Tourism

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Communicate in the workplace

Introduction:

Communication is of vital importance to efficient and happy workplaces in the tourism industry. Without good communication skills, customers could be left unsatisfied and work colleagues would frequently be at war with each other. The tourism industry is so competitive that customers would go elsewhere to make their travel arrangements next time, and staff turnover would be extremely high. In short, poor communication skills costs tourism companies money that they cannot afford to lose, and will therefore not allow.

Therefore, one of the very first things students wanting a career in this industry should do is to ensure that they have good communication skills, hence the inclusion of this module in this course.

Communication in the workplace can be formal or informal. Formal communication tends to be structured and delivered through channels like letters, memos, meetings and company policies or procedures.

Informal communication does not need to be so structured. Today, email is a good example of informal communication; however, verbal conversations are also a common form. Verbal, also referred to as oral communication, relies heavily on non-verbal communication to support the spoken word. Click on the following links to examine non-verbal communication and barriers to communication.

The following links to multiple-choice questions, activities and scenarios will help you to revise providing assistance to internal and external customers.

Non-verbal communication
Barriers to communication
Questions
Activities
Scenarios

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