Pre-Travel Cultural Preparation Course

Working and traveling abroad can be an incredible and positive experience, but it can also generate confusion caused by misunderstood norms or unspoken expectations. These negative experiences can erode trust, foster stereotypes, or ruin our relationships. Even though these confusing experiences don't come from ignorance or carelessness, they can have powerful consequences. They come from not knowing how to recognize cultural differences—or how to adapt.

Beyond Tourism's 3 week Pre-Travel Cultural Preparation course will explore common cultural values that can lead to confusion, like direct/indirect communication, power distance, and collectivism/individualism. Participants will take an assessment, evaluating their cultural values. We will compare results with their host culture to uncover potential “friction points”. We will also discuss the four facets of cultural intelligence, and I will provide examples of ways to improve cultural intelligence skills.