Meeting someone from your culture helps in relationship building, makes it easy to connect and bond. Using this skill with guests is amazing. In my experience, if you are travelling to a foreign country and you would see that the person at front staff speaks your language and knows where you come from it helps in building that first conversation. It also helps the staff to make the guest feel special and know what kind of food or activities they would like.
I was working at the front office in London in a hotel at the age of 17, and I was checking in guests alongside my manager, who was Spanish. Two kinds of groups approached and the one with me was trying to converse in Spanish and the one to him was speaking in Italian. So, both of us turned to each other and said why don’t we switch since I am an Italian and we were able to address both the group in a easier way. In general, Language is the first thing you notice and by recognising the accent and adjusting it makes a very good icebreaker to create comfort for everyone.
How do you use cultural diversity in your team or workplace to improve guest experiences or business results?
I think it links into the first question, either with front facing roles or everyone; making the conversation easier for everyone. In my role, as a Revenue manager for Hilton, and looking after different number of hotels across the region, I already feel I am able to leverage the team’s language skills and cultural skills in making the conversation more comfortable and easier to bond over.
Have you faced challenges in hospitality due to cultural differences, and how did you handle them?
I don’t think I have faced any challenges directly, but I know it can get challenging if you are not fully aware of the guests that you are hosting or the colleagues in your team. I remember working in a hotel in the past when we had a Muslim colleague and during Ramadan, he did not get any additional flexibility from the workplace. I am not sure if the workplace was unaware, or he had not explained properly. But such kind of unawareness in the team and workplace makes it difficult for people from varied cultures to assimilate. We are aware of the religious holidays in Europe and UK, but the other celebration across different cultures need to be balanced and if we know that about the guests staying in our hotels who are celebrating different festivals, we can aim to create their stay more special as well.
What advice would you give to others in hospitality to embrace and use cultural diversity in their careers?
Raising awareness is very important: one could be from a place that is not known but it is amazing to learn and know differences are what makes cultures special. For example, not a lot of people know that some people from the north of Italy speak German, and I grew up in a region called South Tyrol in the north where we follow more Austrian traditions rather than Italian, even though we are geographically in Italy. All I would like to conclude is to be proud of your cultural background and not be scared to speak up or share your uniqueness.
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