Tourism

Discussions of tourism are rare in intercultural literature, which is somewhat surprising given the growing worldwide scale and importance of the phenomenon and its role in bringing representatives of different cultures together. Indeed, for many people their first directly personal experience of another culture may be in the context of a touristic encounter, as either a host or a guest. The influence of such encounters on the development, reinforcement, and diffusion of stereotypes, positive and negative, can be significant, and a consideration of tourism and its effects must form part of the quest for intercultural competence. This entry first attempts a very general definition of tourism before going on to explore its development into a wide range of different manifestations. Finally, the potentially problematic aspects ...