A lecture by Prof. Penn T. Larena

1. Cultural Awareness in Hospitality
and Tourism
Josefino Tulabing. Larena Jr. ,MPA

2. What is Culture Diversity
• There is no universally agreed definition on
diversity, but new guidance from the Chartered
Management Institute (2008) suggests it is about
“valuing the differences between people and the
ways in which those differences can contribute to a
richer, more creative and more productive
environment.” It’s not just about race (which is
usually foremost in people’s minds) – Government
in the contemporary world has actually identified six
strands of diversity – race, age, gender, sexual
orientation, disability and religious/belief

3. Cultural Awareness
• Cultural Awareness is the foundation of
communication and it involves the ability of
standing back from ourselves and becoming aware
of our cultural values, beliefs and perceptions. Why
do we do things in that way? How do we see the
world? Why do we react in that particular way?
• Cultural awareness we have to interact with people
from other cultures. People see, interpret and
evaluate things in a different ways.

4. Importance of Multicultural Education .
• Multicultural education is intended to
decrease race, ethnicity, class and gender
divisions by helping all students attain the
knowledge, attitudes and skills they need
in order to become active citizens in a
democratic society and participate in
social change (Ledwith and Seymour,
2001)

5. Recommendation for academics to
cultural awareness
• Hospitality/Tourism Schools and Departments
should think about offering cultural awareness
within their programmes.
• This study shows that hospitality/tourism academics
believe that cultural awareness has not been
adequately enforced in hospitality/tourism education
and highly agree that cultural awareness is important
to students before they commence work in the
hospitality/tourism industry.

6. Top 10 Hotels promoting Filipino
Identify

7. Manila Hotel since 1912

8. Las Casas Filipino de Acuzar
Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar
View of the hotel grounds
Type hotel and heritage park
Location Bagac, Bataan
Built 2003

9. Las Casas Filipino de Acuzar

10. Seven Practices you can implement to
increase cultural awareness in the
workplace

11. 1. Get training for global citizenship
• First, you should build the cultural
knowledge of your employees. You can
hold training classes to teach them about
different cultural practices. These classes
should be framed in a way that allow
your employees to learn how to deal with
working in an increasingly diverse global
economy and society.

12. 2. Bridge the culture gap with good
communication skills
• Good communication skills are important
when dealing with different cultures. How you
communicate to others, both verbally and non-
verbally, can be a deal maker or deal breaker.
It’s great if your employees know the language
of the country you have business with, but they
can still be effective communicators if they
have a thorough understanding of the local
culture, and work alongside a skilled translator.

13. 3. Practice good manners
• Wherever you are in the world, it’s always good
to have manners. In some countries, saying
“please” and “thank you” is an important and
crucial part of business conversation. It shows
you’re polite, respectful, and caring, and this will
be sure to open doors for you and your business.
Plus, informality can be inappropriate in some
countries. You should also tell your employees not
to address a foreign customer by their first name
at the initial contact, and to allow the customer to
take the lead.

14. 4. Celebrate traditional holidays,
festivals, and food
• Celebrating diversity can help increase cultural
literacy, awareness, and acceptance. Start by
including the holidays and festivals of other
cultures in your company email or news
bulletin, and then celebrate them at work when
appropriate. This will show your employees
that you recognise and accept their cultures.
You could also host a staff dinner or an
international food day with cultural awareness
as the theme, and have your employees bring a
traditional dish from their homeland.

15. 5. Observe and listen to foreign
customers and colleagues
• 5. Observe and listen to foreign customers and
colleagues
• Another way to help your employees become more
culturally aware is to tell them to observe and listen
to foreign customers and colleagues. If they’re in a
foreign country, they should look at how those
around them conduct themselves and their business,
and then follow suit. And if they listen more than
they talk, they’ll learn more quickly

16. Heritage Houses now Bed & Breakfast

17. Vigan , Ilocos Sur

19. Gabii sa Kabilin Sugbo

20. How to achieve Cultural Awareness
• Cultural Mapping
• Be part as member of an NGO promoting Arts &
Culture
• Take part of Cultural Awareness Activities in the
Community
• Use Social Media to create cultural Awareness
• Organize Heritage Activities like Exhibit, Tree
Planting of Native Trees
• Seminars /Workshops

21. Heritage Tour Guide

22. Government Agencies

23. Private Sector

25. Thank you so much