Global Advanced Research Journal of Management and Business Studies (GARJMBS) ISSN: 2315-5086 September 2012 Vol. 1(8), pp 253-258

Copyright © 2012 Global Advanced Research Journals   

Review

The role of nonverbal communication skills in guiding tourists 

Seyyed  Sadegh Hosseyni 

Email: sshosseyni@yahoo.fr 

Accepted 08 September 2012

Abstract

In an age which is subject to deep and constant change, communication is of prime importance. Communication is a conscious or unconscious, willing or unwilling phenomenon through which emotions and ideas are expressed in the form of verbal and nonverbal messages (Berko and Wolvin, 1998). The messages are then sent, received and perceived. Investigations show that about 75% of our daily time is in one way or the other spent in contact or communication with others. For this reason, everyone’s quality of life is affected by the quality of his or her relations with others.  All of us enjoy the same kind of opportunities in our work place but only people who speak well, express their ideas clearly, and can establish appropriate and effective relations with others progress rapidly and win the respect and appreciation of others (Yahyai and Tavili, 2006).Communication is a collection of skills but the most important aspect of it is understanding the view points of our interlocutors and putting our ideas over to them. The ability to establish good relations increases our chance of successful communication and helps us in job promotion. Since, tour guides are in constant touch with people, they should be able to establish good public relations both through verbal and nonverbal communication. They should also be flexible, because they deal with people from different cultures with different customs. Therefore, a tour guide is judged by tourists not only based on his/her speaking ability but also by his/her behavior and movements. A group of expressions are used to refer to this subject including: body language, speaking by the movements of head and hands, and nonverbal behavior, in general. Therefore, the foundation of a tour guide’s success in attracting tourists’ satisfaction is based on establishing a good and effective communication with tourists. This fact highlights the importance of communication in putting the clients first.  In this article, an attempt is made to show the importance of nonverbal communication methods and the role that tour guide can play in attracting tourists’ satisfaction by appealing to these methods.   

Keywords: the tourist industry, the tour leader, human communication, verbal communication, nonverbal communication.