When people come across the word „diversity“, they usually associate it with cultural minorities. Sometimes also gender, age, and economics. However, there are many different factors that create diversity, and the cultural aspect is not the only one, yet extremely important. So let's dive into this topic and find out what benefits can diversity bring to hospitality and tourism business. 

Language skills

One of the biggest and most obvious benefits of diverse staff is language skills, which always goes together with cultural understanding. What can be more pleasant for a guest than to be served in his or her native language. Foreign language speakers learn and experience a whole new way of thinking, because every language has its unique way to expressing things. By doing it, they become much more empathetic since they experience what it means to be in a different environment. They are more tolerant and sensible to foreigners, and these qualities are very valuable in the hospitality industry. 

Perceptiveness

Foreign staff that works or might be working in your company have gained one very important skill that is extremely valuable in probably any job – and that's perceptiveness. This skill usually comes after observing people from various cultural backgrounds, analysing their behaviour, and trying to understand it. When you try to adapt in a foreign environment, you pay attention to how people interact with each other and even emulate their behaviour, which also strengthens attentiveness. This quality helps to fully engage in activities and stay focused for a long time. 

Broader perspectives

More and more employers indicate that cultural diversity is important to them. Demonstrating that your business is done in a multicultural environment not only shows that you are able to collaborate with people from various countries, but also gives a great example for other companies to start employing foreigners. Diversity in the workplace means that different minds manage to generate different ideas. People with different viewpoints will be more able to create something that is fresh and original, than those who work with people from the same cultural background. Also, foreign workers will better understand the needs of the multicultural and diverse  clientele which they will serve.

Fun

Managing cultural diversity in your workplace brings a lot of different benefits to your company, but actually there is one that is often forgotten by many business owners. Yet, it is very simple but still very important for maintaining a  healthy work environment. That's actually having fun.  Hiring foreign staff spreads novelty and innovativeness into your workplace which feels very fresh for your core staff that was used to work only with locals.  Multicultural staff will have a lot of new things to learn from each other which will be definetily very interesting. They can share their working knowledge, which will be extremely beneficial to your business, because everyone will gain new skills. And they can also share their traditions which can turn out into a great team building activity. 

Managing cultural diversity will bring many long-term advantages to your company. With every day our world gets more and more multicultural, and sooner or later all companies will become extremely diverse. The faster you manage to adapt to this change and make an advantage of it, the more successful you will become.