3. Aims of the study
According to researchers, communication in its broader sense is the basic content of tourism as a human activity (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2006 and Jafari, 2000). In that context, our proposition is that the physical appearance of a hotel guest has an influence on the communication process between the guest and, for instance, the hotel receptionist. In other words, the personal appearance of a guest affects the way a receptionist does his/her job, which in turn affects customer satisfaction. To demonstrate how this problem can be addressed through professional training, we examined how the physical appearance of hotel guests can affect the quality of service they receive from hotel staff in contrast to how social workers, who are trained not to allow their clients’ appearance to affect them, provide service. On a conscious level, hotel staff is not aware of their response to the physical appearance of guests. Nor are they aware of the impact that their response has on the quality of their service. The greater majority of employees want to do their job in the best way they can and more often they are convinced that they do so. If a guest seems to be dissatisfied with the service he/she is rendered, the employee often does not understand what went wrong. In that context, the employee is unaware of any conflict and feels no guilt. They may have simply reacted to the appearance of the guest and the reaction is one that they could not or did not know how to control. Therefore, there is a need for educational programmes for employees in the tourism and hospitality industry to ensure that their reaction to guests’ appearance is adequately controlled. How the education of employees can be improved in this respect is an important practical goal of our study.