Looking inward, looking outward…Cultural Intelligence

As students and professional in tourism and hospitality, in every facet of our industry, we will be able to interact with a host of people from all parts of the world.  As I stipulate in class, we must remember that anyone can walk through that door.  They will speak a variety of languages, walk different pathways than your own, and have different customs, different points of reality, points of view.  This thought hints at the notion of Cultural Intelligence.

Tourism is a global industry.  Success hinges on acquiring and developing a cultural intelligence.  It is more than just a strategy, but a way of life.  Those that succeed will be cognizant of the need for cultural intelligence.  And this isn’t just cultural competency.  Cultural competency is part of cultural intelligence.  To best illustrate, and set the foundation for understand here is a video…

Cultural intelligence percolates through the multilayers of the three legs of business effectiveness and efficiency:  Operational, Organizational and Financial.

Can you map out those connections?

Here is another great video…