture. They are
works produced to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. These may also
include songs and dances that can reflect an era or time period that a group has experienced in either
the past or present.

Some consider art pieces valuable as they were created by artists who are recognized by their
people. In some instances, an art piece is easily identified as coming from a particular place or person
and may bring good memories of that place or person.

As tourism professionals, there may be a need to become familiar with the different art pieces
in the community as these can be a part of the tourism knowledge that customers expect from the
tourism enterprise.

Beliefs and Values

People choose their source of inspiration and it can be based on beliefs and values that are
shared by many people in the group. As these beliefs and values are adopted by many followers, they
are passed down to the succeeding generations.

Humans are social beings from birth. The circle of community grows from the immediate
family, to the extended family, to neighbors, to friends in school, to the church, and to other
organizations. This circle grows through the years as a person establishes relationships with other
people. Each person has their own set of values formed from Childhood that will continue to change
as they interact with other people. These beliefs are reflected in the attitudes and behavior that are
exhibited that are exhibited by the person. These experiences contribute to the sense of who each
individual is and how the world is viewed from different perspectives.

Values are based on ethics, principles, beliefs. Standards, and qualities that a person or a group
of people may hold in high regard. The significant people who will mold set of values of a person are
those who make an impact on their early life and can guide the way how their decisions will be made
in the future. In some instances, if the values are not strongly ingrained in a person, due to conflicts in
the way it is practiced, that person will vacillate in the way that a decision is made, depending on what
will be beneficial to them. These values guide how a person will live, make decisions, and nurture and
keep relationships.

As tourism professionals, there will be a lot of opportunities to work with people or serve
customers with various backgrounds, from the young, people with disabilities, senior citizens,
physically challenged or vulnerable and.or those who may live a lifestyle that mainstream society
views as different or unacceptable or maybe unusual based on the upbringing that they experienced.
Tourism professionals are expected to provide products and services as required by their enterprise.
They should understand and aware of differences in personal values. Beliefs, and attitudes of both
colleagues and clients in group settings and are prepared to adapt to the professional values of the
tourism profession. Values can influence many of the judgments that are made and the support given
to colleagues and customers. As tourism professionals, our worth ethic should always be driven by
supporting the organization’s and customer’s values.

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Geography

Cultural geography looks at the forms of differentiation as well as the material culture of
gatherings that tie together people’s ideas in the the region and make culture of gatherings that tie
together people’s ideas in the region and make them sound. Apart from the way societies perceive
space, this is how cultures are distributed over certain land areas. (Crang, 1988)

Geography refers to the various forms of natural or man-made physical landscapes affected by
human activities and how people arrange the physical space around them. It includes buildings, roads,
fields, cities, and various land and water forms like mountains, coastal areas, and any physical
landscape that underwent artificial or natural change.

For tourism professionals, the geography of where their colleagues and customers come from
may have an impact on the relationship that they will have in the workplace or in the provision of
certain products and services that customers may require. Certain activities like climbing a tree,
trekking up a mountain, swimming, planting tress, or being familiar with the products of a particular
area may be easier to do for some. These are some examples on how a certain geographic source may
affect a tourism professional. There may be questions about plants and food from a certain
geographical location, and the information may be readily provided by someone who grew up in the
same or neighboring area.

Language

As long as certain group of people agree on how to understand certain words of terms, it is
possible to have a common language, and therefore a shared culture. By the same token, linguistic
differences can make it difficult to communicate with people from various societies or places.
(Barken, 2012)

Language is very important as this is how culture is communicated to colleagues and

customers. Transmission of culture from one generation to another or from one member to other
members of a group of people in a society is also done using language-either written, spoken, or a
combination of both. Culture is preserved, changed, or transmitted to colleagues and customers using
language.

Each culture has a unique language that is passed on by each person to the next generation
and the following generation. The language can be defined and can be compared to express one’ s
view and to forward one’s opinion. The accent, or the unique speaking style, may give someone an
indication of the origins of a person.

For effective communication to happen, the sender and receiver in any communication process
must share a common language.

There are around 180 dialects in the Philippines, more than 1000 dialects in Southeast Asia,
and at least 6500 languages spoken in the world. In the Philippines alone, a word used in one province

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can mean something different in another province. With the multitude of languages and dialects
spoken locally and internationally, there is a need to identify the most acceptable language in tourism.
In 2019 article published by Babbel magazine titled “ The 10 Most Spoken Languages In the
World,” a distinction was made between the top 10 most spoken languages by native speakers
(mother tongue) and the top 10 languages by total umber of speakers (can use and understand).
However, the list varies as many languages are common, except they change in rank.
The Top 10 Most Spoken Language
by Native Speakers by Total Number of Speakers
1. Chinese-1.3 B 1. English- 1.132 B
2. Spanish-460 M 2.Mandarin Chinese-1.117 B
3. English- 379 M 3. Hindi-615 M
4. Hindi-341 M 4. Spanish-534 M
5. Arabic-315 M 5. French-280 M
6. Bengali-228 M 6. Standard Arabic-274 M
7. Portugese-220 M 7. Bengali-265 M
8. Russian-153 M 8. Russian- 258 M
9. Japanese-128 M 9. Portuguese-234 M
10. Lahnda- 118 M 11. Indonesian- 199 M
In the Philippines, aside from Filipino, English is considered as an official language. In Southeast
Asia, the lingua francia is English. In the United nations (UN), an intergovernmental organization that
has 193 sovereign states, the official languages in all their conferences and meetings are Arabic,
Chinese, English, Russian, and Spanish, and these would always be present in translations.

It is to the advantage of tourism professionals to be able to use English, written and spoken, as
it is used by the greatest number of people. The workplace and customers will be local or
international, and their will always be an occasion to communicate with them. It is good opportunity
for tourism professionals to learn another language besides English, as being proficient in another
foreign language can be an advantage in terms of qualifications and/or can get increase the salary of
the tourism professional. The selection of the foreign language can be based on the tourist arrivals,
unique customers being serviced by the enterprise, and other variables. Understanding and
misunderstandings are often traced to miscommunication, and language plays a major role in this
process.

Law and Politics

There are several approaches that link culture to law. One is the historical school which looks
at law as a product of the culture of a nation and as part of the daily practice of its people. The other
is the constitutive approach which looks at the law as part of the constitution of a culture; thus, the
constitution of people’s minds, practices, and social relations. It also sees the law that the courts
create and apply as a distinct cultural system wherein its constituents comply with. ( Mautner, 2011)

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 Many of the laws in a nation are developed by lawmakers based on the acceptable practices of
the members of the country. The concepts of right and wrong and fairness and injustice draw from
cultural practices in a particular area that may be gradually accepted as practice in a bigger area.
As a professional, one must be aware of laws and politics that apply in the country where their
work is undertaken, especially in the delivery of products and services to colleagues and customers. In
many instances, it is better to be a political, especially in issues that may be contrary to the individual’s
beliefs, as it may create animosity among colleagues and customers. Tourism service can be
compromised if there is political flavor expressed by anyone in the tourism enterprise.

Religion
Religion continuously offers a kind of philosophy that establishes a moral compass for anyone
who seeks the truth. It is commonly practiced by a group of people. It has also created cultural
expressions in many areas of life among people. The dual roles of religion are essential in preparing
social policies and reforms. (Rahmani and Tayyebinia, 2016).

Religion is a very strong source of cultural influence in many countries like in the Philippines. It
has permeated every facet of daily living, including the way people venerate, eat, dress, sleep, and
work.

Based on the CIA Factbook updated last 2019, the Philippines religion distribution is
enumerated below:
1. Roman Catholic, 80.6%
2. Protestant, 8.2%
This includes the various Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (2.7%), National Council
of Churches in the Philippines (1.2%, and other Protestants (4.3%) 3. Other Christian groups
like Iglesia ni Cristo and El Shaddai, 3.4%
4. Muslim, 5.6%
5. Tribal religions, 0.2%, Other, 1.9%, None, 0.1%

The Philippines is one of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). In 2015, the ASEAN Community was implemented, which had three pillars-the ASEAN
Political Security Community, the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, and the ASEAN Economic
Community. With the inclusion of the population from the ASEAN Member States (AMS), the religion
distribution profile has changed.

1. Muslims are about 42% (mostly Sunni, coming from Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia)
2. Buddhists are about 18% (coming from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, and
Vietnam)
3. Christians are about 17%, mostly from the Philippines

As a tourism professional, with the changing profile of colleagues in the workplace and
customers coming from within the Philippines or from the AMS, awareness of unique religious
practices, whether in a specific place or practiced nationally, should be considered as “ must-know”
competency. This will allow the professional to treat their colleagues and customers correctly,

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considering that religion plays a major role in the Philippine setting. One of the biggest attractions in
the Philippines are its religious festivals, church destinations, and religious practices that impact the
operation of the tourism enterprise.
Social Organization
Resort-based opportunities are enthusiastically received by villagers. However, over time,
tourism will replace traditional livelihoods activities, along with the knowledge and skills that
accompany them. The development of tourism is one part of the system creates a multitude of
ecological changes a capable of disrupting the broader and highly embedded sociocultural system.
(Movono, Dahles, and Becken, 2017).

Due to the tourism activities, there are changes in social structures within a tourism
destination that impact various social organizations such as the family, the society, and the bigger
community. The changes can include the type of work being pursued in tourism destinations like
switching from farming to working in hotels and restaurants or not attending school because of high
demand for tour guides in a destination. The authenticity of the cultural elements is jeopardized
because of the interaction of the demands of the customers and the local workers.

There may be a need in the tourism profession to recalibrate social organizations so that the
authenticity of the cultural exchange is not jeopardized in favor of pleasing the customer.

Technology
Technology can aid in a variety of ways to co-create tourist experiences. It can serve as an
enabler, producer, attractor, enhancer, and educator. However, it may also become a ‘destroyer’ of
tourist experience due to shifts in service experiences that lack interpersonal charm and thus generate
negative effects in retaining the authentic culture of the area.”(Oktadiana and Pearce, 2020)

With the advent of the use of technology, many of the work by tourism professionals in various
tourism enterprises have been replaced by some systems that have made the work faster and more
current. A smartphone can do more than just send text messages and call. It can also be used as a
camera, a calendar, an appointment book, an Internet access device, and a calculator. The use of a
Property Management System (PMS) like Opera can help in processing reservations, check-ins, and
check-outs and consolidating guest folio accounts. There are changes in people’s behaviors and
practices of their socialization skills due to their preoccupation with their devices. Family members or
colleagues talk less with each other during mealtimes or at work as they are absorbed in the use of
their phones or other devices. Their preoccupation can be because of playing games, reading, or using
social media such as Facebook and Instagram. There may be no need to memorize certain information
as the information source is readily available when you searched for it using your smart phones with
Internet connection. These require new skills for the tourism professional.

As tourism professionals, even with technology present in the workplace , the hospitality and
service attitude has to be the priority mindset for colleagues and customers. Building and sustaining
relationships with colleagues and customers. Building and sustaining relationships with colleagues and
customers should take precedence over anything else in the workplace.

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 Activities
1. Individual/Group/Class Activity
a. Choose any three elements of culture that impact the tourism professional.
b. Identify a specific application of this element locally and internationally based on your
experience.
c. Share your output with your group mates.
d. Discuss the learnings you realized as a result of the sharing.

Reaction to a scholarly journal article

a. Choose one of the elements of culture by dividing the class into eight. Each group will focus on a
cultural element, but each member will work on their individual journal articles.
b. Choose a scholarly journal article published in the last five years that focuses on culture and any
of the elements and its impact on tourism.
c. Prepare a two-page reaction paper that consists of the following:
i. Highlights of the article-a summary of what the article is about ( 50-100 words) ii. Reaction-
agree or not with the author’s hypothesis and the reasons for your choice (100-200
words)
iii. Conclusion-explain how the article impact tourism (50-100 words) iv.
Citation

Write your reaction paper with the following format: double spaced, font Arial, size 12.
d. Share the highlights of your work in a three-minute presentation and get a reaction from your
classmates.
CHAPTER 2 KEY FEATURES OF CULTURE

Even after reviewing the definitions of culture, elements, and multiculturalism, there is also a
need the key features of culture that make it different from other concepts. In an article published by
the Sociology Group in 2018, culture is different from other concepts because culture...
1. ...is learned;
2. ...is social;
3. ...is shared;
4. ...is transmitted
5. ...is continuous;
6. ...is accumulative; 7. ...is integrate;
8. ...is changing; and
9. Varies from society to society

Culture is Learned
The first of a child is his/her family, especially those who interact with the child closely. As
years goes by, a child learns many things from the family, such as how to talk, eat, walk, behave
appropriately, and worship. As the child’s circle of acquaintances increases, so does the continuous
learning. In some instances, while the child/person may acquire and learn new things, some of the old
things they know may be forgotten or replaced. Culture has to be taught by someone, usually an
older person, that is valued by the younger person. It is learned through constant practice, reminder,

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and action. The elements of culture such as beliefs, ways of life, and languages, can be learned and
shared together and create lasting and powerful relationships. A community with people of varied
cultures can learn from the culture of another community or people groups. The person, thus, will not
be the same from how they were a child to how they will be as an adult,nor will they be the same as
the other members of their immediate family through the years.

Culture is Social
A person needs to interact with other people for culture to be transmitted. It cannot be “kept
in a cabinet” nor be kept a secret from the members. The more you interact with other people, the
wider your appreciation for things, values, and concepts will be, and the more it will live on. Through
interaction with other people, you see how other people behave, act, add make decisions. Beliefs and
values will guide a person whether to retain or change their culture in the future as socialization,
beliefs, and other elements change through the years. In many instances, if the reason for the practice
is not explained well, then succeeding generations may not appreciate this practice anymore.

Culture is Shared
Culture is not something than an individual can pass to a person but is shared by a common
group of people in a given area. Various elements such arts, language, religion, values, and beliefs are
all shared by one person to another, such as members of a family or a community. These beliefs and
practices are accepted by everyone equally.A group of people, several households, a barangay, a
district, a city, or a province may share some of elements of culture. This shared culture is what is
transmitted to the other members of the community throughout the succeeding generations. In
instances when a cultural element dies, it can be traced back to its weak transmission, perhaps its lack
of documentation and practice, and so it loses its meaning to the younger members of the
community. An example will be dialects that have died because there were no speakers of the dialect.

Culture is Transmitted
The transmittal of culture can be done through practice, written form, or verbal form, or verbal
form. What is important is that there is a means or method used wherein the elements of culture are
passed on to other persons and other generations. Usually, the patriarch or martriarch of the family is
the holder of the family practices. All these elders band together to ensure that there is continued
practice of the unique culture, whether it is a formal or informal designation. If there is no one to
ensure that these elements are practiced., these elements will die. On the other hand, they may take
another path, either adapt a more relaxed version or follow a practice of another group of people.

Culture is Continuous
The transmission of the cultural elements of one group must be continuous from one
generation to the next. This will ensure that there is a common understanding of the practices, history,
and origin.Understanding the basis of the practice is critical as it explains the rationale for the practice.
People want to know the reasons behind a practice, especially the youth, when the oftrepeated
question is “Why” If there is no resolution to this , there will be challenges as some people will refuse
to practice it, leading to forgetting the practice altogether.

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 In some communities, there are attempts to revive a certain elements of culture after its
absence in some years. In its revitalized version, it may not be as authentic as the original and it may
take several years for the restored practice to achieve a level of committed practice by its community
members.

Culture is Accumulative
With so much history in any society, there is bound to be changes in culture as compared to
when it was initially practiced. The intensity is dependent on many things: the commitment of its
followers, the number of followers, its documentation, the rationale of the practice, and even its
interactions with other groups who may have a different practice altogether. As a result of culture
being transmitted to several people, through several years, there will be changes due to the current
situation in the community.

Culture is integrated
Common practices bring people together. It is a way of sharing with others and making it easier
for people to understand or give preference to others who share a common practice. There are many
practices that are uniquely undertaken by a group of people. They can easily be identified as coming
from a particular region or province. It is part of their life, from birth to death and all the events that
happen in between. Special events such as Holy Week differ from region and this can be seen in the
way that we celebrate it. In other countries, Holy Week is also celebrated differently.

Culture is Changing
With the intersection of many variables across time and people , culture is bound to change.
Developments in technology, government structure, laws, other elements, and even in people will give
rise to changes in culture. For example, there may be more effective and more efficient ways of doing
something very traditional such as weaving a design from the handloom versus a machine that can do
the same in a shorter time. The machine may even use different threads, resulting in the change of the
cloth. Changes must be acceptable to the group who owns the original, and if members are happy
with the change, then there can be change. Sometimes, however, this can result in quarrels among the
members of the group and may result in the division of the community. In some instances, this can
create new beginnings or new communities.

Culture Varies from Society to Society

Of the many sub-groups in a society, each one brings their own cultural mindset to a bigger
community. Expect that there will be similarities and may unique practices within a given community
and among the different countries also.

Given these features of culture, a tourism professional should be aware and liberal in
considering the uniqueness and similarities of their colleagues and customers in the workplace. A
tourism professional should be very understanding, open-minded, and does not insist on their cultural
beliefs or practice on other people.

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 ACTIVITIES

1. Individual/Group/Class work
a. Identify a practice in your family that is culturally based.
b. Ask your parents or grandparents about the origin of the practice, including the province, city, or
district.
c. Describe the practice and use visual to present practice.
Include the following:
i. Name
ii. Province/District iii. Description of the element of the culture-the rationale for it, the
background of the element,
etc.
iv. Changes that have happened to it since your grandparents’ time v. Explanation as to why it was
changed vi. Your reaction as a tourism professional if you have a colleague or customer who
either accepts
or does not accept it
d. Share with your group mates your answers

2. Prepare a Collage
a. Prepare a one-page collage of the practice in a short bond paper
b. Write a short description (50-100 words) of the practice
c. Title the practice

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 CHAPTER 3 TOURISM AND THE TOURISM PROFESSIONAL

According to United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism is “ a social,

cultural, and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places
outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are
called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism
has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure”.

The UNWTO definition of tourism indicates that though tourism is an industry in itself, there
are support industries that help it make an industry.The “umbrella concept” of tourism where various
sectors, either directly or indirectly participate in tourism activities, are linked, and thus “due to this
interdisciplinary and complex subject, defining tourism is critical, as the meaning of tourism might
differ depending on the field of study”. (Ghanem, 2017).

The Tourism Act of 2009 (RA 9593) identifies the tourism enterprises and classifies them as
primary or secondary. The Primary enterprises include “travel and tour service; land, sea, and air
transport services exclusively for tourist use; accommodation establishment; convention and
exhibition organizers; tourism estate management services; and such other enterprises as may be
identified by the Secretary , after due consultation with concerned sectors” while the rest are
classified as secondary type. Tourism is also supported by many industries that provide products and
services that are needed by the primary and secondary enterprises of tourism.

Through The ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Tourism Professional signed last
2012 by all AMS, a tourism professional is a person who holds the nationality of an AMS certified by
the Tourism Professional Certification Board (TPCB). In the Philippines, The TPCB is the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). This government agency was established by
Republic Act. No. 7796 and signed into law by President Fidel V. Ramos on August 25, 1994. This was
enacted to encourage the full participation and mobilization of the tourism industry, labor divisions,
local government units, and technical-vocational institutions in developing the skills of the country’s
human resources. TESDA has promulgated several tourism qualifications in the NC II to IV levels, based
on the Philippine Qualifications Framework, and some of these qualifications have been aligned with
the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals (ASEAN MRA-TP). In the TESDA
National Certificates released, the word “aligned with the ASEAN MRA on TP” appears to indicate that
the qualification has been reviewed and promulgated with the ASEAN MRA-TP.

The ASEAN MRA-TP initially two primary and six secondary labor divisions. There are 30 job
titles in 54 qualifications (Levels 2 to 4, Diploma and advanced Diploma) that have been identified
from the 242 competency standards in the Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum (CATC). There are
additional labor divisions that are currently being defined by the ASEAN. These are in the Meetings,
Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions, and Spa and Wellness. These are presented in the table below.
Primary and Secondary Labor Divisions with Job Titles
Hotel Services Travel Services
Front Office Housekeeping Food Food & Travel Tour
Production Beverage Agencies Operation

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 Services
Front Office Executive Executive Chef F & B Director General Product
Manager Housekeeper Manager Manager
Front Office Laundry Demi Chef F & B Outlet Assistant Sales &
Supervisor Manager Manager General Marketing
Manager Manager
Receptionist Floor Commis Chef Head Waiter Senior Travel Credit
Supervisor Consultant manager
Telephone Laundry Chef de Partie Bartender Travel Ticketing
Operator Attendant Consultant Manager
Bel Boy Room Commis Pastry Waiter Tour Manager
Attendant
Public Area Baker
Cleaner
Butcher

Various Labor Divisions and Qualifications in the CATC

Qualifications Certificate Certificate Certificate Diploma Advanced Subtotal
II III IV Diploma
Food and 2 2 3 1 1 9
Beverages
Food 2 3 3 1 1 10
Production
Front Office 1 1 1 1 1 5
Housekeeping 1 1 1 1 1 5
Tour 2 3 4 2 1 12
Operation
(Management)
Travel 3 3 3 1 1 11
Agencies
Total 11 13 15 7 6

There are many workers in the tourism industry. There are also many training and educational
institutions offering tourism and hospitality-related programs and a great number of students taking
technical and vocational education and training tourism qualifications or higher education institution
programs. For the purpose of the ASEAN MRA-TP, assessments and certifications are highly
encouraged from individuals to indicate that their learned competency standards have been assessed
by a third-party agency recognized by the ASEAN. All AMS will identify a TPCB to assess candidates on
the various qualifications, wherein in the Philippines’ TESDA is the TPCB.

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 The qualification of a tourism professional may be recognized by other AMS and they will be
eligible to work in any AMS provided that a valid tourism competency certificate in a specific tourism
job title as specified in the ASEAN Common Competency Standards for Tourism Professionals
(ACCSTP) issued by the TPCB in an AMS is presented. The eligibility to work in a country will be
subjected to prevailing domestic laws and regulations.

There are many processes in the tourism industry that have been computerized. However, the
uniqueness of the tourism industry is that most of the services that need to be rendered require an
actual person. Robots and systems can replace some of the operations, but a personal touch is still
needed in many points of the service. The hospitality in tourism is delivered by tourism professionals
who work in the various sectors of tourism.

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 ACTIVITIES

1. Identify a job title that interests you.

a. Identify the possible activities of “colleague” and “customer” interaction.
b. Identify common and unique areas of interaction.
c. Reflect if these interactions can be replaced by a computer system, robot, or some other artificial
intelligence (AI).
d. Conclude how people can still provide service in the tourism industry.

2. Using the qualifications of TESDA and ASEAN MRA-TP, answer the following items:
a. What are the similarities and differences in the titles and levels?
b. Compare the competency standards for the job title selected.
c. What are the competencies that cannot be replaced by any kind of computer system or AI?

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 CHAPTER 4 MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY IN TOURISM
With many improvements in the tourism industry, transportation, road connectivity, travel
within and outside a country, and people working outside of their area of residence locally, regionally,
and internationally crossing borders is now easier on everyone.

Roads have improved tremendously in the last 10 years, almost allowing people to travel from
north to south of the Philippines fully by land. Ferries and Rolls-ons/Roll-offs (RoRo) are available to
transport cars and buses to connecting islands. Cars, buses, trains, and many mass transit vehicles are
available at a range of price that is affordable fo various types of customer. The same thing can be said
about water and airline travel- a variety of prices and carriers are available, and because of
technology, improvements in the transport services have made travel more efficient and effective.
Before, it took two days to travel, now it takes less than 24 hours. There used to be no low-cost
carriers available, but now there is a host of travel arrangements that can be made.

What does this mean for the tourism professional? Work applications are not confined
anymore to the place of residence nor within the region but can be outside of the region, island, or
country.

What does this mean for the customers? The same thing as the workers. They can travel to
different places and countries. It is not just the physical distance that has changed, but because of
technology, everything is within easy access. Social media platforms and websites allow easy access to
information and collaborations to learn about practices, celebrations , and other things like people,
places, and things. The circle of friends that a person may have has exponentially grown as compared
to 20 years ago.

The oft-repeated saying “the world is getting smaller” is not anymore an impossibility but a
reality. It is not only getting smaller; traveling and connecting with people are now becoming easier
and quicker. With this borderless world, it has given rise to the Global Citizen, who may not be
confined to a being a “citizen of one country but one who can be considered a “native” of several
countries”. A good example of this is when parents, who come from different countries, have a child
who was born in another country, educated in different countries, or went to school where there are
international students. This student would have a “global perspective” compared to one who has
parents who come from one place and just stayed in one place the entire tie they were growing up.
The Global Citizen would gain an increasing interconnectedness between individuals, circles of friends,
countries, and economies, allowing for a global dimension. With technology, it is now easier to get to
know a person from another county and maintain either a personal or business relationship with
them.(Israel, 2012)

In the workplace, there will always be colleagues or customers who are not naturally local to
the place, bringing together people who have different cultural backgrounds who are expected to
work as a team and provide the products and services to meet the standards of the enterprise.
The term “multicultural” is also synonymous with the words “culturally-diverse,” “pluralism”,
“diversity”, “cross-culturalism, “ethnic inclusiveness”, ethnic mosaic, and “multiracialism”.

14
 Culture has several elements as discussed in Chapter 1. These elements interact with other
elements within a person. It would be rare to find two persons, even within the same family, even
with identical twins, with the exact same cultural background. There may be similarities, but each one
will have a unique cultural content, and this is what makes people different from each other.

Bringing several persons together will have their own circle of cultural elements interact with
each other’s. This is what gives rise to the multicultural diversity concerns.

Multiculturalism

This concept is created when a set of beliefs and behaviors acknowledges and supports the
existence of different communities within an organization or society, and as a result, acknowledges
and values its sociocultural differences, and promotes and facilitates its continued participation within
an inclusive cultural framework that empowers everyone within an organization or society. (Rosado,
2010).

Each person has their own set of beliefs that they bring to any relationship, including their
workplace. Even if two people come from the same family, with the same parents and environment,
due to the concept of “nature versus nurture”, they would have a different appreciation for certain
elements of culture because each person is unique.

When people bring their own beliefs, language, and other elements of culture to their
relationships, they may exercise common understanding and acceptance; but in some instances,
there could be challenges. There would be misunderstandings that may result in work-related output.

Thus, there is a need to understand each person and the “cultural baggage” that they bring to
the workplace. The “cultural baggage” would be the totality of the person that includes all the
elements of culture that they have acquired from their family and all their interactions with other
people. The tourism professional can provide the products and services, in collaboration with
colleagues, that are needed by customers and better handle the situation.

LEARN To Be Multicultural

There are many good references for multiculturalism in tourism available today. However, it
will take a lot of interaction, experience, and learnings to equip tourism professionals with the skills
that can help them become more multiculturally sensitive.

The following chapters have several selected incidents in the life of Filipino tourism
professionals that will help jumpstart the vicarious experience journey.
The strength of these experiences cited in this book is that all of these are from Filipinos.
Though we may have unique cultural elements, we share may common elements that will make it
easy for us to relate.

15
 To fully appreciate the experiences, look at each reflection and LEARN how to be multicultural.
 L - look and listen
 E - empower
 A- acknowledge, adopt, adapt
 R - respect
 N- nurture
Look and Listen

In any given situation, look at the total scenario as there may be underlying factors that can
contribute to the appreciation of the cultural elements. Listen to the discussion because sometimes,
verbal communication may be a challenge due to accent, tone, or lack of proficiency with a common
language. If a foreign language is used by someone who is not proficient in that language, such as the
English language, the sender or receiver of the message may resort to the use of on verbal
communication to make themselves be understood. If the idea of the message is not received,
miscommunication can happen, and the delivery of product or services is endangered within the
workplace or for customers.

The tourism professional must use all of their senses to get the most of the opportunity to
learn more about their colleagues and customers, specially regarding cultural impact.

Empower

Learning does not happen only in the classroom. Lifelong learning in various locations
continues even after graduation. There may be enterprise-base training that will be given to
employees, and these opportunities are highly encouraged specially if essential (soft) skills in service
training is provided. The focus is no longer on the technical skills but on the ways how to provide a
better service and understand colleagues and customers better.

Acknowledge, Adopt, Adapt

There is a need to acknowledge that there are differences among us.There is no one standard
way on how a Filipino reacts or behaves, considering that there are many distinct regional cultural
elements that may affect the person. After acknowledging that there are differences among people , a
choice can be made by the person to either adopt or adapt to the cultural element. If after the
acknowledgment, conflict with pre-existing values, or other elements arises, adoption can be made. If
there is still a conflict, then adaption can be made.
The tourism professional must learn these three as to be open about the differences and how
to handle them best.

16
Respect

There is no one superior or inferior culture. Tourism professionals should respect differences
and similarities among cultural elements as this becomes exciting way to know more about colleagues
and customers.

Nurture

Tourism professionals should nurture themselves with new learnings and grow with the times
as part of a hanging mindset. Some cultural elements may no longer be relevant to the times and thus
may need to be updated. Some that are still relevant should be nurtured so that the distinct cultural
elements of the region/family are still present.

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 ACTIVITY

Individual activity
a. Get a map of the world.
b. Using markers, plot where the members of your family, including maternal and paternal relatives
to the 3rd generation are based. (1st generation-grandparents and siblings of grandparents, 2 nd
generation-parents and siblings of parents, 3rd generation-you).
c. If you have siblings that are married, include them too.
d. Identify the unique and common cultural elements of your mother’s or father’s families.
e. Indicate how adjustments were made to accommodate the unique elements.

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 CHAPTER 5 MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY AMONG TOURISM-RELATED PROFESSIONS
Tourism industry has many sectors and cuts across various disciplines. The tourism
professional is very prone to experience multicultural diversity in the workplace due to interactions
with colleagues and customers who come from different places. Teamwork in this field is very
important as many in this field is very important as many processes in the customer cycle needs
interaction with other team members.

Case 1: The Tourism Professional and Balikbayans

There was another flight that I was in that required extra patience on my part because I was
gain faced not by one but a group of about 10 senior balikbayans flying from Honolulu to Manila after
many years of being away from the Philipiines. About an hour before landing at the Manila
International Airport (now Ninoy Aquino International Airport), some American passengers seated
close to this group called my attention to complain about the noisy balikbayans. The truth is, they
were indeed quite noisy if not rowdy. Deep inside, I knew these 10 Filipinos- Americans were just very
excited to be back home and to experience and re-live once again their memories of this land they
once called their home.

At this moment, I was dealing with a set of very different people- once Filipinos in their past,
now Americans by choice after migrating to America. With the exemption of two, everyone was
speaking English with a “twang” never answering in Filipino, so conversing with them was a little
amusing.

My mission was to ask my kababayans to tone it down a bit because other passengers were
complaining. I initially thought it was going to be as easy as just requesting them to tone down and
they would. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, the leader of the group stood up and put his face
too close to mine and bluntly told me that they were not going to tone down their voices and no
Filipino steward could command them to do so. I was aghast, to say the least. Since this leader was
behaving more like a spoiled brat than an adult, I decided to react to his childish demeanor by also
acting like a child too but a smart one.

Since I heard them also speak Ilocano interspersed with their English I decided to use the very
little Ilocano I know and surprise them with my first question which was, “anyat ti nagan mo?” The
leader of the pack, who still had face close to mine, suddenly retreated and asked “Ilocano ka?”. I
laughed and said that that was the only Ilocano I know. For some reason, he relaxed his stance and
continued to ask me questions. I spent some time with them because now all of a sudden it went
from “we will not follow any orders from anyone, much less a Filipino steward,” to “can you tell us
something more about yourself?” and “ would you like to learn more a few more Ilocano words?”.
Now that I was able to break the ice, I continued and told them that if they all toned down
their voices, I will give them each a nice toy souvenir fro PAL.

They became louder because they started cheering and thanking me already for the toys. I
reminded all of them, the toys will only come if there will be peace and quiet among them. They all

19
obliged. I went back to the galley and prepared 10 PAL airplane giveaways. I showed them the toys
and told them I will personally and happily hand this over to each of them before deplaning.
Fortunately, there was peace and quiet until we landed in Manila.

Reflections: five takeaways from this story

1. Filipino immigrants to the United States of America, specifically those that made the state of
Hawaii their place of residence, are mostly from the Ilocos region or Ilocanos.

2. Lucky for me, I was able establish a common thread between them and me by proudly saying
something in their native tongue; this broke the ice.

3. Balikbayans and OFWs are the most excitable Filipino airline passengers you will meet.
Understanding their excitement and putting yourself in their shoes is the first step to resolving
any conflicts that arise.

4. Little gestures mean a lot. The airplane toy giveaways were gifts they brought home to their loved
ones with the poignant story of how they got them. I am certain of that.

5. When this situation happened, I mut have been about 25 years old and deaing with people I
could have considered my grandparents. I did not see them just a a bunch of noisy senior
balikbayans. Respect.

Case 2: Crossing Industries for Tourism Professionals

There was one time a giant telecommunications company that was growing very fast that I
provide them with 25 of the very best hotel guest services managers to lead their premium branches
all over the Philippines. The idea was to transfer the technology of the provision of excellent customer
service in hotels to their telecom staff in these branches. The telecom giant had to offer my candidates
premium salaries, cars, and guaranteed bonuses for these hoteliers to make an industry shift in their
careers. It was a gamble for the telecom giant as well as the hoteliers. The good news is that more
than 10 years later, the majority of these batch of 25 have moved up the ladder in the organization to
executive-level positions with added responsibilities.

In this age of open borders, real-time communications, and more and more digital natives
joining the workforce, multicultural diversity becomes easier to understand and accept as a mutual
reality and a responsibility.
ACTIVITIES

Case 1: The Tourism Professional and Balikbayans

a. Identify the dialects spoken by your classmates.

b. Compute the percentage of each dialect spoken in the class.

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c. Compare the top 3 dialects spoken in class with the top 3 dialects spoken in the entire
Philippines.
d. Translate the following in various dialects:
i. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening
ii. Hello iii. May I help you?
iv. Enjoy your stay

Case 2: Crossing Industries for Tourism Professionals

a. Aside from the tourism sector, what other industries can a tourism professional work in?
b. What cultural elements will help a tourism professional succeed in this field?
c. Is culture uniquely a tourism concern? Why or why not?
d. What is a “digital native” and a “digital immigrant”?
e. What are the applications you have in your phone? Why did you install them?
CHAPTER 6 DIVERSITIES: SIMPLE AND COMPLEX
In this chapter , we will look more closely at two diversities: simple and complex, and other
diversities common in the tourism profession. Their country of origin will create general
characteristics in a person, as well as language issues. These cultural differences may pose as
challenges for the tourism professional in the workplace or with customers. Acknowledging these
differences is key in taking the appropriate actions for tourism professionals.

Case 1: Nationalities and First Impressions

Guessing a person’s nationality just by looking at his/her color might be tricky thing to do.

These was a time I was being asked to guess the nationality of a hotel guest. His Filipino
companion asked him not to talk until I guessed what country he come from. He was white, looked
like he was a six-footer with a big built, has light brown hair, and was quite friendly. I started the
guessing game with “Are yiu a German?” and the answer was flat no. I continued guessing: French,
Russian, Dutch, Australian, New Zealander, and all the time answers I received were flat noes. In semi
frustration I said, “What about American or Canadian perhaps?” and it was still a big no. I apologized
to ou guest and said, “I give up”.

With a smirk in his face and stern look he exclaimed, “I am proudly South African”.

At that time in the Philippines, it was such a rare occasion to meet someone from South
Africa. Little did I know then that there were white South Africans. I thought all Africans were black.

This interaction exposed me to some cultural diversities such as nationality, race, and
language. Although this guest spoke English quite fluently, he was excited for me hear him speak in his
native language called Afrikaans, one of 11 major languages spoken in South Africa including English.
Afrikaans is beautiful language, I dare say.

21
 This South African I met in 1992 so loved the Philippines that he decided to make it his home.
He is now a permanent resident and a practicing hotelier. His Filipino wife is an executive of an iconic
coffee brand with over 500 outlets in the country. His marriage to a Filipina made his transition t our
culture and traditions even more meaningful. However, despite over a two-decade-long-stay in the
country, he still does not speak Filipino. Why is that? When Filipinos migrate anywhere in the world,
the majority of our kababayans learn to speak the language of their county of choice quite easily.

Reflections: five takeaways from this story

1. Never judge a book by its cover.
2. Remember that being African does not make you automatically black. There are white Africans,
and there are many white South Africans.
3. Many foreigners who come to the Philippines initially to work fall in love with the country and
with Filipinos. Many of them say it is very easy to get along with us; that we are friendly.Again,
this is not a myth, it is truth.
4. By being able to speak English and communicate with foreigners who cannot speak in Filipino,
we facilitate the lives of most of them working in the country.
5. Foreigners, like this gentleman, know that having chosen to live in the Philippines and marrying a
native requires that they start seriously assimilating to our Filipino culture. An example of this
assimilation is when he asked me to be their ninong for their wedding. As is almost always the
case, Filipinos do not say no to a request like this.

It i also a challenge to distinguish Asians as the Japanese, Koreans. Vietnamese, and Chinese
from one another just by looking at them. Their skin tone and facial structure share some similarities.
Filipinos, Indonesians, Thais, Malaysians, and people from Brunei have very similar features aside
from the color of skin and hair. Hispanics from South American countries like Argetina, Costa Rica,
Columbia, and Venezuela have very similar features. The Spaniards, Portuguese, and Italians are
Caucasians but quite different from their European counterparts like the Germans and the French.

Among the top nationalities that visit our country as tourists are (not necessarily in this order)

1. South Koreans
2. Chinese
3. Japanese
4. Taiwanese
5. Singaporeans
6. Malaysians
7. Americans
8. Canadians
9. Australians
10. British

In the country, most expatriates working in tourism -related establishments are hotel general
managers, airline country managers, golf club managers, executive chefs, specialty chefs, airline
engineers, and mechanics.

22
 The hotel general managers and chefs are mostly Americans, Canadians, Australians, British,
French, Swiss, Italian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Indian, Japanese, and Chinese.

When I was flying with PAL early in my career, among the nationalities I worked with were
Greek (our vice president for passenger services, Spanish (most cabin crew managers were either
(pure Spanish or Spanish mestizos), and the nationalities of all our station managers in eah country
we were then flying to, which included Chinese, Singaporean, Indonesian, Thai, Jaoanese, Pakistani,
Italian, German, Dutch, Australian, and American.

At work, the nationalities I encountered were numerous in as much as PAL was flying all over
the world, to Honolulu and San Francisco in the United States of America, Sydney and Melbourne in
Australia, Tokyo in Japan, Taipei in Taiwan, Hongkong, Singapore, Jakarta Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur in
Malaysia, Bangkok in Thailand. Karachi in Pakistan, Rome in Italy Frankfurt in Germany, and
Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Besides the nationals from all these countries, many other passengers from other continents
would patronize PAL. The passengers I encountered included Africans from countries like Nigeria,
Uganda, and Ethiopia; Europeans from Spain, England, Switzerland, and Austria; Scandinavians from
Norway, Denmark, and Sweden; Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates,
Qatar, and Oman; and Asians from India, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and China.

One of the basic training program we had to undergo while at PAL was a cross-cultural
diversity orientation program. I believe this helped me a great deal in all the future dealings I had with
all these nationalities, both very good interactions as well as very challenging ones. The good
interactions always had to deal with a pleasant exchange of information about each other’s countries
and nationalities. People are always interested to know more about cultures. The more challenging
interactions had to do with passenger issues and complaints; and this is where your training as well as
your measure of emotional quotient, plays a very vital role in your multicultural diversity
engagements.

My superiors in PAL were majority Spanish-speaking Filipinos or Filipino-Spanish mestizos.

Since I was also considered a Spanish mestizo, it was not very difficult to deal with them because I
could easily speak Spanish. I learned how to speak at home where Spanish, English and Filipino were
the languages spoken. Spanish was also a required subject in my elementary and high school.

There were many times I thought I was luckier compared to the other crew members who
were pure Filipinos. But was I really luckier? I am not, because at the end of the day we were all
Filipinos first and foremost, and our top management was very aware that nurturing a distinction
between pure Filipinos and Spanish mestizos was not going to be beneficial for an efficient,
productive, and motivated cabin crew.

Despite the disparities in nationalities among the crew (Filipino, Filipino-Spanish, and
Japanese, there was unity, understanding, and respect for one another. We were one team As a
matter of fact, it was this diversity among us that made our passenger service excellent. Our service,
after all, was international.

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 In the hotel industry, I came across French, German, Swiss, Italian, Australian, Dutch, American,
Austrian, Japanese, Malaysian, Korean, and Chinese chefs. I also came across British, Spanish,
Australian , Irish, Indian,Japanese, Canadian, and American hotel managers.

At the Hyatt Regency manila in 1985, I had two very opposite experiences in dealing with
expatriate chefs. One of them was a German national who was very stern and very serious. He rarely
smiled. He was not an easy person to engage with. While he just recently graduated from one of the
finest hotel schools in the world, Le Roche International Hotel School of Management; the other chef,
a Malaysian, was just starting his career in the kitchen. The Filipino staff had many difficulties dealing
and working with the German chef but found it so easy to work with the Malaysian. So, how did these
two chefs differ so much they solicited opposite reactions from the Filipinos? Germans, just like the
Swiss, are highly disciplined and rigorous workers. They are very precise in the things thy do and
almost always on time, very punctual at work and prompt in the submission of work-related reports
and assignments.

The German chef was simply being himself! Because he was simply being himself, we Filipinos
could not understand why he had to be so strict ans stern. Filipinos, as we all know and is something
we should not be proud of, are not very punctual. We come to work late and we find many excuses
why we cannot submit reports on time. I am generalizing of course, not all Filipinos are so. Therefore,
because of this disconnect, there was conflict in the kitchen often and I had to referee the conflicts
that always arose. A total waste of productive time.

The issue at hand was almost about getting things done on time and precisely how you were
taught to do so. The chef was right in insisting his cooks and chefs shape up or ship out. This was a
case where I took advantage of the situation by informing our Filipino chefs that this was all about
simply doing our jobs well and doing them promptly. What is wrong with that? Nothing. What was
wrong was how the message was being communicated by the German chef. Filipinos are
hypersensitive by nature an detest being reprimanded, much less being shouted at. I had a serious
one-onone advisory talk with the chef and told him that “ it takes two to tango”, and therefore, he had
to learn how to tango, the Filipino tango that is!

I impressed upon him that he was right and that the hotel expected him to do so his job,
including instilling discipline among the ranks. However, this time he was disciplining a bunch of
Filipinos and the way to make them follow the leader is by inspiring them to do so, not instilling fear
in them; otherwise, the kitchen would always be in a stalemate situation.

The chef understood and decided to heed my advice and change his strategy completely. He
began talking to each cook individually and implemented a mentoring program that included showing
them how things should be done if thy wanted to be great chefs in the future. He toned down his
rhetoric and instead started becoming friends with everyone.

His new approach was accepted by all, and because he was willing to humble himself for the
sake of unity and efficiency, the Filipino staff gave him more than 100% support after his
transformation.

24
 The Malaysian chef on the other hand was the exact opposite. Perhaps it was because he was
younger and just starting his career or maybe because we could say he was one of us Asians, but he
was very friendly and approachable. He was also very eager to know about the Philippines and
Filipinos and learn how to speak Filipino. This chef eventually learned to love the country and its
people, and as a matter of fact, married a Filipina. The chef decided to make the Philippines his
permanent domicile and is now a Filipino-Malaysian. He is one of the most successful expatriates who
has decided to make the Philippines his home. This chef speaks Filipino fluently and proudly speaks it.

Looking back and having known this Malaysian chef since the Hyatt times to this day, I can say
that his quiet demeanor and great ability to inspire others led to his very successful integration with
Filipinos and the Philippines. When foreigners lead the way in the pursuit of this integration Filipinos
give way, accept, and support this foreigner all the way.

Reflections:five takeaways from this story

1. Different folks, different strokes. This best describes how people of different nationalities
generally differ in their manner of dealing with other nationalities. There are multitude of reasons
for this and the most notable are the environment they were brought up in , the culture and
traditions they have assimilated through the years, and the education they received about how to
go about living in this world.

2. Whatever nationality you belong to, when at work, work must be carried out efficiently and
effectively; productivity does not recognize nationalities.

3. Sometimes, the end does not justify the means. In this case, the German chef’s objective, and
who can debate that? It was the manner he was delivering the message that needed some
tweaking for that objective to become a reality.

4. Filipinos, like many other Asian nationalities, are quite sensitive, especially at work. We take
things personally instead of objectively, oftentimes resulting in a productivity deadlock.

5. Good leaders are those who can inspire their teams to be their best, all the time, even in their
absence.

Case 2: Is Personal Hygiene Important?

Another diversity issue involved another expatriate chef ( a European) who had a major
hygiene problem, which proved to be very difficult to bear for his co-workers, especially in enclosed
spaces. The chef was completely unaware of this sensitive issue until I had to handle it myself.
Sometimes, some people are just completely unaware of the disturbances they cause in the
workplace, specifically regarding body odor.

25
 The chef took the discussion positively and we put a “personal rucifi program” in place with an
objective that within a period of 30-60 days, this body odor problem would have been solved. The
problem was solved, and it never recurred.

His Filipino co-workers were too shy to bring up the matter directly to their boss but would
enjoy talking behind his back during lunch and break periods to the point of making the chef the
laughingstock of the entire department without his knowledge.

When the issue was resolved, I had to also point out to all the chef’s co-workers that in similar
in the future, the best thing to do is to let the other party know in a tactful way and never to laugh
this condition that could happen to anyone. Filipinos are not exempted from also having this problem.

Case 3: It’s More Fun in the Philippines

Countries pride themselves on their culture and traditions, introducing these to the world.
And why not? This is one of the purest forms of dignity that people can proclaim as their very own.

In the tourism industry, cultural tourism is one of the major attractions for travelers all over.
Travelers are interested in the lifestyle and history of people, their art, their architecture, as well as
their religion.

Culturally Modified is a quarterly online publication about the world’s cultural resources, both
physical and intangible , and these are the seven destinations they recommend strongly for cultural
tourism:
1. Lombok, Indonesia
2. Latvia
3. Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
4. Northern Sri Lanka
5. Chang Mai, Thailand
6. Lago Maggiore, Italy
7. Madagascar

TripAdvisor, on the other hand, lists down the 10 most popular destinations for cultural
tourism in the world:

1. Vatican City
2. Chicago Architecture River Cruise
3. Ancient Rome and the Colosseum
4. Rome
5. Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain
6. Eiffel Tower
7. Empire State Building
8. Murano, Burano, and Torcello in Venice
9. Tuscany
26
10. Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London
In the Philippines, these are the top 10 destinations for cultural tourism:
1. Cebu City (basilica del Santo Niño and and Magellan’s Cross)
2. Intramuros, Manila (Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, and Fort Santiago)
3. University of Santo Tomas
4. Banaue Rice Terraces, Mountain Province
5. Rizal Park
6. Baguio City ( Baguio Cathedral and Camp John Hay)
7. Bohol Province (multiple churches)
8. Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
9. Corregidor Island
10. National Museum of the Philippines, Manila

In a discussion about culture and traditions, we need to have both a macro and micro view on
culture and traditions; thus, the enumerations above. When it comes to culture and traditions,
countries compete for the attention of the world traveler. Countries want travelers to experience
what they have lived through and experienced themselves by sharing these valuable assets, tangible
and intangible, to as many people possible.

As a tourism professionals, sharing your own culture and traditions with your future customers
and guests in whatever tourism job you end up taking is already a given. Ensure full knowledge of all
these and share them with a passion.

Traditions come in variety of forms. Some are highly popular and are anticipated and
participated in not just by the nationals observing them but also by other nationalities from different
countries. Countries that offer cultural tourism report economic benefits for the stakeholders. But
more important than the economic benefits is the increased attention generated for the proper
preservation of these cultures for future generations.

However, some traditions are so controversial that they often invite criticism from others
outside that tradition. All in all, everyone is entitled to observe and enjoy what is theirs.

One controversial example of a centuries-old tradition is the fiesta of San Fermin in Pamplona,
Spain where the very famous Running of the Bulls happens every year from July 6 to 14. In this
festival, the bulls are set free in the streets leading to the bull yard with Spanish males in front of
them running for their lives. Many Spanish males have died, gorged by these angry bulls; but since it
is their culture and it is a tradition, they take these deaths as part of the whole exercise and
experience. Nobody is complaining Death will not stop these Spanish males from risking their lives.

A popular practiced in the USA is observed every last Thursday of November or Thanksgiving
Day. The whole nation pauses to celebrate this day. No table will pass without the ubiquitos turkey.
To many Americans, Thanksgiving Day is a bigger event than Christmas or New Year.

In the Philippines, among the most observed traditions by the majority of the Catholic
population is the nine-day Simbang Gabi from December 16 to 24. Filipinos look forward to these
27
nine days in December when the weather is colder and our favorite bibingka and puto bumbong are
there for the taking.

Another popular tradition in the Philippines is found in every town and city-the ubiquitos
fiesta. This is a very good excuse to celebrate , be merry, indulge in food and drink, and get
intoxicated. But all this is part of the culture and tradition of these specific towns and cities. For the
public, there are no rules on how one chooses to be merry and celebrate.

The examples above present an idea about the importance of how culture and tradition play a
role in every person’s life. How these traditions play into the performance of our roles as tourism
professionals is the interesting part of this discourse.

Tourism professionals should be willing to share stories of their local customs and traditions
with both their peers and their customers or guests. This way, more people will have an awareness
about a particularly town or city, and why the residents choose to celebrate their fiesta in a fashion.
In the same token, these tourism professionals must be ready and willing to listen to the stories of
their peers and guests as well. Sharing of these cultures and traditions is a wonderful way to get to
know more about different people and places.

There are instances though when the celebration of these traditions become a hindrance in
the workplace. Take for example, the consequences of being drunk after too much drinking during
these fiestas. In very many instances, absences spike in the workplace because staff could not come
to work the day after. Worse, the absence is extended to another day or two because of fiesta
hangovers.

Every management has had challenges in dealing with these instances, including the advance
requests for leaves on these special occasions. The problems arise when the dates requested happen
to be peak days for the establishment and absences or leaves are not allowed.

An excellent example for Filipino Catholic devotee is the Black Nazarene of Quiapo Church in
Manila. Every year, January 9 is a day permanently marked in their calendar and no company policy
can stop them from being absent or on leave on this day. The devotion to the Black Nazarene of
Quiapo is one of the most popular and highly celebrated Catholic devotions in the country, with
some devotees displaying extreme devotional acts, close to if not actual fanaticism.

Another Catholic devotion that man observe with a passion is the four day of the Holy
WeekHoly Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, and Easter Sunday. Devotees either take advantage
of the long period to enjoy a vacation with their family, go home to their provinces, or strictly
observe these holy days by staying home and attending the holy Week rituals in their respective
Catholic churches. The Holy Week days are less problematic compared to the Black Nazarene feast,
which is a non-negotiable devotional day, almost always.

Cultures and traditions are ingrained in each one of us without exception. For the tourism
professional, these are great tools that can be nurtured and proudly proclaimed to as many people

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 as possible. One does not need to learn these anymore; they are already part of our DNA. Use them
positively.
Since Filipino fiestas occur almost daily from January 1 to December 31, let us review which all
these fiestas are the most popular not only to Filipinos but to foreigners as well.

Here are the top 10 fiestas in our country according to multi-awarded travel portal Our
Awesome Planet:

1. Dinagyang Festival, Iloilo City, every 4th Sunday of January

2. Sinulog Festival, Cebu City, every 3rd Sunday of January
3. Ati-atihan Festival, Kalibo City, every 3rd Sunday of january
4. Pahiyas Festival, Lucban, Quezon, every 15th of May
5. Masskara Festival, Bacolod City, every 3rd weekend of October
6. Panagbenga Festival, Baguio City, every last Sunday of February
7. Hot Air Ballon Festival, clark, Angeles City, Thursday to Sunday on the 2nd or 3rd week of February
8. Kadayawan Festival, Davao City, every 3rd weekend of August
9. Ligligan Parul, San Fernando City, every 2nd Sunday of December
10. Cutud Crucifixion, San Fernando City, every Good Friday at 3 PM

At the minimum , you are expected to be very familiar with all these 10 fiestas. In your job as a
tourism professionals, it would always be a pleasurable experience when you can discuss your culture
and traditions with as many of your customers or guests as possible. This way, your customers or
guests will also freely tell you about theirs.

If we were able to list down 10 of the most famous fiestas in the country, which are all very
deeply rooted in our Filipino culture, what about the most revered traditions we still practice to this
day?

Here are the top five traditions of Filipinos in general. There are in truth, more than this,
except that many others are no longer being practiced. As a matter of fact, among the five mentioned
below, numbers 2 and 3 are almost extinct:

1. Bayanihan- The original concept of bayanihan was when the whole barrio would help a neighbor
move this nipa hut by carrying this on their shoulders to the new home location. Nowadays,
bayanihan is synonymous with our trait of national helpfulness, helping our countrymen in times
of need.

2. Harana- This is the traditional form of courtship where the man would sing and woo the woman
outside her window at night.

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3. Paninilbihan- This is another traditional form of courtship where the man would serve the
woman’s family by doing manual tasks like cutting wood for cooking and fetching water.
4. Sukob- This is the belief that it is unlucky to be married in the same year as another member’s
marriage.

5. Pagmamano- This is the action of placing the back of the palm of an elder’s hand on your
forehead as a sign of respect.

In this chapter, we discussed simple and complex cultural diversities. Most of the discussions
focused on what tourism professionals should be prepared for in the different tourism professions
you will start experiencing once you graduate from your Tourism and Human Resource Management
courses.

Let my personal accounts be a guide to your handling of your own future interactions with
everyone you meet along the way. The more you know, the richer your profession becomes!

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 ACTIVITIES

1. Case 1: Nationalities and First Impression

a. Check the latest Department of Tourism data on the Top International Tourist Arrivals in the
Philippines.
b. Assign the top nationalities to the different students
c. Identify common perceptions of at least five general physical features and five different cultural
elements of your assigned nationality. Use pictures to show the physical features. Include
pictures if the cultural elements can be visualized and describe using a 50-word caption.

2. Case 2: Is Personal Hygiene Important?

Write a 200-250 word essay on the Importance of Personal Hygiene in the Tourism Enterprise.

3. Case 3: It’s More Fun in the Philippines

a. Select a province.
b. Identify a festival unique to the province.
c. Show a short video clip of the festival
d. Exhibit a picture of the festival and its historical significance

4. Individual Activity: It’s Fun also Around the World!

a. Select a country.
b. Identify a festival unique to the country.
c. Show a short video clip of the festival.
d. Exhibit a picture of the festival and its historical significance.
CHAPTER 7 HANDLING GUEST OR CUSTOMER DIVERSITIES

As tourism professionals, handling our guests or customers is the most important

responsibility we perform day in and day out.

Our customers or guests are , first and foremost, the people who are paying our respective
companies for a service, be it an airline ticket, a hotel room, a limousine ride, a buffet lunch, or a
package tour.

These customers or guests are as diverse as there are stars in the heavens. No one customers
or guest is like the other. We must live with this reality in our professional lives.

There is nothing wrong with having to deal with multitudes of different personalities daily in
the first place. As a matter of fact, tourism professionals are among the most blessed workers i the
world for this unique situation. Therefore, we should be grateful that we exist in a multicultural
diverse environment every minute of our working day. It is a blessing, not a curse.

In my multicultural diversity classes where most of my students are foreigners, I share real-life
stories from the over four decades in the three industries I spent all my life in- in airlines, media, and
hospitality.

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 Here are 10 ways tourism professionals should handle customer or guest diversities:
1. In everything, the first rule is to always be professional in all your dealings with everyone .Being
professional is a basic requirement in the workplace. Being professional should be an attitude
from within each one of us. This does not need to be taught. You do not require mentorship to
become professional. In the tourism industry, in instances when a staff member becomes
unprofessional toward his customers or guests, it is taken very seriously. Depending on the case,
unprofessionalism can be a cause for termination of employment or, at the very least, along
suspension of 30 days with a proviso that if the staff repeats the act another time, they will be
terminate.

2. Know your job passion. Knowing exactly the why, what, how, and when of your job will give your
required confidence to be able to be of service to your customers or guests. Many foreigners can
be intimidating in their approach. Some can be the exact opposite. Either way, knowing your job
well is the best tool to address all kinds of people.

Here are five tips on how you can always have an excellent understanding of your job:
 Know and understand your detailed job description
 Familiarize yourself with the standards and procedures pertinent to your section an
department.
 Read and remember all current memoranda pertinent to your section and department.
 Always attend and be present for operational meetings, regular training programs, and other
special programs.
 Do your research and study the current trend pertinent to your job and industry.

3. Learn how to be a good listener. In our world, which is full of diverse personalities, a tourism
professional is expected to lead the way in bringing from all parts of the globe together. This
becomes even truer if you are working as a crew member of the leading cruise liners in the world.
These cruise liners, which travel the major capitals and tourism destinations, can accommodate
thousands of passengers in a singe cruise, and these passengers are a mix of nationalities from
the seven continents. Passengers in cruises know that, once onboard, meeting other passengers
and having fun together is part of the experience. A cruise line staff will have to be a good
listener to e able to catch even the same sentence in English be spoken differently by 25 different
nationalities. Cruise line staff who are good listeners will always know what is being asked.
Passengers can easily be irritated by staff who do not easily understand their statements, much
less their questions.

Here are five techniques of a good listener

 Maintain eye contact with the speaker.
 Listen very carefully with sincere interest.
 Empathize when necessary.
 Seek clarification to ensure complete understanding.
 Always keep an open mind.

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4. Go beyond the basics of being friendly. In our industry, being courteous ad friendly is a basic
requirement. Some staff take this a little bit too naively. If they greet a customer or guest with a
smile, they are doing what is expected of them at the minimum. Good tourism professionals
should know how to engage their customers or guests with some conversational banter. The
advantage of Filipino tourism professionals is that we have the facility of speaking English, and
are by nature, friendly, talkative people.

Here are five reminders to ensure you remain consistently friendly:

 Have a friendly, welcoming demeanor all the time.
 Listen before talking, do not grab the spotlight.
 Do not use devices when having a conversation with people.
 Be in tune with everyone around you.
 Show sincere interest by asking questions.

5. Be efficient . Customers or guests judge our service by our efficiency first and foremost.
Courteousness and friendliness are just as important but still come second to being efficient. In
the developed countries, which include many of our neighbors like Japan, Hong Kong, and
Singapore, efficiency is king. In Switzerland, punctuality and efficiency are basic to their
population. In Germany, as in most industrialized nations on earth, efficiency in the production
lines is the foundation of their manufacturing successes. In France, they have mastered excellence
in culinary field. In the Philippines, we still have many issues about being efficient.

Here are five ways to re main efficient all the time:

 Focus on the task at hand, do not multitask
 Learn how to delegate
 Communicate accordingly, using the right media to do so.
 Time all tasks, taking downtime into consideration
 Plan ahead

6. Embrace all differences. Multicultural diversity is about embracing everything we are not. We do
not necessarily have love or to agree anything that is not us, but we can be respectful of other
religions, languages and dialects, customs, and tradition and sexual preferences. We live in a
world where diversity should b able to bring us together to live in peace despite these
differences.

7. Understand to be understood. When diversity is the norm in your workplace, being

understanding of the faults or shortcomings of others, especially your customers or guests, is a
very good way to opening the doors to a mutually beneficial interaction at any particular
moment.

8. Become a walking Wikipedia. Regarding knowledge about countries nationalities, cultures,

traditions, and religions, tourism professionals should learn as much as possible. By so doing, you
will be able to have meaningful conversations with your customers or guests when these

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 conversations are merited. In our industry,m this is quite often the case for tour guides, cabin
crew, hotel guest service officers, butlers, and bartenders.

9. Observe the basic rules of engagement. In all the instances previously mentioned, you are
engaged in a conversation or interaction with your customer or guest; therefore, you must be
able to observe the basic rules of engagement. The first rule is to look at customer or guest in the
eye at all appropriate times. This will make the customer feel that they are important person you
are engaging with at the moment. The second rule to greet the customer not by calling them “sir”
or “ma’am” but by calling them by their name. The third, and final rule is that at the end of the
conversation, you thank the customer or guest and wish to see them again, soon.

10. Be yourself. In everything, be yourself. You are microcosm of the bigger version of yourself,
which is supposed to be your company. Do not try to be someone else you are not. Your
customers or guests look at you, stare at you, and observe you all the time; but that does not
mean you have to wear a mask or a facade. Customers or guests are smart to conclude that
perhaps your smile is fake, or your eye contact disengaged, or your handshake is weak. When you
are yourself always, the true spirit of your persona will exude the confidence and sincerity
customers or guests appreciate and look for in tourism professional.
ACTIVITIES

1. Each student should choosea film that shows multiculturism.

2. Discuss the cultural elements in the film that posed challeges.
3. Identify how these challenges were resolved.
4. Prepare one-page report focusing on one cultural element.

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 CHAPTER 8 HANDLING MULTICULTURAL PEER DIVERSITIES
Peers are eople too, just like customers or guests, exept that peers are with you 8 hours a day,
5 days a week, or at minimum, 170 hours a month. In many cases, you sped more time with your
peers than with your love ones and friends.

Diversity among peers can either be much easier to handle or perhaps much more difficult to
take. In both cases, it is beacause of the amount of time you spend with them. If you are a tourism
professional, you should be able to handle peer diversities easily.

Here are the 10 ways tourism professionals should handle peer diversities:

1. In the workplace and among peers, the first rule is to always be yourself. This was the last rule
in the preceding chapter. Why is it first in this chapter? If there is one behavior peers detest the
most, it is when someone in their team is trying their best to be someone else instead of just
being themselves. This behavior in colloquial lingo is referred to as people who are “plastic”. So,
even before being able to handle peer diversities among the members of your team and all the
other employees of your company, you must be able to deal with your own diversity issues. When
someone is generally considered a “plastic” person, that means they are hiding the truth
beneath their persona. In this case, they will be a big failure in the aspects of being able to
successfully deal with peer diversities because they, themselves, are having an issue in dealing
with their own. Therefore, rule number one is non-negotiable. It would be a useless exercise to
go through rules 2 to 10 without first ensuring rule number one is indeed the first and most
important aspect in handling peer diversities.

2. Be a team player. Successful teams equal successful companies. You are one among many team
members of diverse personalities. The general idea in team building is that there can be unity
even in diverese settings. The challenge with teams is that, sometimes, one team member can
pull down the entire team by behaving against the standard norms of team behavior. When a
team member does this, it is usually beacuse they are having issues with ome team members;
and instead of dealing with the issues professionally , they deal with the issues personally, putting
the whole team at risk of failur. Becoming a team player simply means you must know to deal
with all kinds of team issues, including diverity issues. A team member who has a problem
accepting the differences in opinions and personalities if other team members should be
transformed to be abe to belong; otherwise, the only reamining option for this misbehaving
members is dismembering.

Here are five characteristics of a good team player:

 He/She embraces collaboration.
 He/She holds himself/herself accountable.
 He/She is committed to the team.  He/She is flexible.
 He/She is positive and supportive.

35
3. Become an inspiration to others. By behaving in a manner that will send signals to others that
you are highly mature and caring person, your peers will look up to you and aspire to be like you.
The more members in your team start inspiring one another, the more the team will be cohesive
and ready for any challenges ahaed, including the sensitive handling of issues surrounding peer
cultural diversities. These issues are real and, sometimes, if not properly addressed, can be
causes for disfunction is something companies guard against daily, because disfunction leads to
low productivity and low morale.

4. Engage you peers in cultural diversity discussion. The more you intelligently discuss the different
aspects of diversity like nationalities, regions, languages, dialects, religions , practices, traditions,
and sex among your peers, the better you will understand one another. The more you will learn to
respect one another. The more you will know about each other’s differences. The idea being that
life is so diverse; that being a Filipino and a Ctaholic are not the only things out there; and that
beacuse your peer is from Sulu and a Muslim; does not mean they are less than you. THe best
knowledge we can larn about therese diversities can be gained by engaging our peers who are
diverse and sncerely asking them about these diversities, not because you want to say you are
better, but beacuse you want to accept the relities of these diversities and choose to respect all.

5. Become a walking Wikipedia. This was rule number 8 in the receeding chaptr. Why should it be a
rule here too? I said a “walking Wikipedia” only eagrding learning more about countries,
provinces, nationalities, languages, dialects, cultures, traditions, and religion. By so doing, you will
be able to have meaningful conversations with your pers as often as possible. It would be a
woderful experience to hear first-hand stories about fiestas and how our peers celebrtae these in
theur respective towns or cities. The Philippines has some of the most colorful and happy
festivities all year around. Can you imagine listening to the story from apeer about his solid
devotion to one of the most attended processions in the country, the feast of the Black Nazarene
of Quiapo celebrated on the 9 th of January , and why he is so devoted to this? There are many
other feasts of thesame magnitude as the Feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City,
celebrated every third Sunday of September. For example, there is the centuries-old procession in
honor to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila in Sto. Domingo Chrurch,
Quezon City. The devotions to our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran and the devotion to Our
Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan remain two of the most popular Catholic devotions in the
country. We are experts about the traditions of our own towns and cities, but sometimes, are
totally ignorant about others. Learning about thesefrom your peers can help yu know our country
more. By knowing more our country, you become a better-informed tourism professional.

Here are five tourism-related portals I recommend you use to help you in your day-to-day
professional work engagements:

 TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com)
 Hotels Magazine (www. Hotelsmag.com)
 World Tourism Organization (www.hotelsmag.com)
 Philippine Tourism Department (www.dot.govph)
 Our awesome Plant (www. Our Awesome Planet (www.ourawesomeplanet.com)

36
6. Find time for your peers, even outside of work. Working eight hours a day, five a week can be
grueling sometimes. You and your peers can try your best to also relax and enjoy yourselves over
dinner or a cocktail party every now and then. It is avery good idea to join this bonding time
outside the workplace beacuse all of you will be in a happy and celebratory mood. Many times,
peers make it a rule not to talk about their work, but this is easier saif than done. These
gettogethers are a very good way of getting to know your peers in a more informal setting. Peers
usually open up about themselves more easily in these occassions. These sessions must become
a venue for getting to know more about one another, thus, developing a deeper understanding of
the different personalities in the team. Here, stronger bonds are developed. This bonding goes a
long way in the nurturing of our reationships. I recently conducted a Visioning Workshop for a
hew player in the resort market in Santiago. When we started writing the Values Statement of
the company, the very young members of the team (in their 20’s) wrote one of the most brilliant
Value Statements I have ever seen. It is simple, direct, and loaded with value. It reads: “We value
relationships....”

7. Include short three-minute diversity quotes/learnings in everyday meetings. In thetourism

industry, staff usually start their shifs with a short daily 15-30 minute operation briefing. It will be
a good idea to encourage multicultural diversity awareness among everyone by including a 1-3
minute daily sharing by a member of the team on anything related to diversity in the workplace.
It could be a quotation, a prayer, an article, or anything of positive value. I remember doing this
in one hotel in the Middle East where I was working as a consulatnt. I implemented this practice
because, at that time, this hotel has over 20 different nationalities working there, and it was
plagued with numerous diversity challenges. This short sharing is easy to implement and gets
team members involve in the importance of diversity awareness.

8. Around the world in 12 months. The human capital department of your company should
consider a program whereby all staff activities for a particular month will delve around a selected
country. The selection of these 12 countries should be done based on their representation in the
workplace or the top 12 countries represented in the workplace. Staff activities. Like the monthly
birthday celebrations, can be programmed with fun learning activities and games about these
countries. From experience, this approach is highl popular, with the citizens from these countries
contributing a great deal. The program also keeps motivation high among all staff because they
always have something new to look forward to. The games can also be big surprises. This is a very
informal and fun way to learn more countries, their people, their customs, and their traditions.
This program is a winner for multicultural diversity awareness.

9. Be discreet and sensitive. Diversity isuues like religion and sex are among the most sensitive of
all diversities. Many would rather keep their religion or sexual life as private as possible , without
having to share the details of these with their peers. You must always be discreet and sensitive in
cases of this nature and ensure you respect their stand on these matters. When faced with these
peers who value their privacy, especially in these issues, respecting their wishes and being
discreet is the best way to go. Never force the issue of wanting to know. In the first place, it is
none of your business.

37
10. Celebrate each other’s diversities. It is only when you start sincerely celebrating each other’s
diversities that you can say you have conquerred the multicultural diversity challenges in the
workplace . Celebration means total acceptance and understanding of our differences without
any jidgment, without any comparison, without any rating as to who is excellent, very good,
average, marginal, or poor. Celebration means entering and praying in mosques even if you are
Catholic when invited by your Muslim friends. Celebration means attending an LGBTQ party when
invited by your LGBTQ friends. Celebration means standing in attention when the national
anthem of your friend’s country is being played during an occassion you have been invited to by
this foreign friend. At the end of the day, we are all one people living in one world. Our world
now no longer has borders beacuse of the facility of reaching out to oe another. Thus, it makes it
easier to easily cross boundaries filled with diverse peoples, diverse cultures and traditions, and
diverse religious and spiritual practices. It is time we celebrate our borderless diversities.

38
 ACTIVITIES

Colored Milk and Shades of Skin Colors

Goal: To understand why people have different skin colors

Time: 5-10 minutes

Materials:

 a glass of white milk

 a spoon
 a package of cofee

Procedure:
1. Compare the skin colors of the members of the class. What initial findings do you have?
2. Inquire if anyone knows why there are different skin colors.
3. Pour milk in a glass and hold it up for the class to see.
4. Ask if anyone in the room has skin as white as the milk in the glass. (The answer should be “No”,
unless there is a peron with albinism in the class.)
5. Ask if the students know about “melanin”, a pigment that is responsible for coloring the skin.
Have a little discussion about melanin.
6. Hold up the package of cofee powder. Ask the students to pretend the coffee powder is melanin.
7. Make the following statements as you add the coffee to the glass :
a. Fair-colored people have a small amount of melanin in their skin. (Put a little coffee in the glass
and stir.) Identify which countries people of this color will most likely come from. Locate them on
the globe or map.
b. There are some with a slightly darker skin color. They have more melanin in their skin. (Put
more coffee in the glass and stir). Indicate where these people will most likely come from and
point it in the globe or map.
c. There are people with a darker skin color. They have even more melanin in their skin. (Put
more coffee in and stir.) Identify which countries people of this color will most likely come from.
d. Ask the students why we have different amounts of melanin in our skin. What is the
relationship of the skin color to: i. rays of the sun; ii. Temperature-cold and warm;
iii. Season of the year- summer, winter, spring, and fall; rainy and dry; or depending on the
country’s seasons; and iv. Location-near of far from the equator?
8. What skin color burns faster in the summer sun?

Discussion:
1. Does a person’s skin color mke him/her rich or smart, dumb or stupid, or pretty or ugly?
2. What does a person’s skin color tell you about them?

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 CHAPTER 9 WHEN YOUR SUPERIOR IS DIVERSE

How different is it handling multicultural diversities of customers or guests and peers versus
handling multicultural diversities if it was of your superior at work? The fat and quick answer is that
there is no difference at all. All the rules of the previous two chapters apply here just the same.

However, when it is your superior who is diverse, perhaps they are a foreigner, a member of
the LGBTQ community, or a protestant, what else should do that we have not discussed in the
previous two chapters?

When it is your superior who is diverse, there are five rules to be guided by to make your
superior feel at ease with you:

1. The boss is always right. This of course is an exaggerated statement. I am using this statement to
simply overemphasize the obvious fact that in companies, there are organizational structures
that are in place and that all staff are required to respect and dutifully abide by their
organizational features, rules, and regulations. Your superior happens to be the person who sees
to it that everyone keep their toes behind the line. Now having said that, how do you apply this
rule to the boss? By simply accepting wholeheartedly your specific role in the organizational
structure, knowing fully well that they are your superior and, as such, under their direct authority.
Therefore, rule number one in managing your superior who is diverse is to show them that you
respect their authority and their person. Yes, that is the authority they carry as superior your and
the person behing that authority. Once that is clear to you and them then the succeeding four
rules will be easier to follow.

2. Be very observant. Bosses sometimes do not ask all the questions they need to ask one reason
or another. There are times foreigner bosses want to ask yu about the religious figurines on
display in your desk if, say, for example, you are a devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or the
more popular Santo Niño and you see them staring at your religious figurines. Do not be shy to
share your devotion to these saints. This is but one example of how you can eduacte your
superior about your culture and traditions without them asking you about it. You just happened
to be observant . There are many other ways your being observant can answer the unasked
questions of your shy superiors.

3. Be inquistive. If your boss is too shy to ask you questions about matters, they think are too
personal, you can be more inquisitive than them. Ask them questions about the things you se in
their office like their collection of paintings and the photos of their family on his desk. Engage
them in short banter about their country of origin and its people. You may want to tell them an
interesting piece of trivia you may know anout their country. However, be ready to contnue the
intelligent conversation that you started. Superiors appreciate staff that ask questions about
someting special and important to them. When you ask the right questions and engage your
superior in a wonderful conversation, they will be impressed by your sincere interest and
hoepefully more conversations will happen between the two of you as you work together. The
good thing about this is that your relationship will go beyond the time you are working together.

40
 Many bosses call their favorite staff and invite them to join them in their next assignment
somewhere in the world. Being inquisitive can literally take you places around the world. I am a
witness to hundreds of Filipinos that have been invited by their former bosses to join them in
some of the best countries in the world. Many of them choosing to stay as immigrants in these
countries. Many lives have been improved and transformed beacuse of these relationships. The
moral of this story is to alaways engage your bosses wonderful and inteligent conversations.

4. Respect this diversity. Today, whether you are male, female, or a member of the LGBTQ
community, your qualifications are on equal footing. No gender preference can make you better
tan the other. What is important is not your gender but your ability to perform a task you have
been hired to do effectively and professioanally. Ny respecting diversity, diverse people will
respect you as well.

5. Include your superior in all multicultural diversity activities and discussions. A boss should never
be exempt from any multicultural diversity program in the company. They shoul be at the
forefront of all these activities as a matter of fact. They cannot excuse themselves by saying they
have other things to do, much less saying they have other more important things to do . They also
cannot say that they know the subject matter already and can skip the discussion. You should be
able to impress upon your boss that it is their presence and authority that will lend credence to
all these activities by everybody. Actualy, a good boss does not need to be told these things, they
should know their presence is important in all these activities.
ACTIVITIES

What’s in My Bag? And Your Bag?

Goal: To develop sensitivity when comparing things

Time: 30-35 minutes

Materials:

 5 large plastic bags with art supplies for each of the five groups:
 Student1 and 2: regular pencil and 1 red colored pencil
 Student 3 and 4: regular pencil, red, blue, and yelow colored pencils, crayons, at least 5
different colored construction paper
 Student 5 and 6 regular pencil, q0 colored pencils, a box of 16 crayons, at least 5 different
assorted colored construction paper, pair of scissor, colored marker, 1 tube of glue
 Student 7: regular pencil, 1 box of colored pencils, 1 box of 32 crayons, 10 assorted
construction paper, pair of scissor, ruler, colored markers, tube of glue, roll of tape, assorted
glitter packs, colored ribbons

Procedure:
1. On the day of activity, the students will be asked to make a poster to celebrate a special event.

41
2. Each student will be assigned of the materials she/he ca used in making the poster.
3. Each student can use only the materils assigned to them.
4. The poster will be sent in messenger.
5. Ecah student will explain the poster.
6. Conduct a group discussion about this activity.

Discussion:
1. Ask the students how they felt when they noticed that the others had more materials.
2. Ask each student how they felt about their supplies.
3. Ask the students if the amount and type of resources affected the poster output.
4. Are the posters different? If the grade was based on the outcome, will it be fair for all students to
be judged based on the same criteria?
5. What learnings did you get from this exercise?
6. Can this happen in the workplace? Cite some specific instances.
7. Can individual circumstances affect work and create opportunities or challenges in judging a
person’s capabilities? Why or Why not?

CHAPTER 10 DIVERSITIES IN DIVERSE LOCATIONS

This chapter will focus on the cultural diversities in all the countries we traveled to as
ambassadors of Filipino music and culture from 1988 until the present.

HATID SAYA 1988

After I left my firt hotel job at the Hyatt Regency Manila as Director for Human Resources, I
line-roduced a TV program over at ABS-CBN Channel 2 titled “Overseas Unlimited” for the growing
number of OFWs. The program was telecast every Sunday from 11 AM to 1 PM and hosted by Noli de
Castro and Angelique Lazo.

The program’s format was mainly public service, but we had an entertainment component for
Filipinos who were intending to go overseas as performers, musicians, singers, and dancers.

This program led us into a close partnership with the government agencies in charge of
overseas workers. The first ones were OWWA or the Overseas Workers Welfare Fund and the POEA or
the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Both these agencies were supportive of the
program’s noble undertakings and they participated actively in the public service portions where
ordinary folk would troop to our studios to apply for legitimate jobs as well as repot cases of illrgal
recruitment by notorious agencies and individuals. Illegal recruitment has alwaysbeen one of the most
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serious crimes that hve victimized thousands of Filipinos, the majority of them poor, all of them
applying for jobs overseas to improve their living conditions in the country. The program exposed
many of these illegal recruiters rightfully, most of whom were eventually sent to jail to pay for their
crimes.

One of the major projects we were asked to undertake for OWWA was the mounting of 1
12city musical concert tour for our OFWs based in the following countries:

1. Rome (Italy)
2. Milan (Italy)
3. Vienna (Austria)
4. Amsterdam (Netherlands)
5. Kuwait
6. Bahrain
7. Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
8. Al-Ain (United Arab Emirates)
9. Sharjah (United Arab Emirates)
10. Muscat (Oman)
11. Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
12. Singapore

At that time, the most popular and most requested host-comedian was Bert “Tawa’ Marcelo.
We engaged Bert Marcelo to host this overseas concert series that would take us one full month to
mount. Together with Bert Marcelo were Dulce, Nova Villa, Ricky Belmonte, Camille Vistoria, and the
comedy duo The Porkchop.

One of the stangest preparations we had to undertake once the tour reached the Middle East
countries of Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates was to ensure that no one from our
musical presentations was going to offend our hosts or portray anything against their culture and
traditions. I used the word “strange” to describe these preparations because one of our featured
artists were The Porkchop Duo. In these predominantly Muslim countries, people do not eat pork
beacuse it is against their faith. The production team was in a quandary even before leaving manila as
to how we were going to introduce The Porkchop Duo. We were worried that this might be insulting
to our hosts at the minimum but more worried at the possibility of someone among us organizers
being jailed for this possible slight or insult.

To settle the issue, and so as not to stress ourselves out while on tour, we decided that while
in the Middle east, the Porkchop Duo will be known as The Lambchops Duo. It meant that al printed
materials for these countries were different from all the other countries. Materials like posters,
banners, tickets, leaflets, as well as all other promotional paraphernalia, were different. All production
scripts and bylines would also have to address this distinct change.

We decided to be safe rather than sorry. The Porkchop Duo had no choice but to go with the
plan or else be dropped from appearing in these Middle East countries.

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 End of this strange story.

HATID SAYA 1989

The 1988 concert was such huge success that Filipinos based in all these countries asked
OWWA to bring back the tour in 1989. OWWA obliged.

Geneva, Switzerland was added to the list of concert tour stopovers and artist Cherrie Gil was
also invited to join the group.

When the group was in Amsterdam and on our rest day, Bert Marcelo invited everyone to join
him on a tour to the city’s famous or infamous, depending on which side of the moral compass you
belong, Red Light District. The district features one-room cabins rented by prostitutes of all genders
who offer their sexual services from behind a full glass blacklight window or door. The district also
features sex shops, sex theaters, peep shows, a sex museum, and a few coffee shops that sell
cannabis.
Since most of us were all first-timers in Amsterdam, we were all walking together side by side
enjoying the unique culture unfolding right in front of our eyes. This was something most of us were
experiencing for the very first time in our lives. You will not see a district like this one that is legal and
so open to the public anywhere else in the world.

We would look at some of the prostitutes in their windows dressed to attract their customers
and loudly wonder among ourselves how many customers they service a day. The way this district was
conducting its daily business was so mindboggling to all of us.
Bert Marcelo, the leader of this intriguing walking tour chanced upon one lady prostitute he
found amusing because she was black and voluptuous. He led us all her window. We all looked at her
as Bert was so amazed by her apperance. After about a minute of our group starting at her, the
prostitute barged out of her glass window and angrily commanded Bert and the rest of us to get the
hell out of her window frontage. Shock is an understatement of how we reacted to this angry,
belligerent prostitute, so we quickly moved away and as we were doing so she continued shouting
with her arms up, “ And don’t you ever come back!”.

Kumustahan Concert Tours 2004, 2005, and 2006

The Kumustahan Concert series was just like the hatid Saya series. These concerts were still
aimed at Filipinos overseas, but this time, we expanded our reach to the Asia pacific region and North
America. These were the cities the Kumustahan Concert Tours traveled to:

1. London (England)
2. Amsterdam (Netherlands)
3. Vienna (Austria)
4. Rome (Italy)
5. Kuwait (Kuwait)

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6. Manama (Bahrain)
7. Dubai ( United Arab Emirates)
8. Muscat (Oman)
9. Sydney (Australia)
10. Melbourne (Australia)
11. Saipan (USA territory)
12. Guam (USA)
13. San Francisco (USA)
14. Los Angeles (USA)
15. San Diego (USA)
16. Las Vegas (USA)
17. New York (USA)
18. New Jersey (USA)
19. Atlantic City (USA)
20. Vancouver (Canada)

The Kumustahan Concert Tour series featured the following performers:

1. The Apo Hiking Society
2. Jolina Magdangal
3. Rico. J. Puno (+)
4. Francis Magalona (+)
5. Dulce
6. Nanette Inventor
7. Geneva Cruz
8. Ogie Alcacid
9. Ara Mina
There was one incident we will never forget in one of our concert stops, Kuwait. The Program
started on time and THE Apo Hiking Society was about to end their first set of production numbers.
Our funny concert host, Nanette Inventor, introduced Geneva Cruz to the loud cheering of the crowd.

In the middle of Geneva’s performance, the show was stopped by the Kuwaiti police. As
executive producer, I was immediately summoned to the backstage where the police explained why
they stopped the show. Geneva was a little too sexy for comfort, so they requested we cover her to
hide her shoulders and knees. But that was not all. We were also asked to advise Geneva not gyrate
too much on stage.

Geneva was obviously shaken. But as real trooper and believing in the age-old showbiz adage
“the show must go on”, after about a 15 minute interruption, Geneva was re-introduced to the delight
and appreciation of the eager Filipinos in the crowd.

Both the Filipino audience and the official members of the concert tour entourage breathed a
sigh of relief that we could continue with the concert. We only received a gentle reminder not to
repeat the offense in a future concert. The Kuwaiti police were professional and courteous to all of us.

45
 After the concert, we invited the police to join us for dinner as if nothing happened. They did
not join us and voluntered their own stories about knowing and liking many Filipinos. They said they
have many good Filipino friends. The moral of the story is “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

Cultures and traditions vary from country to country. Even within a country, cultures and
traditions vary from one province to another. We have seen this in all th stories I shared with you thus
far.

There are so many more experiences I have not included in this chapter. Suffice it to say that
the inclusion of this particular chapter in this book serves as a reminder on how important it is to be
more aware of these varied cultures and traditions once you step out of your comfort zone which is
the Philippines.

Reflections: Five takeaways from this chapter

1. Be an expert about the culture and traditions of a country you decide to work or live in.
2. Do not judge, less you be judged. Treat all people with dignity including those that have chosen to
work as sex service providers.
3. In countries where religious and cultural traditions are observed by the majority of the people,
behave and act accordingly to show your respect for their practices.
4. Plan ahead and talk to other countrymen, to your fellow Filipinos who already know more about
the culture you are about to assimilate into.
5. Choose a local to become your culture mentor, someone who will be happy to answer all the
questions you might have about their traditions and practices.

ACTIVITIES

1. Choose a country aside from the Philippines.

2. Get a picture and describe the following. Put captions below each item: a. National food
b. National costume
c. A unique tradition in the country
3. Indicate how it relates to the Philippines in terms of:
a. Uniqueness
b. Similarities
4. As a multicultural tourism professional, how will you handle these uniqueness and similarities?

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 CHAPTER 11 FIVE WAYS TO BECOME A DIVERSITY CHAMPION
Five Ways to Becoming a Diversity Champion

1. Start with a global mindset. The world has been made smaller in the past couple of decades
beacuse of the advances in technology. What will the world be like 20, 30, or 50 years from
today? As tourism professionals, having a global mindset is a must. Tourism is all about every
place we can reach on earth. Tourism is all about every nationality we can meet along the way.
Tourism has no boundaries. Tourism does not discriminate. Tourism does not hate; it does not
judge.

As tourism professionals, we should lead the way to include everyone. No one should
be left out.

2. Become a “national hero”. It is awesome to learn and experience all about other peoples and
cultures in the world. But it is even more awesome when you become a master of your very own.
Be a proud Filipino. Be proud of your past. Be proud of your present. More importantly, always
be hopeful about your future. There is so much to be proud of our pat-the collective cultures from
Spain and America; our Catholic faith; our multilingual abilities of Tagalog, English, and a local
dialect. In our contemporary times, there are the numerous beauty queens with international
titles, our sports champions in basketball, boxing, and fencing, and the very first bloodless People
Power Revolution that toppled a dictator in 1986. Unfortunately, there are those among uswho,
instead of proudly talking about being Filipino with our foreign guests, are the very first ones who
start talking negatively about the Philippines and the Filipino people. Do not get me wrong. We
are not perfect, and no other nationality on earth can claim they are perfect. However, when
dealing with our foreign guests, we should talk about what is good about us as a nation and what
blinds and bonds us together. We should talk and share about our exceptional values like
bayanihan, among others. We should be proud of our more than 7,100 islands and the beauty
of the Philippines, from Batanes to Jolo.

3. Initiate and participate in diversity programs. Most companies in the tourism and hospitality
industry are active in programs with diversity themes. This is because as we already said earlier,
our industry is a among the most diversely populated industry in the world. These programs can
include anything from learning another language, about a specific race, the complexities of
religious in the world, or about celebrations and festivals of different countries. Whatever the
diversity program offered in your company, show interest and participate in these. Additional
knowledge about the world through these programs equals additional merits for you as a
tourism professional.

4. Adopt one diversity. Having a general knowledge of all diversities is a must. Adopting one
diversity as your own is another matter. What do I mean by this? We all have something we
appreciate more than other. For instance, how would you answer if I asked you, “Among the 200
plus countries in the world, what would you consider your top five?” or “ Among the so many
festivals cellebrated yearly all around the world, which one is in your bucket list to experience?”,

47
 Or if I gave you the opportunity to learn another language, what would it be? As you begin your
journey as a tourism professional, what could your answer to any of the three questions be? If,
for instance, among the over 200 countries in the world, you say would like to be a specialist of
know more about Spain, then you will have to include in your personal vission and mission as a
toursim professional a roap map of your learning and experiencing more about Spain as a
country. You might ask, “But how will this help me in my profession?”. The answer is simple-in so
very many ways! Amon the ways could be being sent to Spain as a scholar to precisely learn more
about the country. Learning the Spanish language to make your scholarship work out is another
benefit. Then, specializing in the Spanish market when you return to the Philippines can make
you a popular and sought-after professional in our industry. There are many companies in the
Philippines with ties to and engagements in Spain. These companies will be very happy to deal
with a tourism professional with specailized knowledge of their country. Do you see the benefits
of this adoption and how it can improve your status in industry? Go for it.

5. Be a diversity champion. By actively enagging in the first four ways of becoming a diversity
champion, you become a diversity champion. Being a global thinker, becoming a national hero ,
enhancing your diversity capabilities with new knowledge, and choosing to become familar with
at least one diversity transforms you from a tourism professional to becoming a diversity
champion.

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 ACTIVITIES

1. Create a symbol (6x6 inches) of a Multicultural Champion in a letter size paper.

2. Explain the elements of your symbol.
3. Write an essay on the topic, “Be Local, Global, and Glocal!”

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 CHAPTER 12 BENEFITS OF A DIVERSE WORKFORCE
Throughout this module, we have seen the many benefits that a diverse workforce working
together can bring. We have many times the phrase “there is strength in diversity” spoken by leaders
in the liberal democracies around the world.

One that stands out is what Martin Luther King Jr. said: “ An individual has not started living
until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concern to the broader concerns of all
humanity.”

As we end the disclosure on Multicultural Diversity in the Workplace for the Tourism
Professional, let me now summarize its benefits:

1. Having diversity in our workforce will transport our business into a more effective and succeesful
global company with an understanding of more of the world, its people, its cultures. In a recent
ranking by Refinitiv Diversity & Inclusion Index, Accenture gained the top spot for the second
consecutive year of the World’s Most Diverse and Inclusive Companies. The Philipinnes is
priviledges to be a host to Accenture, where some 35,000 Filipinos and other nationals work as
call center agents among other responsibilities.

Having a diverse workforce will create an environment of equal opportunities for all. In
another recent study authored by Oxford Economics, Norway was ranked number one among
countries providing the most diverse working environment, which includes gender and ethnic
diversity.

2. Having a multilingual staff can make customer service more efficient just like in the case of the
cruise line business. In an article written in the Huffpost by Ryan McMunn, he placed the
hospitalityand tourism industry among the top six industries where a multilingual facility is a
distinct advantage.

3. Allowing people of all faiths into our workforce will strengthen tolerance among one another and
enhance respect for each other. Furthermore, it makes very good business sense. The world’s
largest economy, the USA, attributes the contribution of its workforce to the largest GDP in the
world. A workforce of religious diversity, one that includes workers of all faiths.

4. Allowing people with disabilities to contribute their skills in the workforce will encourage
compassion and kindness among one another and promote sincere brotherhood. There are
already many companies opening their doors to the disabled, among them are Procter & Gamble
and IBM. The latter was already opening its doors to them even before the American with
Disabilities Act existed. IBM enginerred the braille typewriter and other similar devices for
disabled individuals.

5. Opening doors to the LGBTQ community will pronounce the organization’s acceptance and
nondiscriminatory values. Among the companies with a 100% rating on the Human Rights
Campaign Corporate Equality Index of the United nations is Visa, which has openly supported

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 these UN Standards for LGBTI, a best practice guide for policies and procedures for LGBTI
employees.
ACTIVITIES

1. Group work
a. Create a multicultural activity in your class.
b. Include the following:
i. Title
ii. Mechanics-Materials and Procedures iii. Integration-Questions
you would like to pursue
c. Put in an A4-sized poster.

2. Each group will present/undertake the activity to the class.

3. Reflect on what was learned for each activity.

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