A cultural tourist exchange: how cultural perceptions,
attitudes and habits affect the choice of tourist destination

Abstract: Prognoses and predictions for future tourists say that tourists will be very
specific about where they want to go and what they want to see. New tourists
are also demanding the opportunity to choose activities and they are looking
for experiences. How come that some destinations are much more popular than
others and what influences the choice of destination?

This report is comparing Indian and Swedish tourist behavior based on
perceptions, attitudes and habits.

There is research about where Indians are travelling and what they like to
see but no research about why Indians travel to the destinations they do.
Out of India’s 1 billion population only 8.3 million made outbound trips in
2006. The number is however quickly increasing (by nearly 1 million per
year) and estimates say that Indian outbound travellers might reach 50
million in 2020.

The travel patterns for Swedish people seem to be following the trends
showing an increasing interest for new, more exotic destinations with less
mass tourism.

Swedish tourism with focus on cultural experiences and the exploding
increase in Indian outbound tourism creates a possibility for the
populations to participate in a cultural exchange.

The report looks at how perceptions are affecting the choice of destination
and type of trip. How can people who are interested in an Indian-Swedish
cultural exchange be characterized?

Some of the more prominent characteristics for such a tourist are :

'They require quite a lot in the form of certain types of tourism plant, in
this case high-end accommodation. Other types of tourism plant are less
important.

'The Indian respondents are not too keen on going on adventurous trips.

'Sharing cultural values is generally not too important and the sharing of
religious views is the least important.

'High-income respondents are more interested in participating in a cultural
exchange

'The socio-economic situation is most important when deciding a trip while
family and reference group influence is less important.

'They travel less often with their family than the average Indian tourist.