Intercultural competence in tourist guiding practice

As the modern life of the 21st century is becoming more and more international, intercultural communication and intercultural competence are of a great importance today, especially when travelling. Intercultural communication occurs whenever a person from one culture does something that is given meaning by a person from another culture. Tourism is a way of intercultural exchange which is realized between the tourists and the local people of the visited country, as well as the tourist guide. The tourist guide is not only supposed to have a good knowledge of the historical and natural heritage of his/her country, but also has to have intercultural competence to deal with the visitors/tourists of his/her country. The peculiarities of intercultural competence and the role of it in tourist guiding practice are studied in this article.