Chapter 1 THC9

Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.: IM-THC9_-2ND SEM-2023-2024
College: Human Ecology

Department: Hospitality Management
Campus: Bayombong
DEGREE PROGRAM Bachelor of Science COURSE NO. THC9
SPECIALIZATION Hospitality Management COURSE TITLE Multicultural Diversity in the

Workplace for the Tourism
Tourism Management
Professional
YEAR LEVEL 3rd Year TIME FRAME WK NO. IM NO.
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course explores multicultural diversity starting with the basic principles and concept,
which will later delved into the experiential perspective that will widen the understanding of
students on the application of these concepts of culture, diversity and the proper ways to
inculcate and balance their perspectives about globalization in the modern world.
DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. React on Diversity in the workplace, give their insights on possible
problems in working in different nationalities.
2. handle guest or customer diversities.
3. handle multicultural peer diversities.
4. adapt in a diverse workforce.
COURSE OUTLINE
TIMEFRAME COURSE CONTENT/SUBJECT MATTER
Week 1
Chapter 1- Understanding Culture
Week 2
Week 3
Chapter 2- Key Features of Culture
Week 4
Week 5
Chapter 3- Tourism and the Tourism Professional
Week 6
Week 7
Chapter 4- Multicultural Diversity in Tourism
Week 8
Week 9 Case Study and Reflection
Week 10 MID-TERM EXAM
Week 11 Chapter 5- Handling Guest or Customer Diversities
Week 12 Chapter 6 Handling Multicultural Peer Diversities
Week 13 Chapter 7- When your Supervisor is Diverse
Week 14
Chapter 8- Diversities in Diverse Locations
Week 15
Week 16 Chapter 9- Five Ways to become a Diversity Champion
Week 17 Chapter 10- Benefits of a Diverse Workforce
Week 18 FINAL EXAM
COURSE CONTENT
LESSON OVERVIEW
Globalization is a current trend and has a great impact on hospitality industry (Reisinger 2009, 8).
Accordingly, people with diverse backgrounds work even more together and there are a great number of new
“In accordance with Section 185, Fair Use of Copyrighted Work of Republic Act 8293, the copyrighted works included in this material may be reproduced for educational
purposes only and not for commercial distribution,”
NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 1 of 48
perspectives of executing events. In a corporate world this is an advantage to differentiate from other
businesses within the industry.
However, diverse cultural backgrounds can create a lot of conflicts. Hospitality industry, particularly,
has great dimensions with cultural diversity. Due to its phenomenal dimensions, managing the diverse
workforce in an effective way can be seen as successful tool to meet the corporate goals (Korjala, 2012).
Chapter I: Understanding Culture
Culture
● refers to the socially constructed and learned ways of behaving and
believing that molds the identity of the individual and distinct social
groups.
● Culture of an individual may include:
o Beliefs
o Values
o Knowledge
o Assumptions
o Experiences and ideas
o Customs Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-
o Rituals
o Symbols
o Myths and legends
Most of which were listed above came from an extensive day to day interaction with the people in the
community, social activities with peers and family members, economics, politics, agricultural practices,
industries surrounding the community, laws and ways of justice, security, health and environment, education
and religion which was accustomed to be thriving within reach of the individual.
Hence, Culture shapes a person’s identity and influences the way he behaves with in relation to his
own moral consciousness and are passed from one generation to another and had developed and withstood
the test of time. These elements of culture are passed by combination of communications-oral and/or written
(language/dialect), art- such as music, songs, story-telling, painting and dances which are deemed acceptable
by the current community.
Elements Of Culture That May Influence The Tourism Professional:

● Art
o According to Price 2018 in his blog, “The Importance of Art
in our 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 works of the artists.
o Are composed of creations, physical objects or visuals
which can be held, viewed, and reflect a society’s
development at a particular period.
o Man-made creations in the form of paintings, artifacts,
clothing, music, sculptures, dances, plays, literature,
architecture are produced for the purpose of appreciation of This Photo is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
beauty and emotional power.
o These artworks are valuable as these were created by artist who are recognized by their people
o Tourism professionals needs to become familiar with the different art pieces in the community as
these can be part of the tourism knowledge that customers expect from the tourism enterprise.
● Beliefs and values
o A common source of inspiration and connection to most
people as these are adopted by many followers and are
passed down to succeeding generations.
o Beliefs are developed starting from birth and later it is
developed as the circle of community grows through the
year as a person establishes relationships with other
people.
This Photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

▪ these are reflected in the attitudes and behavior that are exhibited by the person.
o Values are based on ethics, principles, beliefs, standards and qualities that a person may hold in
high regard.
▪ Commonly influenced by people who will mold the 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.
▪ Guides how a person will live, make decisions, and nurture and keep relationships.
-As tourism professionals we are expected to provide products and services that cater and understand the
differences in the values, beliefs and attitudes of both colleagues and clients in group settings. Values can
influence many of the judgements that are made within our line of work.
● Geography
o Cultural geography looks at the forms of differentiation as well as the material culture of
gatherings that tie people’s ideas in the region (Crang,1988)
o Geography refers to the various forms of natural or man-made physical landscapes
affected by human communities and how people arrange the physical space around
them.
o Tourism professionals should be wary of the geographical features of a destination
including the areas cultural affiliation to promote a realistic geographic source that will
suffice tourism related destinations in the area.
● Language
o Language is very important as this is how culture is communicated to customers and
colleagues.
▪ 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 origin of a person
o Common language exists if a certain group of people agree on how to understand
certain words of terms.
o Each culture has unique language that is passed on by each person to the next
generation
o Linguistic differences can make it difficult to communicate with people from various
societies or places. (Barken,2012)
o There are around 180 dialects in the Philippines, more than 1000 dialects in south East
Asia and at least 6500 language spoken in the world.
The 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World (September 6,2019)
By James Lane (The 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World (babbel.com))
Top 10 Languages By Number Of Native Top 10 Languages By Total Number Of Speakers
Speakers
1. English-1.132 billion total speakers
1. Chinese — 1.3 Billion Native Speakers
2. Spanish — 460 Million Native Speakers 2. Mandarin Chinese-1.117 billion total speakers
3. English — 379 Million Native Speakers 3. Hindi-615 million total speakers
4. Hindi — 341 Million Native Speakers 4. Spanish-534 million total speakers
5. Arabic — 315 Million Native Speakers 5. French-280 million total speakers
6. Bengali — 228 Million Native Speakers 6. Standard Arabic-274 million total speakers
7. Portuguese — 220 Million Native Speakers 7. Bengali-265 million total speakers
8. Russian — 153 Million Native Speakers 8. Russian-258 million total speakers
9. Japanese — 128 Million Native Speakers 9. Portuguese-234 million total speakers
10. Lahnda (Western Punjabi) — 118 Million Native 10. Indonesian-199 million total speakers
Speakers
⮚ In the Philippines, aside from Filipino, English is considered as an official language. In Southeast Asia,
the lingua franca is English. In the United Nations (UN), an intergovernmental organization that has 193
sovereign states, the offcial languages in all their conferences and meetings are Arabic,Chines,
English, Russian and Soanis and these would always be present in translations.
⮚ It is highly encourage that tourist professionals take the time to learn another language besides English.
The selection of foreign language can be based on:
o Tourist arrivals
o Unique customers being served by the tourism enterprise.
● Law and Politics
o Different approaches that link culture to law:
▪Historical school which looks at law as a product of the culture of a nation and as a part of the
daily practice of its people.
▪Constitutive approach which looks at law as a part of the constitution of a culture, thus, the
constitution of people’s minds, practices and social relations also sees the law that the courts
create and apply as a distinct cultural system wherein it constituents comply with.
(Mautner,2011)
o The concept of right and wrong and fairness and injustice draw from cultural practices.
o Tourism professionals must be aware of laws and politics that apply in the country where they
work, especially in the delivery of products and services to colleagues and customers.
o Tourism professionals should be cautious about being political and avoid political flavor.
● Religion
o Is a very strong source of cultural influence in many countries like in the Philippines.
o Continuously offers a kind of philosophy that establishes a moral compass for anyone who seeks
the truth.
o The dual role of religion is essential om preparing social policies and reforms (Rahmani and
Tayyebinia, 2016)
o The Philippines’ religion distribution is enumerated below: (source: Religious Beliefs In The
Philippines - WorldAtlas)
▪Roman Catholic Christianity - 80.6%
● Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in the Philippines. This religion was first
introduced through the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the early 1500s.
Magellan, whose original destination was Spice Island, arrived on Cebu Island in the
Philippines due to a missed route. He then proceeded to make Roman Catholicism a
state religion by first converting the Chief of Cebu, and several hundreds of his
followers. Today, a large majority of the population of the Philippines - around 80% -
identifies as Roman Catholic.
▪Protestant Christianity - 8.2%
● Protestant Christianity is the second-largest religious group in the Philippines.

Evangelical Protestantism was introduced into the Philippines by American
missionaries after the Spanish-American War between the late 18th and early 19th
Centuries. Some Protestant groups which are affiliated with the Philippine Council of
Evangelical Churches (PCEC), however, were established locally, without any foreign
influence.
▪Islam - 5.6%
● Islam is the third-largest religion in the Philippines after Catholicism and Christianity.
The religion existed in the region for around a century before the spread of
Christianity. Islam first spread to Simunul Island in the Philippines through foreign
trade with countries such as India. Specifically, it was the Islamic cleric-Karim ul'
Makhdum who first introduced the religion to the area. Subsequently, he established
the first mosque on the same Island, which is today, the oldest mosque in the country.
▪Other - 1.9%
▪Other minor religions in the country include Hinduism, Judaism, the Baha'i Faith, Indigenous
Beliefs, Other Christians, and Atheists.
▪Indigenous traditions predate the colonial religions of Islam and Christianity in the
Philippines. The most predominant views are that of animism, which is the belief that even
non-living entities such trees and plants have spirits. Indigenous religions are characterized
by the worship of various deities, as opposed to the monotheistic religions. With regards to
influence, other religions, even the predominant Roman Catholic, have adopted animism in
combination with their own beliefs. This blending is known as religious syncretism.
▪Other Christian groups in the country include Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter-Day Saints,
Assemblies of God, Seventh-day Adventists, and numerous others.
o In relation to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community which is consist of
three pillars- the ASEAN Socio-cultural Community, ASEAN Political Security Community and
ASEAN Economic Community on can map the existing religions in this geographic area:
▪ Muslims are bout 42%( mostly Sunni, coming from Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia)
▪ Buddhists are about 18% (coming from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore
and Vietnam)
▪ Christians are about 17%, mostly from the Philippines.
o This diverse concept of religion present in the ASEAN shows a considerable effort should be
taken by tourism professionals in understanding the concepts and beliefs of different member
states and should be regarded as a must know competency.
● Technology
o Aid in a variety of ways to co-create tourist experiences.
o It can serve as an enabler, producer, attractor, enhancer and educator.
o It may also be a hindrance of tourism experience duet to shift in service experiences that lack
interpersonal charm and generate negative effects in retaining the authentic culture of the area
(Oktadiana and Pearce,2020)
o Use of Property Management Systems (PMS) like Opera in processing reservation, check-ins,
and checkouts.
o As tourism Professionals, even with technology present in the workplace, the hospitality and
service attitude must be a priority mindset for colleagues and customers should take precedence
over anything.
● Social organization
o Tourism activities changes the social structures of most tourist destination communities, changes
can affect the foundation of the community which is the family and will also change the societal
function and cultural perspective of villagers.
o Some changes include:
▪ Profession of villagers from agricultural to tourism related work like waiter
▪ Authenticity of cultural elements is jeopardized because of the interaction of the

demands of the customers and local workers.
o Tourism professionals especially tourism related establishments should recalibrate social
organizations so that authenticity of the cultural exchange is not risked in favor of pleasing the
customer.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
▪ CULTURE
o “The set of common beliefs and practices that a
person shares with a group” (robins et al., 2006)
o The values, beliefs, attitudes, languages, symbols,
rituals, behaviors and customs unique to a particular
group of people and are passed down from generation
to generation.
o Cultural identity is how people recognize where they
belong.
▪ DIVERSITY
“Diversity” relates to individuals and groups with
o This Photo is licensed under CC BY-SA
different socioeconomic backgrounds and physical
capabilities who engage in a variety of languages.
o People of all ages, genders, races, ethnicity, and sexual orientation
o Three sources of diversity
1. demographic characteristic
 culture, ethnicity, language, age, gender, social class, religion
2. personal characteristics
 age, gender, communication style, economic background, personality
3. abilities and skills
 social and technical
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
▪Cultural diversity refers to the wide range of cultural differences found between and within nations.
▪Can be a result of natural circumstances (climate, geography) or social circumstances (technology or

demographics)
▪The cultural variety and cultural differences that exist in the world, a society, or an institution.
▪The inclusion of diverse people in a group or organization
Cultural diversity and its benefits

▪ Rise people interpersonal skills.
o Increases interpersonal skills because people of various cultures when
working together can easily understand the view of others.
▪ Increases teamwork.
o consequently, it increases team work inside the workplace.
▪ Expand innovative and creativity.
o Staff of different background can benefit when it is a time to create new
project.
o It also means different solution to a common problem.
▪ Different attitudes and behaviors.
o People behave differently and it can lead to better communication and strong relationship.
▪ Skills and variety of language spoken.
o Benefit of the industry, having a large range of language spoken by their staff could attract
international guests, employee can benefit from learning new language consequently expand
their knowledge.
▪ Growth company credibility.
o Having people from different backgrounds can make the company more
attractive to potential guests and future employees.
▪ Increases productivity on complex tasks.
o A multicultural work environment also results in more effective execution of the
tasks with different peoples input.
Studies say that,

▪ Teams diverse in skill sets and knowledge levels, as well as ethnicity and
culture, perform better than those with identical skills sets.
Challenges of Diversity
LIFE WITHOUT DIVERSITY

Imagine that everyone in the room is the same. Exactly the same! Same hair, eye color, height,
weight, gender, race, language. Everyone dresses the same and sounds the same.
Look to your left and your right.
What do you see?
▪ Communication Barriers
o Ineffective communication of key objectives results in confusion, lack of teamwork and low
morale.
o Age, gender and culture influence the messages sent and received. Barriers to communication
are factors that block or significantly destroy successful communication.
o Communication barriers may be temporary and can be overcome.
o Awareness and recognition are the first steps in formulating ways to overcome the barriers.
o Virtual Work: isolates team members from socialization and face to face interaction, creating a
lack of clarity.
o Emotions: can leave some people unable to
verbally express themselves clearly and
coherently.
o Gender: can be associated to the different styles
between men and women on how they explain
things.
o Culture: expresses the values and patterns of
behavior which can be very confusing, making it
difficult to communicate.
▪ Resistance to Change
o Refusing to accept new policies
o Why change something that works
o We’ve always done it this way
o Scared of failure and not being able to learn/adapt to new things
o Not wanting to spend time and effort changing
o Not understanding what is expected (the fear of the unknown)
▪ Socio-cultural Factors
o Race
o Ethnicity
o Culture
o Religion
▪ Age and gender

o Age is another challenge in today’s workplace. People may not be
used to communicating with different age groups. Older people may
use old phrases/words to explain things not understood by a
younger audience. Younger people may also use words too modern
and not understood by an older generation.
o Gender can affect communication as men and women often think
about things differently. In Islamic culture especially, when a female
and male communicate, certain traditions are followed, such as lack
of eye contact and shaking hands, affecting perception and
communication.
DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtD8A__a8WQ
MANAGING CULTURAL DIVERSITY
▪ Adopt an employee relationship management system.
▪ Overcoming stereotyping and discrimination.
▪ Training.
▪ Empowerment of individual.
▪ Appraisal and performance evaluation.
▪ Implementing and practicing cultural diversity policy.
▪ Equal treatment/treat people individually
CULTURAL DIVERSITY ACTIVTY

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfkrSrYUS_I
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
1. Make a 200 words reaction about “Diversity in the Workplace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MtD8A__a8WQ) and your take on working with other nationalities and the possible problems you might
encounter and how to cope with these problems.
ASSIGNMENT & EVALUATION

1. Reaction to a scholarly article
a. Choose one of the elements of culture and focus on a cultural element.
b. Choose a scholarly article published in the last five years that focuses on culture and any of the
elements and its impact on tourism.
-Sample title of articles:
-Understanding religion-based tourism terminology in the context of the hotel industry
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13032917.2017.1414448
-Medjugorje's religion and tourism connection
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0160738392901082
c. Prepare a two-page reaction paper that consists of the following:
i. Highlights of the article-a summary of what the article is all about (100words)
ii. Reaction-agree or not with the author’s hypothesis and the reasons for your choice
(300words)
iii. Conclusion-explain how the article impact culture (100words)
iv. Citation
d. Make a three-minute video presentation of the highlights of your work
REFERENCES
Alcuaz Vic. and Aquino Ma.Christina G.. 2020, Multicultural Diversity in the Workplace for the Tourism
Professional, First Edtion, Rex Bookstore, Inc.
Barkan, Steven. “The elements of Culture”. Sociloagy:Brief Edition. 1.1. Accessed March 18,2021.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/3-2-the-elements-of-culture/
Lane, James. 2019. “ The 10 Most Spoken Languages in the World”. Babbel Magazine, September 6.
Accessed March 22,2021.https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/the-10-most-spoken-
languages-in-the-world.
Movono, Apisalome, Dahles, Heidi, and Becken, Susanne. 2017. “Fijian culture and the environment: a
focus on the ecological and social interconnectedness of tourism development" Journal of
Sustainable Tourism. Accessed April
1,2020.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1359280.
Oktadiana, Hera and Pearce, Philip L. 2020. "Losing touch: Uncomfortable encounters with tourism
technology." Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Accessed April 1, 2020.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S1447677020300528?via%3Dihub.
Price, Martin. 2018. “The Importance of Art in our Society." Art Shanties. Accessed April 1, 2020.
http://artshanties.com/the-importance-of-art-in-our-society/.
Rahmani, Jabbar and Tayyebinia, Mehri. 2016. “The Relationship between Religion and Culture in
Cultural Policy-Making." International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies ISSN 2356-
5962 Special Issue, June. Accessed April 1, 2020.
https://www.ijhcs.com/index.php/ijhcs/article/view/1697.
Sociology Group. 2018. “What is Culture, Basic Elements of Culture and Features" Accessed April 1,
2020. https://www.sociologygroup.com/elements-of-culture-basic-elements-of-culture/.
World Atlas Religious beliefs in the Philippines.2019. “Philippines Religions”. Access March 22,2021.
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/religious-beliefs-in-the-philippines.html

Chapter 1 THC9

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 1 THC9

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY

College: Human Ecology

DEGREE PROGRAM Bachelor of Science COURSE NO. THC9

SPECIALIZATION Hospitality Management COURSE TITLE Multicultural Diversity in the

YEAR LEVEL 3rd Year TIME FRAME WK NO. IM NO.

DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Elements Of Culture That May Influence The Tourism Professional:

This Photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

3. English — 379 Million Native Speakers 3. Hindi-615 million total speakers

4. Hindi — 341 Million Native Speakers 4. Spanish-534 million total speakers

5. Arabic — 315 Million Native Speakers 5. French-280 million total speakers

7. Portuguese — 220 Million Native Speakers 7. Bengali-265 million total speakers

8. Russian — 153 Million Native Speakers 8. Russian-258 million total speakers

9. Japanese — 128 Million Native Speakers 9. Portuguese-234 million total speakers

● Protestant Christianity is the second-largest religious group in the Philippines.

▪ Authenticity of cultural elements is jeopardized because of the interaction of the

▪Can be a result of natural circumstances (climate, geography) or social circumstances (technology or

▪The inclusion of diverse people in a group or organization

Cultural diversity and its benefits

Studies say that,

LIFE WITHOUT DIVERSITY

▪ Age and gender

DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE

▪ Overcoming stereotyping and discrimination.

▪ Appraisal and performance evaluation.

▪ Equal treatment/treat people individually

CULTURAL DIVERSITY ACTIVTY

ASSIGNMENT & EVALUATION

You might also like