The Importance of Foreign Language Mastery in the Tourism Sector

Tourism has reached, at least until the pre-pandemic time (covid-19), an unprecedented dimension and presents itself as a sector that employs millions of people worldwide. In fact, foreign languages have been gaining more and more power in the business world, especially the English language which becomes fundamental in contact with the tourist–client. Thus, it is pertinent to study this issue, in harmony with the fundamentals of tourism, in order to better understand the use of languages and the value they may have in the development of the sector. Based on theoretical background, mainly focused on tourism development and its fundamentals, the value and use of foreign languages today, and the results of the questionnaires conducted, it can be inferred that the use of languages in the tourism and hospitality sector play, in fact, a very important role in the success of the professional activity, since the use of language makes contact with the tourist–client closer, thus creating an immediate relationship of trust. In short, it is argued that understanding and/or mastery of foreign languages confer multiple advantages and are an invaluable asset that has to be increasingly developed today. In an interdisciplinary perspective, the present manuscript presents inputs for tourism and hotel management. At the end, guidelines for future work will be presented.