Read between the signs: research your destination's cultural etiquette before travelling as your actions will definitely speak louder than your words.(Cultural etiquette)

Busy business travellers like to think they're pretty smart--from the good-deal flights they found online to the upgraded hotel suite secured via their loyalty scheme. But, breezing into a high-level meeting fresh from the airport and brimming with confidence, there's still one thing many people fail to take into account: their body language.

In the global business world it's not only what we say but the way we say it that determines whether or not the deal is clinched. Indeed, in some cultures, not only is the business world underscored by a rigid code of etiquette, but the smallest and most innocent gesture can be enough to cause grave offence.

According to social anthropologist Edward T Hall, 60% of all human communication is non-verbal. Our gestures, therefore, are as integral to doing business as a good presentation or smart attire.

"The vocabulary of gestures can be informative and …