Travelling to the Motherland: relating acculturation to diaspora tourism experiences

ABSTRACT

While India may attract international tourists with its mystique, different considerations come into play among Indian diaspora as potential travellers. Individuals’ levels of acculturation to their host country will arguably influence the extent to which ethnocultural elements form part of leisure travel motivations and desired experiences. With a long history of forced and free emigration, South Africa is used a case study to test these relationships through quantitative methodology. Results indicate that significant differences occur between three sub-groups. Levels of acculturation can potentially indicate the likelihood of sub-groups to engage with home country culture; give direction in experience design for the different markets; and identify complimentary diasporic tourism products. Recommendations for future research are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Diaspora tourism
• acculturation
• ethnocultural identity
• tourist experiences

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Note: a large number of participants were sampled at local congregations.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Ann du Preez

Elizabeth Ann du Preez is a senior lecturer and her research focuses on consumer behaviour in varied destination contexts, destination marketing and events. Publications include internationally accredited journals and she also undertaken various academic and industry research projects.

Lynette Kumarivani Govender

Lynette Kumarivani Govender is a Tourism Masters graduate with employment as departmental administrator in the Department of Human Resource Management. With a corporate sector background she has extensive experience on cross-cultural relationships in the South African context.