Diaspora tourism: Using a mixed-mode survey design to document tourism behavior and constraints of people of Turkish extraction resident in Germany

Abstract

Despite their growing numbers as consumers and citizens, and in spite of the ongoing discussion about immigrants and integration in many countries, ethnic minorities remain almost invisible in the tourism literature on consumer behavior, tourism rights and enjoyment, and the effects of tourism on integration. Ethnic minorities are not a homogenous group and a better understanding may be achieved by focusing on one group. This study used a mixed-mode research design to examine the tourism behavior of people of Turkish background living in Germany, with an emphasis on identifying and explaining their tourism constraints. Marginality, ethnicity, discrimination, and acculturation theories were used with the concepts of acculturation, familism and religion as the background to the study. Unlike other studies, in this study discrimination and marginality hypotheses were not supported as factors explaining tourism behavior and constraints of this group. Rather, ethnicity tainted with familism, religion and tradition appeared to interact to shape this group’s travel behavior and subsequently their negotiation of perceived constraints. This complexity begs for similar studies to inform our understanding of ethnic minorities’ travel behavior and constraints.