Tourism is a big industry around the world nowadays, and it brings in a lot of revenue for the host countries. The Asian region has been a popular destination for tourists from Europe, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand for many years. Now that what were once developing countries have become wealthier, and air flight more affordable, people from South America, Africa, India, and the Middle East are also coming to visit Asia.

In order to keep competitive and increase popularity, countries in the AEC should develop their services and amenities in order to please tourists and boost tourism. Doing this will require improving information services, raising the standards of popular tourist places and features, and making sure that staff on the sites can communicate well in English.

Some areas in Asian countries do have a reputation for danger, and tourists may be unaware of these. Therefore, information should be made available for them, and those involved in tourism services should ensure that this information is posted widely. Staff must also be able to tell tourists of potential hazards when traveling.

Different peoples have differing cultures, and this can sometimes be important as offending or insulting someone’s culture can cause great insult or offence. Those involved in the tourist industry should be aware of other cultures as well as their own, and should be able to politely inform travelers of some important ones.

In this module we will try to address these issues.