Language skills in tourism: Why the Anglosphere needs to appreciate them
A "GT" Insight by Karen Thomas and Jim Butcher
The importance of languages is universal.
However, in native English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, language education has been neglected.
This has implications for the inbound travel, tourism, and hospitality industries and their workers, according to Karen Thomas and Jim Butcher. Dr Thomas was the lead researcher for a study on the topic.
Drs Thomas and Butcher have co-authored this “Good Tourism” Insight at the invitation of Tourism’s Horizon, a “GT” Insight Partner.
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It shouldn’t really be necessary to make the case for languages.
As a global destination the United Kingdom (UK) welcomes visitors from across the world. Inbound tourism forecasts recently released by VisitBritain estimate 35.1 million visits and GBP 29.5 billion (~ USD 36.5 billion) spend for 2023.
As anyone who has visited a country without being able to speak the local language knows, communicating with tourists in their native language can make them feel more welcome, comfortable, respected, and confident.
Foreign language skills in tourism are therefore essential in providing great holidays; in the UK as in any country.
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It’s not all about the tourism experience either. From negotiating contracts, to developing partnerships worldwide, the ability to communicate effectively is vital.
Promoting greater language competence is increasingly necessary since the UK left the EU, prompting an end to the practice of importing multilingual hospitality workers from elsewhere in Europe.
Brexit has been, to say the least, a fraught affair. But it should prompt the UK to take seriously the prospects of UK citizens in the labour market and in society.
The government is currently addressing skill shortages in part through promoting apprenticeships, which is positive. But in tourism and hospitality, why not aim high and promote languages as a part of addressing the skill shortages that exist there?
Who is learning languages? Who is not teaching them?
The present reality is pretty dismal ... continue reading this "Good Tourism" Insight at The "Good Tourism" Blog.
I agree with the sentiment, although there is a measure of practicality that needs to be considered. I am from the U.S. and speak a small amount of German, but that was only because I met and married a German woman. When I was doing a great amount of traveling, I truly felt that I should be able to speak another language competently. But (I am trying not to sound arrogant here) for most English speakers, the question is: Which one? For a non-English speaker, the answer is almost universal: English. But for a native English speaker, deciding on a second language is not such a clear undertaking.