Tourism Chapter 18 – Communication and Personality Development

NIOS Class 12 Tourism Chapter 18 Solutions

INTEXT QUESTIONS 18.1

1. Explain the importance of communication in the tourism industry.

Ans: No organisation can survive without communication because managers cannot perform the basic functions of management, i.e., Planning, Organising, Leading, and controlling, without communication. Tourism is a service-oriented industry; managers need to spend most of their time communicating with customers motivating them to use the services they offer.

2. Imagine you have to talk to a foreign tourist. What barriers can interrupt your communication?

Ans: Language, medium of communication, distance, and information overload can interrupt communication.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 18.2

1. Explain the five Cs of oral Communication.

Ans: Oral communication should be Clear, Concise, and Brief. It should be Complete, it should answer questions like Who, What, When, Where, and Why; it should be Concrete which means speakers should use specific facts; it should have Courtesy which refers to the use of polite words.

2. Suppose you are asked to convene a meeting. How will you proceed?

Ans: The process involves three main steps: circulating a notice to the concerned members; preparing the agenda which contains the topics to be discussed in a meeting, and recording the conclusions or decisions of the meeting which are called minutes of a meeting.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 18.3

1. Name the principles of effective written communication.

Ans: Unity, Coherence, Avoiding jargon, Accuracy, and Briefness are the principles of effective written communication.

2. What are the components of a business letter?

Ans: Heading, Date, Reference, Inside address, Attention lines, Salutation, Subject, Body, Complimentary close, Signature, and Enclosure if any are the components of a business letter.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 18.4

1. List various factors considered essential to customer care in tourism businesses.

Ans: Important factors for the management of customer care include understanding customer needs, matching a product or service to the customer needs, providing value for money, keeping customers well informed, reliability and efficiency in fulfilling orders, after-sales service, efficiency in dealing with customer complaints, customer feedback, customer loyalty schemes, and efficiency and friendliness of employees.

2. From which sources can you collect information about your customers?

Ans: Information about customers and their requirements is available from many sources including customers’ order history, records of their contacts with business, direct feedback from customers, changes in individual customers’ order patterns, changes in the overall success of specific products or services, inquiries about possible new products or services, changes in the goods and services of competitors, feedback and referrals from non-competitive suppliers.

3. As a professional suggest ways of dealing with tourist complaints.

Ans: For dealing with customer complaints effectively, listen sympathetically to establish the details of the complaint, be calm to stay in control and be businesslike, do not take the complaint personally, record complaint details, deal with written complaints immediately, offer rectification, follow-up action appropriately, and report back to the client with a solution.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 18.5

1. Name personality traits mentioned in MBTI.

Ans: The personality traits classified under the MBTI model are: Extroversion vs Introversion, Sensing vs Intuition, Thinking vs Feeling, and Judging vs Perceiving.

2. Distinguish between introverts and extroverts.

Ans: Extroverted People are sociable, assertive, and enjoy more frequent social interaction, and feel energised after spending time with other people. Introverts are quiet and shy, enjoy deep and meaningful social interactions, and feel recharged after spending time alone.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 18.6

1. What are the cross-functional teams?

Ans: Employees from the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, come together to accomplish a task. Task forces and committees are cross-functional teams.

2. What is team building?

Ans: Any formal activity intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team is referred to as team building.

Terminal Exercises

1. What is communication?

Ans: Communication is the act of conveying information for the purpose of creating a mutual understanding: it is something that humans do every day. In simple terms, communication means the sharing of information, whether written or oral.

2. Why is effective communication important for the tourism industry?

Ans: As a tourism professional, you may need to explain your ideas and make people understand your ideas; you need to sell your services to your client or customer. As managers, you need to spend most of the time communicating with your superiors, subordinates, colleagues, customers, or suppliers. Further, to be an effective professional, you need to develop the right mix of personality, develop customer contact, feedback, and loyalty schemes to attract and retain customers, and create an environment that encourages and values the contributions of team building.

3. Discuss the components of a communication process.

Ans: The components of communicatio process are,

Sender: The person who desires to convey the message is known as the sender.
Message: It is a subject matter of any communication. It may involve any fact, idea, opinion, or information. It must exist in the mind of the sender if communication is to take place.
Encoding: The communicator of the information organises his idea into a series of symbols which he feels will communicate the message to the intended receiver or receivers.
Communication Channel: The communication channel is the medium through which the message passes. It is the link that connects the sender and the receiver.
Receiver: The person who receives the message is called the receiver, or the receiver is the person to whom the message is sent by the sender. The communication process is incomplete without the existence of a receiver of the message. It is the receiver who receives and tries to understand the message.
Decoding: Decoding is the process of interpreting an encoded message into an understandable meaning. Decoding helps the receiver to derive meaning from the message.
Feedback: For the exchange to be complete, the information must go back to the one from where it started (or sender), so that they can know the reaction of the receiver. The reaction or response of the receiver is known as feedback.

4. Distinguish between oral and written communication.

Ans: Sharing of ideas, exchange of words orally or verbally, is referred to as oral communication. It involves the exchange of messages through spoken words. Oral communication may take place in face-to-face talk (like in meetings and conferences) or through devices like telephones. Exchange of words, ideas, or transmission of messages in written form is referred to as written communication. It is an essential part of organisational life. Written communication in organisations includes letters, memos, agendas, manuals, handbooks, reports, etc.

Oral Communication	Written Communication
Messages are exchanged verbally	Provides a record and reference
Messages are exchanged quickly	Exchange of messages takes time
Easy to maintain secrecy	Difficult to maintain secrecy
More useful for short messages	More useful for long messages
Provides no record	Provides record and reference
It may not be precise	Can be expressed precisely

5. Explain the 7Cs of written communication.

Ans: The seven Cs are: Concise, Clarity, Completeness, Consideration, Courtesy, Correctness, and Concreteness.

Clarity: We would be able to ensure effective written communication if the objective of the message is clear, the content to be transmitted is meaningful, and the medium of communication is appropriate.
Completeness: While communicating, you should ensure that, as a sender, you answer all the questions asked. You should check: what, who, when, why, and where of the message which you intend to send.
Conciseness: The message to be communicated should be as brief and concise as possible. Only simple and brief statements should be made.
Courtesy: Courtesy means you should create friendliness while communicating. Irritating words and expressions should be omitted.
Correctness: The message should consist of correct facts and should be sent at the correct time. It is also important for effective written communication that the sender uses the correct format for the communication.
Concreteness: To make written communication more effective, exaggeration should be avoided. The message should be specific, crystal clear, and to the point.
Consideration: Consideration means that while communicating, you should adopt a you-attitude rather than a we-attitude and also avoid gender bias.

6. Discuss the strategies for customer care management

Ans: Customer care management involves putting systems in place to maximise customer satisfaction with the business. In the tourism business, management of a high level of customer care often requires one to find out what customers want. Caring for customers and ensuring they enjoy a high-quality service is all about putting people first. It is worth taking steps to make sure that they are satisfied with the service they receive. Strategies for customer care management include,

Providing a free customer helpline;
Answering frequently asked questions on your website;
Following up on sales with a courtesy call.
Providing free products that will help customers make the most of their purchases;
Sending reminders when services are due; and
Offering preferential discounts to existing customers on further purchases.

7. Outline the important components of a business letter.

Ans: The elements of structure or parts of a business letter are the following:

Heading	The name and address of your company
Date	The date on which the letter is being written
Reference	If you are writing a letter in response to a letter
Inside Address	Yours faithfully, Yours obediently, Yours respectfully, Yours truly
Attention Lines	To ensure prompt action e.g Attention In charge Hospitality
Salutation	Dear Shri Ram Kumar, Dear Smiti Kalpana Madam
Subject	It is the purpose of the letter
Body	The message
Complimentary Close	Yours faithfully or Yours obediently, Yours respectfully, Yours truly
Signature	Yours faithfully(Ram Kumar)
Enclosure	If there is any attachment to the letter

8. What personality traits would you like to see in tourism as a professional?

Ans: The two approaches that are dominant in classifying the personality traits are Myers and Briggs Type Indicator ( MBTI) and the Big Five Model.

The personality traits classified under the MBTI model are:

Extroversion vs Introversion: Extroverts are sociable, assertive, and enjoy more frequent social interaction and feel energized after spending time with other people. Introverts are quiet, shy, and enjoy deep and meaningful social interactions and feel recharged after spending time alone.
Sensing vs Intuition: People who prefer sensing tend to pay a great deal of attention to reality, particularly to what they can learn from their own senses. Those who prefer intuition pay more attention to things like patterns and impressions. They enjoy thinking about possibilities, imagining the future, and abstract theories.
Thinking vs Feeling: Thinking people use reason and logic to handle problems. They tend to be consistent, logical, and impersonal. Feeling types prefer personal values and emotions.
Judging vs Perceiving: Judging people want control and prefer to be structured. Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous.

The personality traits classified under the Big Five Model are:

Openness to Experience: Extremely open people are creative, curious, and sensitive. Others are conventional.
Conscientiousness: Such people tend to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; exhibit planned rather than spontaneous behaviour; organised and dependable.
Extroversion: Extroversion means being sociable, assertive, and introversion types are reserved and quiet.
Agreeableness: It is the tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than being suspicious and antagonistic towards others. It is also a measure of one’s trusting and helpful nature, and whether a person is generally well-tempered or not.
Emotional Stability: It is the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability. It refers to the degree of emotional stability and control.

9. What is team building? Suggest ways to make teamwork effective.

Ans: Any formal activity intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team is referred to as team building. Team building is an effort in which a team studies its own process of working together and acts to create an environment that encourages and values the contributions of team members.

Steps for Building an Effective Team

Consider each employee’s ideas as valuable.
Be aware of employees’ unspoken feelings.
Be clear when communicating.
Encourage trust and cooperation among employees on your team.
Encourage team members to share information.
Delegate problem-solving tasks to the team.
Facilitate communication.
Make sure that you have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish.
Set ground rules for the team.
Establish a method for arriving at a consensus.
Encourage listening and brainstorming.

10. What types of teams can be built in tourism organisations

Ans: The four most common found teams in organisations are problem-solving teams, self-managed work teams, cross-functional teams, and virtual teams.

Problem-Solving Teams: A group of 5 to 12 employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment.
Self-Managed Work Teams: A group of 10 to 15 people who take on the responsibilities of their former supervisors.
Cross-Functional Teams: Employees from the same hierarchical level but from different work areas come together to accomplish a task. Task forces and committees are cross-functional teams.
Virtual Teams: Teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members to achieve a common goal.

11. Think of a situation at home or work, and identify communication problems you observed or experienced.

Ans:

In a factory, if a worker wants to send a message to another worker, the noise of machines will distort the oral message that the worker wants to communicate.
If a friend is calling from a far-off distance, I won’t be able to hear him because of the distance.
If a receptionist at a hotel receives more than 20 phone calls in five minutes she won’t be able to communicate effectively due to information overload.
An English-speaking tourist talks only in English in a non-English speaking country, he/she will fail to communicate effectively.
If a travel agent gives maps and charts to the tourist guides who have not been taught to read maps, the agents will be in great trouble.