International Hospitality Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Hospitality Management - Essay Example However, Boonghee at el ( 2011,P.194) argues that a organization should not set its strategies based only on the national culture especially for product that are designed for individual users since individuals may show different cultural behaviors from the behavior perceived at national point. This is more common in countries that have population that has different cultural practices and backgrounds. National culture concept is more applicable in societies and nations studies but in business perspective individual consumer culture very important and company’s strategies can be valuable if it’s developed and implemented at individual consumer level. Tourism industry is complex business with both goods and services being sold together by different companies (Manrai and Manrain 2011, P. 25). Consumer’s decisions are influenced by different factors such as community, cultural, emotional and personal preferences but cultural factors are the most influential of all (Ma nrai and Manrain 2011, P. 25).This paper will critically analyze relevant cultural theory to the international hospitality industry. Cultural theories and tourism Tourism industry is a global business entity that involves travelling of tourists across countries boundaries as well as companies operating in more than one country that is affected by economic and non economic factors (Cho 2010, P 307). With developments of international tourism, companies are strategizing to have multicultural image to be able to compete internationally and attract customers from different backgrounds (White at el 2011, P.325).Tourism research is paying more attention on the national culture and its effect on consumer decision as the global growth in tourism is on the rise (Litvin at el 2004 p.29) Understanding cultural factors and preference can help a company tap into international market since tourism is affected by the cultural practices of both the tourist and the tourism company. Competitive advan tage can be achieved when companies provides services that are related to customer preferences ( Kaze and Skapars 2011, P.40) since tourism is associated to artistic aspect of purchaser as well as national culture as an influencing factor of buyer’s behavior. Nationalized artistic values are produced by both the traveler and the service provider or their employees (Kaze and Skapars 2011, P.42) thus the tourism destination may differ giving the customer competitive advantages due to various options available for them. Despite the fact that common global culture is emerging due to free interaction of people from all over the world and use of internet, successful companies must align their marketing strategies with the trends of the home market they operate in (Banyte and Miezeliene 2007, P.292) Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Hofstede is a known in studies of cultural behaviors since he developed the scopes of culture in relation to business across different countries (Manrai an d Manrai 2011, P. 26). Hofstede theory describes the effects that culture has on staff ethics, customer’s actions, marketing and tourism both in local market and internationally and has been recognized in understanding of cultural behaviors across boundaries. The theory has five elements as cited by Manrai and Manrai (2011, P. 25) as power distance, confusion dynamism, masculine versus femininity, individual versus