Cross cultural issues in tourism and hospitality
This Special Issue on Cross Cultural Issues in the Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research is a response to the significance of what is at the heart of tourism, culture. Specifically, the seven contributed papers collectively demonstrate an interest and relevance in the area of cross cultural encounters. Contributions were selected from those presented at the International Conference on Cross Cultural Issues in Tourism and Hospitality, 14 16 May 2014 in Chania, Crete. The conference was jointly hosted by TEI Heraklion, Crete; Bucks New University, UK; and Universiti Utara, Malaysia. The aim of the conference was to provide a forum for tourism and hospitality academics, policy makers, marketing professionals, and other stakeholders to discuss and debate cross cultural issues and challenges faced in the management of tourism and hospitality attractions and destinations. National and international speakers presented and explored issues revolving around cultural aspects in the development and management of tourism and hospitality from the perspectives of theory and practice. The conference provided an intimate and supportive environment for discussions and networking for both established and up coming tourism scholars. The conference themes included: cross cultural service interactions in tourism and hospitality, multi disciplinary research in tourism, sustainable development in tourism, tourism dependency, tourism planning in protected areas, visitor management strategies for destinations, tourism and the host environment, land and culture, tourism and indigenous people, eco tourism: viable route to rural development, local participation in decision making, the local impact of travel and tourism. All seven papers included in this Special Issue address a wide range of topics and approaches. The tourism and hospitality literature has recognised the importance of culture in encounters between hosts and guests and industry players. Although the definition of culture still remains ambiguous and rather enigmatical, especially in the field of tourism and hospitality, the following definition of the concept of culture is derived from the work of Geertz (1973) Influenced by Max Weber, Geertz (1973) presents a semiotic conceptualisation of culture, arguing that [man] (sic) is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun' Culture as 'webs' of significance need to be observed, studied, analysed, interpreted, and its meaning constructed. This necessitates the isolation of its elements by specifying the internal relationships amongst them, for example, selecting cross cultural issues in the hospitality service industry. In so doing, it enhances our knowledge and understanding of the whole tourism services related systems. From this perspective, culture is 'public' produced by its systems of meaning, and the latter are the collective property of a particular people, i.e. tourism stakeholders. The following contributions enhance our knowledge of the crosscultural web that interconnects tourism stakeholders' actions, values, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions. As Wittgenstein (1998) noted, 'we cannot find our feet with them [the webs] it requires empirical research on the cultural aspects of tourism interactions in order to understand their implications. The papers in this