British tourists’ adjustment to cultural expectations in Muslim-majority countries

Abstract

While many studies have examined how people in host communities adapt to tourist cultures, limited research has considered tourist adaption to host destination cultures. Successful adaptation can help tourists have more satisfying visits, while maladaptation may seriously decrease satisfaction. It may also compromise the wider wellbeing benefits of taking a holiday. Using an approach based on grounded theory, this paper examines how tourists acquire the cultural knowledge needed to interpret hosts’ cultural expectations and the extent to which application of that knowledge results in successful adaptation. Based on insights from 20 interviews with British visitors to Muslim-majority countries, a conceptual model is developed to better understand cultural adaptation on the part of tourists. This is a necessary precursor to the provision of appropriate assistance to tourists to help them deal with any cultural stresses they encounter, which will help to address the adverse cultural impacts of tourism on host communities. • Tourists have a range of adjustment strategies they can adopt during their stay. • The strategy adopted determines the degree of interaction with local culture. • Uncertainties about cultural expectations can result in culture shock for tourists. • If stress cannot be alleviated by worry it can result in marginalisation but this is rare. • Destination organisations can implement measures to reduce acculturative stress.