Critical Issues in Tourism Communication

Question: Discuss about theCritical Issues in Tourism Communication. Answer: Introduction Communication is the most valuable and important skill required in the Tourism Industry. Since, Tourism Industry is a type of corporation, which sells intangible experiences, therefore, the effective use of communication plays a vital role in the Tourism Industry. Communication can be considered as the key component for any service industry. Managers and employees of tourism industry spend a large amount of time in developing verbal, as well as, written communication skills with their clients. The use of effective communication helps in connecting the beliefs, values, and attitude of the clients towards the services (Volgger, 2015). However, Tourism communication faces various critical issues in terms of understanding the needs of clients, the format of communication, marketing services, globalization and much more (Day, 2012). Image Source: - bing.com/images Understanding needs of the client: - The understanding of the clients needs is one of the critical issues in the Tourism Communication and requires a great effort. For instance, if we talk about a potential tourist, it is natural that he will expect all the information about amenities, attractions, meals, accessibilities, and value of money. On the other hand, the individuals who are busy would not show any interest to dive in the ocean of the information (Homburg, Wieseke, and Bornemann, 2009). Moreover, in the case of the international tourists, it is important to have knowledge of the foreign language as the wrong use of the phrases or words in certain cases are not acceptable (O'Cass and Sok, 2015). The format of communication: - Tourists generally look for the communication formats that fit their comfort level. For e.g. hierarchical structured communication formats may be acceptable to the business tourists to some extent but can be unacceptable by the leisure tourists, as they want a relaxed environment. So, it is important to provide the fresh breeze of informality in the comfortable environment of verbal and nonverbal communication but should not be associated with carelessness or unruliness (Hunter-Jones, 2016). Marketing Communication: - It is another way of communicating with the customers or consumers. Today, media has broadened its wings, which led to the importance of communication strategies. So, the main challenge of tourism communication is to adapt towards the changing environment of marketing, distribution, and promotion of the services, as well as, to create a marketing message that differentiates a brand from the existing competition (Fyall and Leask, 2006) (Fennell, 2016). Any tourism company can stand out of the crowd through its marketing communication. Social Media: - Social media or information technology cant remain untouched when talking about Tourism communication, as it shares a vital and complex relation with the tourism communication (Martin, 2008). Tourism communication is highly dependent on the social media/information technology (Beeton, Croy, and Frost, 2006). Major decisions of travel depend on the reports of media/internet. For instance, in the case of a bad news or crisis, a severe impact on the tourism sector is observed. Globalization: - The world is becoming a global village and it is impossible to compete by just having the basic knowledge of cultural diversity and standard phrases of different languages (Munar, 2007). Tourism policies of the domestic market are totally different from the policies that run across the border. Hence, it is very important to gain competencies in the cultural awareness, communication, and valuing differences, which are the demands of the global market (Hjalager, 2007). As Tourism Communication and its major issues are discussed briefly, it is very clear that communication plays a vital role in the Tourism industry and facilitates the sale of the intangible experiences. It facilitates the understanding of the customers, as well as, their needs. Though Tourism communication faces major challenges due to diversity, globalization, the format of communication, difficulty in understanding the needs of the customer, media, and much more, the wise and effective management of these challenges can help the Tourism Company to gain a competitive advantage over others. References: - Beeton, S., Croy, G. and Frost, W. (2006). Tourism and Media into the 21st Century. Tourism Culture Communication, 6(3), pp.157-159. Day, J. (2012). Challenges of Sustainable Tourism. J Tourism Res Hospitality, 01(02). Fennell, D. (2016). Challenges in tourism research. Tourism Recreation Research, pp.1-2. Fyall, A. and Leask, A. (2006). 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