Intercultural Communication Aspects Encountered in Tourism Enterprises of Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden

Abstract

Internal and external communication among employees and customers in tourism enterprises can be hindered by intercultural barriers. The present paper reports on the results of a qualitative research carried out within the framework of a NordTourNet-3 project implemented in Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden. The project revealed a set of intercultural difficulties faced by employees and clients that may undermine the performance of those enterprises. The follow-up research aimed to examine those intercultural communication problems. The paper provides an overview of relevant intercultural theories, explores intercultural communication cases in tourism enterprises based on 12 semi-structured interviews carried out with enterprise representatives. The article lists company profiles, describes the intercultural difficulties encountered in internal and external communication by countries, bearing in mind obstacles of Covid-19 pandemic. The descriptions of intercultural problems based on the theoretical assumptions and answers to the interview questions provided by company representatives are proposed. The research findings may be of interest to tourism industry representatives, various higher educational institution stakeholders, including academic personnel and students or any others interested in the field.