INVESTIGATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN THE APPROACH TO THE GUEST ON THE EXAMPLE OF SELECTED HOTELS IN THE CITY OF SPLIT

Rast turističke industrije na međunarodnoj razini nametnuo je poslovanje između ljudi iz različitih kultura. Budući da je kultura povezana s normama, vrijednostima i običajima ljudi, ona stvara diferencijaciju u ponašanju. Navedeno rezultira razlikom u očekivanjima tijekom susreta s hotelskom uslugom. Stoga su turistička industrija i drugi sektori uslužnih djelatnosti suočeni s izazovima međukulturalnih uslužnih susreta i kontinuirano moraju procjenjivati izvedbu usluge u odnosu na očekivanja gostiju. Navedeno zahtijeva pažljivo razmatranje vlastitog referentnog okvira, kao i okvira posjetitelja, koji se temelji na uvjerenjima, ukusima, vrijednostima i drugim kulturnim aspektima. U stvarnosti, kulturna osjetljivost hotela čini značajnu razliku u iskustvu njegovih gostiju, a posebno je značajna kada gosti odlučuju hoće li ponovno ostati u istom hotelu u budućnosti. Ovaj rad, pored teorijskog dijela, analizira kulturološke razlike inozemnih gostiju na primjeru hotela na području grada Splita.The growth of the tourism industry on an international level has forced business between people from different cultures. Since culture is related to the norms, values and customs of people, it creates differentiation in behavior. This results in a difference in expectations during the hotel service encounter. Therefore, the tourism industry and other sectors of service activities are faced with the challenges of cross-cultural service encounters and must continuously evaluate the performance of the service in relation to the guests' expectations. This requires careful consideration of one's own frame of reference, as well as that of the visitor, based on beliefs, tastes, values, and other cultural aspects. In reality, a hotel's cultural sensitivity makes a significant difference in the experience of its guests, and is especially important when guests are deciding whether to stay at the same hotel again in the future. This thesis, in addition to the theoretical part, analyzes the cultural differences of foreign guests on the example hotels in the area of the city of Split