UCOL NZ: Cultural Norms and Their Impact on Hospitality Service

This essay delves into the significance of cultural norms within the hospitality industry, highlighting their profound impact on service delivery and customer experiences. It examines how differing cultural backgrounds shape customer expectations and perceptions of service quality in hotels and restaurants, referencing examples from Asian and English cultures to illustrate these variations. The essay discusses the importance of understanding these cultural nuances to enhance customer satisfaction and gain a competitive advantage in the globalized hospitality sector. It further explores specific cultural practices related to dining etiquette, such as the use of utensils, serving protocols, and appropriate interactions between staff and customers, emphasizing the need for cultural sensitivity and awareness in creating a positive and respectful environment for guests. The essay concludes by stressing the importance of appreciating diverse cultural lifestyles to foster cross-cultural relations and improve overall business practices in the hospitality industry. Desklib offers a variety of resources including past papers and solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

Running head: HOSPITALITY CULTURAL NORMS
1
Hospitality Cultural Norms
Student name:
Institutional affiliation:

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Hospitality Cultural Norms
Introduction
Hospitality is defined as the duty of giving charitable care to strangers or guests, which also
remains the same as a traditional denotation. In present days, many people know that cultural
backgrounds have an essential influence on how customers label their services familiarities at
hotels. These cultural prompts frequently translate to diverse expectations causing divergences in
the familiarities they encounter. With globalization in full haste and people frequently travelling
all over the world to and from different nations, the hotel industry encounters several challenges
in compliant to these diverse ethnic influences (Bosley, 2010). For example Asian hospitality is
obtained from the Asian culture which is very hard to validate for the reason of numerous
ethnicities and changeable racial beliefs and also different customs and religious matters.
We all have some cultural expectations and perception of services when we visit a particular
country. This individual expectations may vary according to whether that person is from a low or
high context or cultural background. With so much competition in hotel industry, service quality
should be an essential factor in gaining competitive advantage, and understanding ethnic
differences which can be accommodating in dealing with visitors from different background. For
example as a guest u expect the staffs to be friendly and ready to help you out, have a high level
of hygiene and also be in a position to deliver quality service. It’s said that Asian countries like
Thailand customers tend to have high expectations for the quality of communication during
service time whereas in English cultures customers are more possible to focus on the aftermath
rather than the method through which service is offered (Clarke & Chen, 2007).

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Sometimes the environment of the restaurant may have a great impact on the taste of customers
because they are not used to the new setting which may at some point make them feel uneasy
while dinning. Also, the practice of the culture like eating with chopsticks at English societies
such as Chinese or sitting down on the floor like Japanese may also seem awkward for visitors.
In Thai hospitality is their essence, it’s their nature to always smile and greet guests into their
and hotels (Davidson, 2009). Firstly they cater guests with a glass of water. Similarly in
restaurants, you will be served up cold water even if you haven’t ordered anything yet. Unlike
the English culture where most staffs in the restaurants give fake smiles and you are only served
with something when you place an order. Also a waiter making eye contact in Thai when making
some explanation about a type of a meal it can mean rude while it’s normal for a waiter in an
English culture to make an eye contact. During service presentation in Thai the waiter is not
supposed to contact the food barehanded whereas in western countries that is not a concern
(Gillespie, 2007).
There are several reflection of appropriateness that applies in establishing connected cultural
issues in hospitality. For example, In Thai you don’t attract the waiters by pointing at them when
you want to order something, whereas in English culture that doesn’t sound rude at all since it’s a
way of communication (Postrel, 2008). When the waiters are serving food in Thai restaurants the
right hand should always be used to pass or receive something, again that’s not the case in
English culture since one is free to use any hand. In several cultural restaurants it is said to be
rude for a waiter to cross over the table while serving the food, they should serve from the right
side and when clearing the table they use the left side.
In hospitality industry Culture safety is key since it improve the work place health, safety and
with combined individuals effort it brings out greatest values and goals. For example in New

HOSPITALITY CULTURAL NORMS 4
Zealand culture keeping eye contact for a long period is seen as disrespect, this is when it’s
between the young and the elderly or between the men and women. Lowered eyes is recognized
as a sign of respect and this should be a cultural norm in restaurants and in other working
places.in Thailand people consume food primarily with a spoon in the right hand and the fork in
the left, which is used to manipulate the meal.one should only put the fork in the mouth when
eating fruits or chunks.in English culture you should all start eating when everyone has been
served. A restaurant has to be at its best, by this I mean cleanliness should be maintained all the
time (Kao, Tsaur & Wu, 2016). When serving the food to customers the waiter should always
make sure the dish plate does not contain any fingerprints, this will make the customer trust that
your food not contaminated. Customer’s hands should always be washed immediately he or she
sits down even before ordering for the food to avoid bacterial infection. Contaminated food
surfaces should always be cleaned immediately a customer leaves the restaurant to avoid cross
contamination from one food to another.
Apart from the impact of food selections, culture also plays a part in food etiquette. In the
western societies food related etiquette is referred to as table manners, which demonstrates the
cultural expectation of eating meals at the table. Some cultures believe table manners is a way
the dishes are set and served and may have its own different way mainly in rules concerning
polite eating which may improve in formal setting. It sounds rude for the waiter to cross over the
table while serving the food (Weber, Fernald & Diop, 2017). The correct way to serve is to serve
from right and clear the plates from left, and that should be done after the customer is done with
the food. The wait staffs should always ensure food is served at the precise temperature,
pleasantly presented, and also attractive to the senses. Waiters should never interrupt the

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customer’s conversations in between meals while toping up water, this shows disrespect and lack
of loyalty. Instead wait for the suitable moments.
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding different food rules and customs in hospitality industry is vital in
structuring and strengthening cross cultural relations. We have seen that everything involves
surrounding customers. However, staffs hold onto the law of service delivery. When different
culture lifestyles is appreciated the business gets a good platform for understanding how they can
display respect for different cultures in their company.

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Reference
Bosley. M. (2010). Conspicuous Consumption. New Zealand Listener. February 12th, 2010.
Retrieved July 11 2012.
http://www.listener.co.nz/lifestyle/food/conspicuous-consumption/
Clarke, A. & Chen, W. (2007). International Hospitality Management concepts and cases (pp.
291 - 316). Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Davidson, A. (Ed.). (2009). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford, England: Oxford
University Press.
Gillespie, C. (2007). European Gastronomy into the 21st Century. Oxford. England: Elsevier.
Postrel, V. (2008). Inconspicuous Consumption. the Atlantic. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2008/07/inconspicuous-consumption/6845/
Weber, A., Fernald, A., & Diop, Y. (2017). When cultural norms discourage talking to babies:
effectiveness of parenting program in rural Senegal. Child development, 88(55), 1513-
1526.
Kao,C. Y., Tsaur, S. H., & Wu, T. C. E (2016). Organizational culture on customer delight in
hospitality industry. International journal of hospitality management, 56, 98-108