INBOUND TOURISM AND ALTERATION IN SOCIAL CULTURE, NORMS, AND COMMUNITY ATTITUDES IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY: The South Asian Experiences

The interaction between host and tourists is a natural phenomenon that causes an exchange of values, norms, and cultural practices, leading to a change in the social atmosphere of a tourist destination. With the continuous development of tourism industry, it has been observed that traditional social cultures have changed vividly in many tourist destinations around the world. These changes include the impact of tourism development on inhabitants’ traditional values, lifestyles, and interpersonal relationships both in rural and urban localities. However, sometimes the mixing of rich foreign tourists and relatively poor local residents can increase the likelihood of a community backlash against tourists and tourism development. Therefore, it is extremely important to scrutinize the host residents’ perception of tourists and their attitude towards them as the residents of many tourist destinations are the fundamental element of the tourism “product” and have a sizable impact on its sustainability In this chapter, we develop a conceptual model to explain the vicissitudes in social cultures, values, norms, and attitudes in the emerging South Asian countries. Based on the discussion, we aim to provide policy advices for the policymakers to prepare guidelines for integrated sustainable tourism management and development in the South Asian region.