Abstract
The intercultural service encounter, i.e. when the service provider and the customer are from different cultural backgrounds, is an increasingly common phenomenon in the service industry. It is essential to understand how intercultural service encounters affect employee performance. Through exploratory qualitative research, this study aims to understand service providers’ perspectives and experiences in intercultural service encounters. The findings indicate that intercultural service encounters can serve as potential stressors for service providers and consequently induce negative emotions. Accordingly, several management practices are suggested for global hospitality in their quest to improve employee performance.