“I think … I feel …”: using projective techniques to explore socio-cultural aversions towards Indigenous tourism

Socio-cultural aversions encompass a multitude of avoidant behaviours expressed in different forms and intensities. While there has been an increase in research on aversions that are somewhat underpinned by racism and discrimination, little research to date explores the existence of these aversions within an Indigenous tourism context. This study utilises projective techniques to explore the extent to which socio-cultural aversions may exist and how they manifest towards Indigenous tourism in Australia. Three major themes identified suggest that implicit and explicit socio-cultural aversions exist: 1) racial and stereotypical projections, 2) implicit cultural distancing and avoidance, and 3) ambivalence and indifference. Although less prevalent, non-aversive sentiments were also identified. The study makes a theoretical contribution to Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), specifically to the “consumer identity”, “socio-historic patterning”, and “marketplace culture” streams of research. Practically, product repositioning and marketing strategies are provided for destination managers and tourism stakeholders responsible for Indigenous tourism experiences

Mind the 'perception' gap: Can user-generated content provide new insights into Australia's indigenous tourism sector?

User-generated content (UGC) as a data source can provide valuable and unique insights into consumers’ perspectives of a product or service. However, UGC has not been used extensively to understand visitor perceptions, satisfaction or attitude towards Indigenous tourism experiences. Most research in the field to date has used data collection methods such as interviews and surveys. This paper seeks to complement existing Indigenous tourism demand studies by providing an analysis of user-generated content from one of the most used social media review sites, TripAdvisor. Findings consisting of 4,684 online reviews from international visitors underwent a thematic analysis to elicit qualitative insights into visitors’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction with Indigenous tourism products within Australia. Of the reviews analysed, 3816 were coded favourable, 668 unfavourable and 200 531 neutral. This paper explores those factors that reviewers identified as favourable and unfavourable

Indigenous culture or service culture?: Post-consumption evaluations of international visitors on their indigenous tourism experience

This theme for the 2017 CAUTHE conference was 'Time for big ideas? Re-thinking the field for tomorrow'. Topics covered include the future of tourism, hospitality and events; Emerging technologies; Sustainability; Ethics, morality, justice, equality; Well-being, wellness, quality of life; Cross cultural and indigenous perspectives; New markets and destinations; Changing consumers; Employment and the workforce in tourism, hospitality and events; Critical approaches in the field; and Innovation and methodological advances

The future of animals in tourism recreation: Social media as spaces of collective moral reflexivity

Over the last few years, a number of high profile incidents involving animals in tourism recreation contexts have sparked heated animal welfare debate on a global scale, giving rise to ethical movements mediated by various online platforms. This study applies a Critical Animal Studies approach and draws on the cases of the killings of Cecil the lion, Marius the Giraffe, Harambe the Gorilla, and Xanda (Cecil's cub) to analyse the role of digital movements and moral reflexivity in shaping the future of animals in tourism recreation spaces. We conceive of social media as digital spaces of Collective Moral Reflexivity (CMR) which signal heightened public engagement in human-animal recreational ethics. Findings highlight animal ethics in this context as a discursively evolving social construction, but one on which the public increasingly expects a more robust and compassionate ethical model of operation from the animal recreation industry

Identifying the relative importance of culture in Indigenous tourism experiences: netnographic evidence from Australia

Previous studies exploring demand for Indigenous tourism have addressed a variety of aspects including market segmentation and clustering, as well as motivations, interest and visitor satisfaction with Indigenous tourism experiences. Less researched is the importance visitors place on the cultural elements of an Indigenous tourism experience. A qualitative netnographic approach was adopted to explore international visitors’ post-consumption narratives of their Indigenous tourism experiences in Australia. Four thousand six hundred and eighty-four TripAdvisor reviews of 38 Indigenous tourism products and experiences in Australia were analysed. The analysis showed that visitors placed most importance on the servicescape, that is, the physical elements and ambient environment of the experience, ahead of the cultural elements of the experience. Although culture or the Indigenous content per se was not the most important factor identified post-experience, visitors did focus on the service-oriented nature and professionalism of the guide. The findings of this study expand the existing literature on Indigenous tourism and recommendations for Indigenous tourism businesses are made regarding the importance of the servicescape to the Indigenous tourism experience

Exploring the market appeal of Indigenous tourism: A netnographic perspective

Indigenous tourism in Australia continues to decline in spite of the global marketing efforts of the country’s national tourism organization. One suggestion is that social desirability bias in previous visitor demand studies has been masking the underlying causes for this low market appeal. A netnographic approach was adopted in this exploratory study that utilized 4684 online reviews from international visitors to elicit qualitative insights into visitor’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction with their Indigenous tourism experiences in Australia, with the aim of uncovering the underlying factors which may account for declining visitor demand. The netnographic approach provided a wealth of insights into the aspects of the experience that visitors viewed both favourably and unfavourably. In fact, it is demonstrated that international visitors are overwhelmingly positive about their experiences, a finding not typically supported in the existing research. As such, this study has highlighted that there is a dissonance between those who actually participate in an Indigenous experience and non-visitors; a number of potential reasons for this are discussed, as are the marketing implications

Tourist socio-cultural aversions: A holistic conceptual framework

Socio-cultural sensitivities such as xenophobia, racism, and other forms of prejudice impact demand for tourism products and experiences. Existing studies on these phenomena have tended to be framed through singular or binary lenses, and a holistic exploration and conceptualisation to inform tourist behaviour research is absent. This paper fills this critical gap by conceptualising tourist socio-cultural aversions that underpin tourists’ avoidance of destinations, products and experiences. Two theoretical contributions are made: (1) a tourist socio-cultural aversion typology is proposed; and (2) the complexities of implicit and explicit, as well as aggressive and passive aversions, are explored. The paper highlights key managerial implications of aversions and in doing so, provides businesses, the tourism sector, and government agencies with an understanding of tourists implicit or explicit aversions to particular destinations or products. The socio-cultural and economic ramifications for individuals, businesses and communities is considerable if left unaddressed

Exploring tourist’s socio-cultural aversions, self-congruity bias, attitudes and willingness to participate in indigenous tourism

Empirical studies of tourist socio-cultural aversions and their influence on tourist consumption are limited. A socio-cultural aversion describes the avoidance associated with an ingrained dislike for, and distancing from something representative of a specific social or cultural group's identity, and can be implicit or explicit, aggressive or passive. This study explores socio-cultural aversions in the context of Indigenous tourism. The study reveals that while xenophobia and racism can predict the attitudes of both domestic and international tourists towards Indigenous tourism, this does not necessarily result in a non-willingness to participate. However, regarding self-congruity bias, the less participants relate to or identify with Indigenous tourism, the less likely they are willing to participate. This has implications for the appeal and marketing of tourism products, especially those underpinned by socio-cultural components such as Indigenous tourism. The study proposes marketing and product development solutions for destination marketers and tourism operators seeking to enhance appeal for Indigenous tourism experiences