Day in the life of a tourist/Activities/Culture

Objective
Unit Standard 18226 – V2, Level 3, Credit 3 - Demonstrate cross-cultural communication for the tourism and travel industry. Element 1 (PC 1.1-1.3), Element 3 (PC 3.1)

Assessment Activity
Describe and define culture Please word process and ensure you reference all your material. The assessment is due by Wednesday 12 March in the assessment drop box.

Task One
There are overseas and national delegates travelling to the NZ Institute of Wine Conference at Mission Estate. Those from overseas are looking forward to experiencing the culture of New Zealand. While several of the New Zealand delegates intend to travel overseas once the conference has finished.

1. Imagine you are a visitor to New Zealand. Explain how the cultural influences below could effect your overall tourism experience. (PC 1.1)


 * motivation to travel


 * barrier to travel


 * ways in which people perceive things


 * preconceived expectations


 * beliefs


 * values


 * norms


 * any other

2. Now imagine you are a visitor to another country eg. Japan. Explain how the cultural influences below could effect your overall tourism experience. (PC 1.1)


 * motivation to travel


 * barrier to travel


 * ways in which people perceive things


 * preconceived expectations


 * beliefs


 * values


 * norms


 * any other

Task Two
1. Identify (in the context of the tourism industry) the two largest cultural groups in New Zealand (PC 1.2)

2. Identify two cultural groups from countries which are strong sources of tourism for New Zealand (PC 1.2)

Task Three
Now take these (4) cultural groups (from above in task 2) and describe different aspects of their culture in relation to tourism. The term culture includes: where you are from, religion, gender, age, sub-cultures, socio-economic group. (PC 1.3)


 * Norms (rules of social behaviour)


 * Values


 * Beliefs


 * Language


 * Customs or celebrations

Task 4
An increasing number of Chinese and Indian tourists are visiting New Zealand - can you compare these two cultural groups and identify 10 differences between them.

Supporting Resources

 * course notes


 * NZ statistics


 * Cultural Shock Japan

Definitions


 * Beliefs refer to a psychological state where a proposition or premise is held to be true by a collective group or society.


 * Cultural groups are a self-defined group of people who share a commonality of cultural experience. Cultural groups may be defined by many types of commonality, such as ethnicity, religion, or physical commonality, and include sub-cultures.


 * Culture refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance.


 * Culture shock is a term used to describe the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within an entirely different cultural or social environment (such as a foreign country).


 * Language refers to a dynamic set of visual, auditory, or tactile symbols of communication and the elements used to manipulate them.


 * Non-verbal communication services refers to services designed to provide information for people who have difficulty communicating using spoken English. Examples may include but are not limited to – websites with foreign language options, services provided by organisations such as the Deaf Association of NZ Inc and Citizens Advices Bureaux, brochures printed in foreign languages.


 * Norms refer to rules that are socially enforced.


 * Sub-cultural groups are groups of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong. An example could be Tokyo Goths (sub-culture of Japanese youth), or the Barmy Army (sub-culture of English cricket supporters).


 * Tourism workplace policies and procedures refer to documented instructions about workplace expectations, these must include but are not limited to – customer service delivery, personal presentation, legislation, organisational structure, business objectives. This includes all sectors of tourism, such as the travel industry.


 * Values refer to objects, conditions or characteristics that members of a society consider important or valuable.