Stereotypes in tourism: power, representation, and cross-cultural interaction

¶ … people is referred to as a stereotype. These schools of thought are not time dependent and new ones can spring up without warning. Furthermore, they are not conditioned by any form of contemporary traditions or norms. In most cases, the common habits among the people sharing this particular school of thought are what determines the stereotype.

If we look closely, we can see that present-day tourism is always presented to people as the exciting idea of experiencing luxury global locations and exploring new cultures, people and climates. However, when one looks at it, it is clear that we cannot picture the world\'s luxuries without seeing that there is a complex and age-long power-based system which forms the basis of stereotype attachment for people and locations. Edward Said carried out a thorough analysis of orientalist norms with great emphasis on the power structure involved in the representation of locations. His analysis, however, came under intense criticism from fellow critics as it was described as one-dimensional and other much detailed analyses of the post-colonial era have since been published (Hannam and Diekmann, 2011).

However, much of the reasons for stereotyping research were meant to show that expected actions are often wrongly generalized and they serve as erroneous indicators of the real actions of the concerned person(s). There are several ways to determine just how accurate stereotypes are, simply because there are various types of accuracy. A common type is known as the correlation of stereotype theory with available standards.

Stereotype development can be described in several ways but a reason which sounds right to most people is the progressive nature of a large number of psychologists. When we take a stand and fight against erroneous stereotypes of others, we are seen as upright and egalitarian and as the advocates of the oppressed. Several freethinking psychologists have adjudged stereotypes as wrong without conducting any thorough assessment and even when presented with conclusive proof, still didn\'t make efforts to consider it. Even in situations when they couldn\'t avoid checking out these proofs, they would degrade its relevance (Jussim, 2012).

In the tourist world, stereotypes are placed on both tourists and natives and they have a significant effect on the opinions held by both parties. Favourable stereotypes will cause a high tourist turnout while the reverse could discourage tourists. A good example is the popular stereotype of Tahitian women as attractive which has attracted several tourists till date. Stereotypes are useful in categorizing tourists; conditioning native and tourist communication and helping both parties understand each other\'s actions. In most popular tourist destinations, natives have created particular stereotypes of their tourist visitors based on their nationality. An example are the Japanese tourists, who are stereotyped as travelling in large numbers, bowing when greeting and taking large number of pictures (Reisinger, 2009).

The common problem with stereotypes is they mostly tend to be negative. Once stereotypes are attached to a specific group, negative opinions develop about the entire group. I believe this is a significantly big argument when stereotypes as a whole are considered, however, in the area of tourism specifically; the common reaction seen in locals when they develop stereotypes about tourists is irritation. They get irritated when they see tourists, mostly just their appearance or the knowledge of their foreign background is all that needed to irritate them. This reaction causes the tourists themselves to believe that the natives are unfriendly and savage and gradually, a stereotype of that tourist destination is created and this cycle goes on (Breaking Perceptions Team, 2010).