Professional Role of Tour Guides and Theoretical Consequences of Intercultural Communication

Abstract

Intercultural communication between tour guides and foreign tourists, taking place in a number of tourist attractions in Tana Toraja, Indonesia, is a form of communication used to share information from various cultures and social groups. This factual condition of intercultural communication proves that; Firstly, none of the five informants (tour guides) selected which duties to perform as explicitly mentioned in the first theoretical consequence of intercultural communication by Sunnafrank (1989, p.44). As mentioned in the first theoretical consequence of intercultural communication, although intercultural communication is difficult, tour guides are unlikely to avoid it because it is assigned by the company hiring them, in addition to the fact that they already have professional competence as a tour guide, mastering international languages, cultural product knowledge and information related to tourist destinations. Secondly, in the communication process, none of the tour guides and foreign tourists reduced their communication intensity despite finding negative results. These two facts are the characteristics of intercultural communication between tour guides and foreign tourists in Tana Toraja, Indonesia. In terms of linguistics, findings lead to verbal forms used, both as the consequences of language relativity as well as the preferences of cultural experiences of each foreign tourist.