Guests and Hosts Revisited: Prejudicial Attitudes of Guests toward the Host Population

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of all-inclusive trip experiences of tourists on their prejudicial attitudes toward their host. All-inclusive German travelers were probed for their attitudes toward their host at the time of arrival and before departure. Reasons for the differences between arrival and departure attitude scores were explored via multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and regression analyses. As opposed to the intergroup contact hypothesis that tourism would reduce prejudice and increase cross-cultural understanding, the findings indicate that structured, all-inclusive tour experiences of this sample of tourists increase prejudicial attitudes toward their host. Exploring potential reasons for such differences in pre- and post-arrival scores, the study reports that overall satisfaction with the vacation, service quality factors and the nature of all-inclusive tour might be responsible for such results. Enhanced with qualitative data from key informants, likely reasons are cautiously speculated using contact hypothesis and the notion of "cultural bubble."