pelatihan Komunikasi Lintas Budaya Berbahasa Inggris Berbasis Hospitality bagi Pelaku Ekonomi Kreatif Berastagi untuk Meningkatkan Kualitas Pelayanan, Kepuasan Wisatawan Mancanegara, Daya Saing Usaha, dan Pendapatan Masyarakat Lokal

Abstract

Berastagi is one of the leading tourism destinations in North Sumatra, supported by a growing creative economy sector, including culinary businesses, souvenir shops, homestays, and local tour guide services. However, many creative economy practitioners still have limited English communication skills, insufficient intercultural communication competence, and inadequate understanding of hospitality principles, which may affect the quality of services provided to international tourists. This community service program aimed to enhance English-based intercultural communication and hospitality competencies to improve service quality, international tourist satisfaction, business competitiveness, and local community income. The program employed a Participatory Action Learning and Community Empowerment approach consisting of needs assessment, pre-test, training sessions, role-play simulations, field mentoring, post-test, and monitoring. Program evaluation was conducted using a descriptive comparative approach between pre- and post-training conditions. Based on the simulated data used for the methodological illustration in this article, the findings indicate improvements in participants' English communication skills, intercultural communication competence, and hospitality practices. Participants also demonstrated greater confidence in serving international tourists, stronger collaboration with other local business actors, and a high level of satisfaction with the training program. These findings suggest that practice-oriented training combined with continuous mentoring is an effective strategy for strengthening human resource capacity within the tourism-based creative economy sector. The program has the potential to improve service quality, enhance the competitiveness of Berastagi as a tourism destination, and contribute to sustainable local economic development.