Diaspora’s intuitive role as cultural ambassador : toward a new cultural sustainability perspective

Abstract

A major motivation for international travel is to experience cross-cultural interactions. Such interactions may occur outside the typical travel milieus. They can even take place prior to the actual travel to impact travel intentions. This paper focuses on cross-cultural encounters between the members of a community and the diaspora from a potential host destination who live among them. The research investigates the willingness of individuals in the community to travel to the diaspora members’ home country for the first time after having established relationships with them. Affect control theory and relational exchange theory are incorporated into a structural equation model to examine these relationships – focusing on natives of India living in the United States. The study identifies individual warmth and trust formed between the Indian diaspora and their American acquaintances as highly significant factors that could impact the latter’s travel intentions – that is, the willingness of Americans who have not visited India to consider traveling there to further experience the Indian culture. The study provides insights into sustaining the diaspora communities’ cultural identities and underscores their intuitive role as cultural ambassadors outside their countries of origin.