CHAPTER 1 - Understanding Culture (Multicultural Diversity).pdf

Multicultural Diversity Subject in BS Tourism Management

1. Understanding
culture
CHAPTER 1

2. Presentation outline
WHAT IS CULTURE01
02 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

3. Culture refers to the socially constructed and learned ways of behaving and believing 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.
CULTURE

4. 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
Different authors identify different elements of culture. The numbers that are relevant for their
study may vary from one author to another. Some authors identified three, five, eight, and more, and
there are several reasons they include these elements in their studies.

5. The selected elements of culture that impact the tourism professional are the following:
art
beliefs and values
geography
language
law and politics
religion
technology
social organization

6. CULTURE
Art
Religion
Social
Organization
Technology
Language
Geography
Law and
Politics
Beliefs and
Values
A visual representation of culture is shown below with some of the significant
elements that can impact a culture from a personal perspective.

7. ART
As mentioned by 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 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 a 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.

8. 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.
ART

9. 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
by the person. These experiences contribute to the sense of who each individual is
and how the world is viewed from different perspectives.

10. ​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 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. 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.
beliefs and values

11. ​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 work ethic
should always be driven by supporting the organization's and customer's values.
beliefs and values

12. Cultural geography looks at the forms of differentiation as well
as the material 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.
Geography

13. For tourism professionals, the geography of where their
colleagues and customers come from may have an impact on the
relationships 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 trees, 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.
Geography

14. Language
As long as a 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.

15. Language
180 dialects in the Philippines
more than 1000 dialects in
Southeast Asia
at least 6500 languages
spoken in the world
There are:
In the Philippines alone, a word used in one province
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 a 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 number
of speakers (can use and understand). However the
list varies as many languages are common, except
they change in rank.

17. Language
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 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 there will always be an occasion to communicate with them. It is a 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
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. Understandings and misunderstandings are often traced to miscommunication, and
language plays a major role in this process.

18. 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 a 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)

​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 a practice in a
bigger area.

19. Law and Politics
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 apolitical, 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.

20. ​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.
Religion

21. ​Based on the CIA Factbook updated last 2019,
the Philippines' religion distribution is enumerated
below:

Roman Catholic, 80.6%1.
Protestant, 8.2%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.

Muslims are about 42% (mostly Sunni, coming
from Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia)
1.

2. Buddhists are about 18% (coming from
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore,
and Vietnam)

3. Christians are about 17%, mostly from the
Philippines
Religion

22. Religion
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 a "must-know competency. This will
allow the professional to treat their colleagues and customers
correctly, 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.

23. 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.
Social Organization
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.

24. 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.

25. 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.
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 should take precedence over
anything else in the workplace.
Technology

26. Thank you for
listening
Reporters:
Estabillo, Zarah Jelene S.
Mehmood, Sofia V.
Professor:
Roger V. Madula, LPT