The umbilical relationship between rural tourism and competence in foreign languages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29352/mill024e.15109Keywords:
Rural tourism, abilities, foreign languages, successAbstract
Introduction: Foreign languages are of vital importance in tourism today, particularly in rural tourism. If we consider that more than a third of the demand for TER in the national territory is made up of foreigners (INE, 2017), we understand the importance of foreign language skills. Moreover, the Portuguese quality standard of the TER states that promoters of the activity must have at least knowledge of a foreign language.
If this is unquestionable, it is also true that in the universe of existing enterprises, several indications are that foreign language competence presents itself as a fragility for many enterprises.
Objetives: Taking as a reference a rural tourism enterprise, the objective of this study is to explore the importance of foreign languages in the success of tourism activity in rural areas.
Methods: In order to allow a deeper analysis, a case study methodology is used. In addition to a semi-structured interview, we use documentary information and the observation of the languages used in the online comments (in TRIPadvisor and booking.com).
Results: In the interview the importance of foreign languages was highlighted. Many of the comments online are made in a foreign language.
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