Tourism is an international phenomenon which affects the markets all around the world. Research on cross-cultural tourism looks at how psychological elements of personality, motivations and attitudes influence traveling preferences. Still, because the topic is very new, as fast, intercontinental and leisure traveling boomed in the last century, the research lacks a lot of evidence. So, This article doesn’t aim to dive into specific statistics about different nationalities’ preferences on traveling, but is rather an introduction to the field. Cross-cultural research in general, not only in tourism, is also by itself a very enlightening way to explore psychological and other themes as it adds diversity to the subjects. Enjoy!
The following article will cover the following topics:
- Tourism & Cultural Differences
- What to look at in Cross- Cultural Tourism
- A Cross- Cultural Tourism Study at Hand
- Cross Cultural Tourism Research: A Meta Analysis
- Closing Remarks
Tourism & Cultural Differences
Geertz (1973) [1] has conceptualized culture as “a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic form by means of which men [humans] communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge and attitudes towards life.”
However, there is no global consensus on a definition for culture. This is because each dominant culture consists of several subcultures based on race, ethnicity, geographic region, and socioeconomic characteristics; different language and cognitive styles of thinking impede a single, inclusive definition. Cultural differences are especially relevant to the tourism industry, which is increasingly experiencing globalization, and to the concept of cultural diversity [2]. Essentially, different cultural characteristics are considered as diverse touristic products; tourism in its whole is the combination of these touristic products. Additionally, it is the broad product, the service industry, that brings people together allowing for cultural exchange [2]. Unfortunately, the role of cultural differences in explaining and promoting tourist behavior has not been given much attention in research [2,3,4].
Researchers like Pizam [3] show that this investigation is greatly desired as the few present evidence already suggests that nationality influences tourist behavior. Other researchers like Plog [3] have pointed to the cultural differences and similarities of tourists, and have suggested that the fast globalization of tourism, together with its international nature, informs us for a better understanding of the global tourist. Dann and Peabody [3] explain that ‘’tourism is now well and truly a global phenomenon, thus ‘’generating’’ and ‘’destination’’ societies are no longer culturally uniform’’ [3].
Importance of this research
Clearly, culture is the important variable when considering tourism, as it may play a role in the choice of destination, food, accommodation types, and even the clothes that one will pack to bring along and those that they will buy at the destination place. Another reason for cross-cultural research is to explore other cultures, learn about them and to test cultural differences in tourism marketing contexts.
What to look at in Cross- Cultural Tourism
Tourism has become an international phenomenon of global consequence [3] with international tourism—the movement across international boundaries—increasing dramatically over the last two decades. This suggests that within the tourism literature there should already be a large number of cross-cultural research and international research studies, particularly in consumer behavior and marketing. However, there is a relative scarcity of cross-cultural studies reported in the tourism literature, and specifically in relation to travel behavior.
When looking at tourists, one should look at a vast range of attitudinal characteristics, for example: motivations, values, needs, attitudes, philosophies; economic possibilities; benefits pursued; expectations and preferences; and barriers, perceived risks, or fears. All may ultimately affect the decision-making process: push towards or prevent from a certain destination.
Tourists are categorized according to the reason for tourism. For example a category of interest is: international tourists who attend cultural events (e.g., cultural-historic events or festivals, art events or festivals, including local performing art activities) [4]. People could also be traveling for family- or health-related reasons, for sports, fashion, education and so on. Ulterior sub-categorizations focus on: is the traveler national or international? Is it long- or short-stay? What transport do they choose? The list of questions is infinite, showing just how many factors interplay in tourism as part of cross-cultural psychology!
A Cross- Cultural Tourism Study at Hand
In their study, Carr (2022) investigated beach-oriented resorts when comparing behaviors and attitudes of Britain’s international versus domestic tourists. The domestic resort at study was Torquay, which is one of the most popular beach-oriented resorts in the UK. Cala Millor, Mallorca, was chosen as the international destination. Both resorts offer a variety of beaches, shops, bars, amusement arcades, and nightclubs. The study was conducted in the months of July and August 1995, where temperatures were comparable between the UK (avg. 24°C) and Spain (avg. 29°C). These similarities offered the domestic and international tourists the opportunity to behave in a similar manner during their vacation [5].
Despite these feature similarities between Cala Millor and Torquay, in terms of their leisure facilities and environment, the behavior of the young British tourists were obviously different depending on their chosen destination. Domestic tourists were more active activity-wise, and less hedonistic than their international counterparts, who instead were more fun-seeking (hedonistic), but passive in activities. Interestingly though, overall more international tourists participated in activities, independent of the type, compared to domestic tourists, who instead were more selective in their activity choices.
These differences can naturally be attributed to all the factors listed above: motivations, values, personality differences and so on. Also factors like life-period may have affected British peers: at equal age, graduating from school is still different from having a full-time job.
Cross Cultural Tourism Research: A Meta Analysis
The increasing attention to cross-cultural tourism psychology does not come without its loop-holes and gaps, though. The meta analysis by Li, (2012) [6] reviewed 91 tourist behavior articles. What it shows well is that this research has shifted mainly onto marketing and consumer behavior topics, largely neglecting hospitality and tourism psychology. Personally, I agree with this, and I think it is important for this research to go beyond the boundaries of marketing!
Idealistically, this lacking information would help businesses to change and shape in order to become more attractive for the population, tackling specific tourist prerequisites. This could also affect touristic areas, in a way that businesses could grow together culturally and financially, instead of fostering competition.
The findings of the study by Li [6] revealed that the first cross-cultural tourist behavior study was published in 1988, and there have been only 91 articles published since then and until 2012, contributing to a very small percentage of the overall publications in hospitality and tourism journals.
Most of the cross-cultural tourist behavior studies do not mention which definition of the term culture was adopted, showing that the concept of culture has yet to be properly clarified. Additionally, cross-cultural tourist research meets setbacks as the common use of ‘’nationality’’ as a surrogate for ‘’cultural affiliation’’, and the terms culture, country, nation, and society are often used interchangeably. Defining all these terms could be a good first step to untangle this multi-layered field, and to move towards a more structured investigation.
Closing Remarks
It’s normal to consider things like tourism a phenomena that people participate in passively, that are there just for leisure. Of course traveling is enjoyable! However, the truth is that most people do not capture the vastness of globalization’s influence: all global markets like air companies, construction, food industries, are just a few I can mention right now.
I hope this article was at least a bit informative on the phenomenon of cross- cultural tourism. I aim to write a lot more on this topic in the future so stay tuned!
Bibliography
- Özdemir, C., & Yolal, M. (2016). Cross-cultural tourist behavior: An examination of tourists’ behavior in guided tours. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 17(3), 314–324. doi:10.1177/1467358415589658
- Pizam, A., Jeong, G.-H., Reichel, A., van Boemmel, H., Lusson, J. M., Steynberg, L., … Montmany, N. (2004). The Relationship between Risk-Taking, Sensation-Seeking, and the Tourist Behavior of Young Adults: A Cross-Cultural Study. Journal of Travel Research, 42(3), 251–260. doi:10.1177/0047287503258837
- Kay, P. (2004). Cross-Cultural Research Issues in Developing International Tourist Markets for Cultural Events. Event Management, 8(4), 191–202. doi:10.3727/1525995031436827
- Kozak, Metin & Bigné, Enrique & González, Ana & Andreu, Luisa. (2003). Cross-Cultural Behavior Research in Tourism: A Case Study on Destination Image. Tourism Analysis(8), 253-257. doi:10.3727/108354203774077101.
- Carr, N. (2002). A Comparative Analysis of the Behaviour of Domestic and International Young Tourists. Tourism Management, 23(3), 321–325. doi:10.1016/s0261-5177(01)00089-9
- Li, M. (2012). Cross-Cultural Tourist Research: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 38(1), 40–77. doi:10.1177/1096348012442542