Introduction
This webquest is designed to teach students about business communication in tourism. They will become "experts" in the area and able to meet the needs of today's tourists, identifying their needs and expectations.
The first step in ensuring customer satisfaction is to correctly identify the needs and expectations of customers. Customers in the travel industry have different requirements and expectations, so identification is very important. The success of a tourist unit on the market depends to a great extent on the efforts it makes to understand and meet the needs and expectations of its clients, both current and potential.Identifying customer needs and expectations requires a good understanding of the communication techniques of both verbal and written, as well as subtle, of the various signals sent by the clients.
In this webquest we will learn about:
- What are the needs of a tour operator?
- What expectations does the client have from a tourist unit?
- Why is it important to evaluate customer satisfaction?
- What communication techniques can a tourism unit use to assess the satisfaction of tourists?
Task
Your task for this webquest is to find out exactly what categories of needs the tourists have, what expectations they have and how we need to communicate effectively with them to satisfy them. You and your group (three students total) will become "experts" on business communication and you will learn the things you need to know to communicate effectively
.Finally, you will exemplify the 8 attractive communication techniques learned by performing role-plays (simulation of dialogues between clients and different types of clients, starting from certain scenarios).
Process
Follow the steps below for the first process in your business communication.
1.In groups of three, you will work together to learn about good communication in tourism, the categories of needs manifested by the tourist and the key factors of tourists' expectations.
Group 1:
Communication in tourism
How important is good communication in tourism? (worksheet)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yc-ixychUyjMZDIcUHmzHqqOqRnEjjnQZKBtX3zTAGc/edit?usp=sharing
Group 2:
What are the tourists' needs?
http://www.tourismtheories.org/?p=341
Typology of tourists' needs (worksheet)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JKPMXDlcCY6QwG-FjGqjfyTXEDkdvL2EI1o5jL6mmHc/edit?usp=sharing
Group 3:
Identify the key factors of tourists' expectations.
http://www.tourismtheories.org/?p=716
Key factors for tourists' expectations (worksheet)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a2PQ--ELaTYZnQ7RpHoCvl0T1Yq8-savW16rM9Upv78/edit?usp=sharing
2. It is time we found out which attractive techniques and means of communication we can use in communicating with tourists in order to satisfy their expectations in the highest possible level. Each group of students will search for relevant information about the techniques and means of communication in tourism and will fill in the work sheet.
Communication techniques in tourism
https://prezi.com/.../non-verbal-communication-in-the-hospitality-and-tourism-industry
Communication techniques in tourism (worksheet)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HolAu2sT3cqC8DIiXpiVxEHBzTaU1NjExhQZYIoQk98/edit?usp=sharing
Now that you have completed all the components of process one, proceed to process two!
- Do a role-play with a partner on making and answering a question. Use the rules you wrote in worksheet “Communication techniques in tourism”.
- Ask the tourists what they want.
- Tell the tourists what they can do.
- Ask the tourists about themselves and their interests.
- Tell tourists about local customs. Tell them about any special rules for your village or culture.
- Be helpful and show that you want to give information.
- Ask questions about your host and his or her place. (tourist)
When you have finished, change roles.
In hotel services, customer satisfaction involves:
- correct, complete and faithful information
- a first favorable impression on meeting with tourism staff
- obtaining a result as expected
- availability to the customer in all situations
- priority treatment for customer requirements
- the tendency to reach the level of excellence
Taking into account all the above aspects and the elements presented in the worksheet below, present the basics to be respected in business communication in tourism.
Skills and attitude required in tourism business (worksheet)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1blXi2dtZq2zBQ7kULzRhHFrQxwgc6LedEsBUDsJ2qQs/edit?usp=sharing
Evaluation
Evaluation
What can you do, and what do you know after doing this researches?
Final evaluation on business communication in tourism (worksheet)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10PEVQsyYp0Xye1fyZAflwwRhYC6Gczn8adfRBZGFw20/edit?usp=sharing
Conclusion
The success of tourism communication consists of:
- Creating a link to make the interlocutor communicate
- Mastering appropriate communication techniques
To satisfying the client, it's important to find out what's on his mind, not to tell him what's in your mind. Gestures, words, tone are aspects that can make the difference!
Credits
This webquest was created by a team of teachers, within the co-funded Erasmus plus KA2 partnership “English for hospitality” (EN4HOSTS), project number: 2017-1-RO01-KA201-037159, KA2 - Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices ,KA201 - Strategic Partnerships for school education
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Teacher Page
For educational purposes, you can use this PowerPoint presentation: