The Language of Hospitality: Linguistic Strategies for Improving Tourist Satisfaction

Nahlah Nafea Khorsheed; Houshyar Abdulrahman Saleh

doi:10.25212/lfu.qzj.9.2.49

Authors

Nahlah Nafea Khorsheed Department of English, College of Education and Languages, Lebanese French University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Houshyar Abdulrahman Saleh Department of Legal Administration, College of Administration and Economics, Lebanese French University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25212/lfu.qzj.9.2.49

Keywords:

Language of Hospitality, Linguistic Strategies, Tourism, Tourist Satisfaction, Cultural Sensitivity, Communication Effectiveness.

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the complex dynamics of linguistic techniques employed in the hospitality business and their influence on the level of satisfaction experienced by tourists. By employing quantitative analysis, this study investigates the associations between several linguistic and cultural variables and the level of satisfaction among tourists. The aim is to provide insights into effective approaches to improve the overall experience of visitors Baghdad and other south cities. The data is collected on many criteria to measure variables such as cultural sensitivity, communication efficacy, personalization, emotional involvement, and language accessibility, using a sample of 92 travelers from seven hotels in Erbil. The findings demonstrate the noteworthy favorable associations between these variables and the level of satisfaction experienced by tourists, underscoring the significance of cultural sensitivity, proficient communication, tailored encounters, and inclusiveness in influencing tourists' perspectives. In addition, the investigation of reliability serves to validate the internal consistency of the measurement scales employed, thus strengthening the credibility of the research outcomes. Suggestions for stakeholders in the hospitality industry encompass allocating resources towards cultural sensitivity training, enhancing communication channels, tailoring guest experiences to individual preferences, and fostering genuine cultural exchanges.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alemán Carreón, E. C., Mendoza España, H. A., Nonaka, H., & Hiraoka, T. (2021). Differences in Chinese and Western tourists faced with Japanese hospitality: a natural language processing approach. Information Technology & Tourism, 23, 381-438.

Bueno, I., Carrasco, R. A., Porcel, C., Kou, G., & Herrera-Viedma, E. (2021). A linguistic multi-criteria decision-making methodology for the evaluation of tourist services considering customer opinion value. Applied Soft Computing, 101, 107045.

Cenni, I., & Goethals, P. (2020). Positive reviews on TripAdvisor: a cross-linguistic study of contemporary digital tourism discourse. Onomázein, 18-40.

Cenni, I., Goethals, P., & Vásquez, C. (2020). A cross-linguistic study of metacommunication in online hotel reviews. Intercultural Pragmatics, 17(4), 445-470.

Chang, Y. C., Ku, C. H., & Chen, C. H. (2020). Using deep learning and visual analytics to explore hotel reviews and responses. Tourism Management, 80, 104129.

Chen, H. Y., Wang, L., Zhang, X., Wei, W., & Lyu, J. (2024). Does linguistic diversity make destinations more sophisticated? Exploring the effects on destination personality. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 31, 100828.

Cherapanukorn, V., & Sugunnasil, P. (2022). Tourist attraction satisfaction factors from online reviews. A case study of tourist attractions in Thailand. Journal of Environmental Management & Tourism, 13(2), 379-390.

Darko, A. P., Liang, D., Zhang, Y., & Kobina, A. (2023). Service quality in football tourism: an evaluation model based on online reviews and data envelopment analysis with linguistic distribution assessments. Annals of Operations Research, 325(1), 185-218.

Fan, A., Van Hoof, H. B., Dou, X., & Serrano, A. L. (2023). The impact of linguistic style on customer satisfaction: a cross-cultural empirical study in Ecuador. International Hospitality Review, 37(1), 125-142.

Handani, N. D., Williady, A., & Kim, H. S. (2022). An analysis of customer textual reviews and satisfaction at luxury hotels in Singapore’s Marina Bay area (SG-Clean-Certified Hotels). Sustainability, 14(15), 9382.

Istianah, A., & Suhandano, S. (2022). Appraisal patterns used on the kalimantan tourism website: An ecolinguistics perspective. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 9(1), 2146928.

Lertchalermtipakoon, P., Wongsubun, U., & Kawinkoonlasate, P. (2021). Need Analysis: English Language Use by Students in the Tourism and Hospitality and Industry. English Language Teaching, 14(3), 59-71.

Limna, P., & Kraiwanit, T. (2023). The role of chatgpt on customer service in the hospitality industry: An exploratory study of hospitality workers' experiences and perceptions. Tourism and hospitality management, 29(4), 583-592.

Lin, V., Barrett, N. E., Liu, G. Z., Chen, N. S., & Jong, M. S. Y. (2023). Supporting dyadic learning of English for tourism purposes with scenery-based virtual reality. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 36(5-6), 906-942.

Mahmood, K. A., & Saleh, A. M. (2023). Barriers and facilitators influencing access to and utilization of primary healthcare services in Kurdistan-region, Iraq: a cross-sectional study. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 85(7), 3409-3417.

Mantra, I. B. N., Widiastuti, I. A. M. S., Handayani, N. D., & Pramawati, A. A. I. Y. (2020). English Language urgency for tourism and hospitality employees to boost global economy. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 17(7), 5458-5469.

Mariani, M. M., Borghi, M., & Okumus, F. (2020). Unravelling the effects of cultural differences in the online appraisal of hospitality and tourism services. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 90, 102606.

Martín, J. C., Rudchenko, V., & Sánchez-Rebull, M. V. (2020). The role of nationality and hotel class on guests’ satisfaction. A fuzzy-TOPSIS approach applied in Saint Petersburg. Administrative Sciences, 10(3), 68.

Mehraliyev, F., Chan, I. C. C., & Kirilenko, A. P. (2022). Sentiment analysis in hospitality and tourism: a thematic and methodological review. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(1), 46-77.

Miguel, B. (2024). Effects of Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Communication on the Quality of Service and Customer Satisfaction in Hospitality and Tourism Settings in Brazil. International Journal of Modern Hospitality and Tourism, 4(1), 26-37.

Moreno, M. R., Sánchez-Franco, M. J., & Tienda, M. D. L. S. R. (2023). Examining transaction-specific satisfaction and trust in Airbnb and hotels. An application of BERTopic and Zero-shot text classification. Tourism & Management Studies, 19(2), 21-37.

Puh, K., & Bagić Babac, M. (2023). Predicting sentiment and rating of tourist reviews using machine learning. Journal of hospitality and tourism insights, 6(3), 1188-1204.

Qian, J., & Law, R. (2021). Examination of website language strategies adopted by five-star hotels in China: A corpus approach. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(4), 1066-1078.

Raju, S. S., Pooja, M., & Rana, N. (2020). Role of English literature in travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Dogo Rangsang Research Journal, 10(7), 27-34.

Sann, R., & Lai, P. C. (2021). Do expectations towards Thai hospitality differ? The views of English vs Chinese speaking travelers. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 15(1), 43-58.

Shen, L., Qian, J., & Chen, S. C. (2020). Effective communication strategies of sustainable hospitality: A qualitative exploration. Sustainability, 12(17), 6920.

Shin, S., & Nicolau, J. L. (2022). Identifying attributes of wineries that increase visitor satisfaction and dissatisfaction: Applying an aspect extraction approach to online reviews. Tourism Management, 91, 104528.

Sobhanifard, Y., & Vaeysi, M. (2020). Mixed modeling of the social network mechanisms for the sustainable development of tourism: The case of Iranian Kurdistan. Sustainable Development, 28(1), 187-196.

Wang, G., Wang, H., & Wang, L. (2023). Research trends in tourism and hospitality from 1991 to 2020: an integrated approach of corpus linguistics and bibliometrics. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 6(2), 509-529.

Wei, Z., Zhang, M., & Ming, Y. (2023). Understanding the effect of tourists’ attribute-level experiences on satisfaction–a cross-cultural study leveraging deep learning. Current Issues in Tourism, 26(1), 105-121.

Xu, X., & Zhao, Y. (2022). Examining the influence of linguistic characteristics of online managerial response on return customers’ change in satisfaction with hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102, 103146.

Yang, T., Wu, J., & Zhang, J. (2024). Knowing how satisfied/dissatisfied is far from enough: a comprehensive customer satisfaction analysis framework based on hybrid text mining techniques. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(3), 873-892.

Zheng, X., Huang, J., Wu, J., Sun, S., & Wang, S. (2023). Emerging trends in online reviews research in hospitality and tourism: A scientometric update (2000− 2020). Tourism Management Perspectives, 47, 101105.