Travellers’ emotions and feelings as a result of inhospitable experiences with service providers have received limited research interest. The current study sought to address this gap by exploring and classifying travellers’ perceptions about inhospitable experiences while holidaying and considering the role of perceived injustice in the elicitation of divergence of emotions following the inhospitable encounter. The research undertaken spanned a period of two years – two peak summer periods in Croatia and was based on qualitative data gathered by way of interviewing both domestic and international travellers about their experiences with service staff while on holidays in Croatia. Of the 200 people interviewed, all but 34 (17%) had something negative to report, and 90 (45%) of the respondents were clearly very annoyed and upset about some of the encounters they had with Croatia’s service providers. The interview question was, “Can you describe your experiences with service providers while on holidays [in Croatia – for overseas visitors]?” The analysis of the findings revealed that both domestic and international tourists’ perceived emotions and injustices were predictive of the type of inhospitality received. With a better understanding of the nature and causes of the negative emotions experienced by the travellers as a result of inhospitable encounter, it should be possible to implement appropriate recovery systems that are designed to reverse the affects of inhospitable encounters
