Conclusion & Recommendations

Here comes the end of this blog. We hope you enjoyed it and that it was useful.

We created this blog for our end-of-study project as part of the Master of Science in Global Business of Neoma Business School, in order to make it available to anyone who is interested in this subject.

        After several experience abroad, Ophélie and I both noticed that it was easier for us to adapt to some cultures than others and that some global cities are really making efforts to adjust to foreigners. That is why, with the growing tourism industry in the world, we decided to choose the adaptation of worldwide cities to the flow of different cultures as the subject of our blog.

        During six months we tried to analyze how global cities can adjust to foreigners and make their local culture accessible. To make it as interesting as possible, we tried to mix the study of general theories with the deep analysis of specific cities/countries: Seoul, Paris, Canada and China.

         What really stands out in the analysis of several facilities of those destinations is language. Indeed, to access the information needed, foreigners have to understand it, that is why translations of key information are really important and constitute the basis of the adjustments made by the cities for foreigners.

         Even if criteria, which are not really linked to the management of the city, contribute to the appreciation or not of the destination, projects can always be launched to try to solve problems. Like the city of Paris did by implementing the “Do you speak touriste?” project, to improve the service and hospitality of hotels, restaurants and shopkeepers towards foreign visitors.

        Another important point of this study was to understand the culture of the country, especially in the workplace in order to avoid some conflicts caused by cultural unawareness. This is particularly true for Asian countries where people behavior is different than in western countries but it can be easily understood by knowing the culture of the country. We also studied the counterexample of Canada which is a cultural mosaic that understand the differences of culture and where people try to adopt a common culture in order to facilitate the life in society (work, shops, public places…).

         Through the several academic articles and theories that we studied over this blog we noticed that culture shocks are experienced by every single individuals living in a foreign country. The intensity of this shock changes from one person to another depending on its birth culture, its host culture, its adaptability to unknown situations, etc. Adjustments carried out by cities and countries to make information, facilities and the local culture accessible to foreigners then play a major role in the intensity of the culture shock experienced.

        Finally, with the expansion of worldwide cities in the global world, education is also playing a key role on the development of those cities. Universities that are internationally ranked can attract foreign students and teachers who bring diversity and increase the level of education of a university, which by effect increase the radiation of the city in the global place.

        There is no unique cultural model that all cities should copy, however with the rapid changes the world is experiencing, we can conclude that worldwide cities are trying to adopt the best practices of each others in order to develop durably in the long term. This is why globalization is a positive influence on the development of the world but each country should remain unique with its culture and traditions: This is all about balance.

Amélie & Ophélie