Business Excellence through Multilingualism Foreign Languages Driving Excellence in the Hospitality Industry

Abstract

This study investigated the contribution of multilingualism skill of employees in the hospitality industry towards achieving business excellence. The hospitality industry is one of the key contributors to the world’s economy. Language barriers present challenges to effective communication and service provision. The present study explores how multilingual abilities can enhance guest satisfaction and operational performance within this industry. The contribution of the study is to literature and to industry stakeholders to gain competitive advantage. The interpretivist approach underlies this study with qualitative approach to gain experience of hospitality staff concerning multilingualism and comparative case study allows for an in-depth investigation into the language practices of two hotel environments; data collection is completed through in-depth interviews, observation, and document review. Target samples are employees who directly interact with the guests selected using purposive sampling to ensure relevancy of using of multilingualism within their operation. The findings have shown that businesses using multilingualism have improved guest satisfaction, effective communication creating inclusiveness leading to loyal customers, and has acquired higher business performance than the establishments who does not practice.