Bridging eastern and non-eastern Turkey: A study on the effectiveness of a tourism-based intervention

Questioning the potential of tourism‐related imagined contact in improving interethnic relations in Türkiye

“…Even though tourism might not generate desirable outcomes in some cases, its merits seem to outweigh its drawbacks since it not only prevents intergroup isolation but also facilitates intergroup awareness (Reisinger & Turner, 2003;Yücel et al, 2021). Furthermore, when certain conditions are met, host-tourist encounters might definitely produce positive consequences.…”

“…Using the IIC approach, we attempted to address the situational aspects that account for the success of tourism, which has been proposed as an alternative bias reduction technique (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006; Yücel et al, 2021).…”

“…Tourism provides a natural occasion for connecting members from diverse ethnicities, nations, or social groups (Fan et al, 2023). Although the potential of touristic encounters for prejudice reduction is mostly discussed in the context of international tourism, domestic tourism is also critical for improving attitudes between citizens of the same country, especially if there are within‐country social divisions based on religion, geography, culture, and ethnicity (Çelik, 2019; Yücel et al, 2021). However, touristic encounters are considered a unique type of contact due to their contact context, short duration of stay, purpose of travel, and sensation‐seeking motivation (Fan, 2023; Fan et al, 2017; Farmaki, 2017; Pearce, 1982).…”

“…Empirical studies on the role of tourism in reducing prejudices toward residents addressed tourists' stereotypes (Amir & Ben‐Ari, 1985; Anastasopoulos, 1992), psycho‐social distance (Çelik, 2019; Yilmaz & Tascı, 2015; Yücel et al, 2021), or subtler prejudices like denial of discrimination (Sirakaya‐Turk et al, 2014). While most of these studies questioned the prejudice reduction potential of international tourism (e.g., Pizam et al, 2002; Sirakaya‐Turk et al, 2014), very few examined the impact of domestic encounters (e.g., Çelik, 2019; Yücel et al, 2021). Yet, all of these studies reported mixed findings.…”

“…People associate the words “East” and “Easterner” with negative connotations, such as underdevelopment, conservatism, backwardness, poverty, civil resistance, and terrorism threats (Tuzkaya et al, 2015). The economic, ethnic, and sociocultural distinctions between the eastern Türkiye and the remainder have led to ingroup‐outgroup formations across geographical identities (Yücel et al, 2021). Given this context, Çelik (2019) found that Turkish visitors to southeastern Türkiye reduced their social distance from easterners, underscoring the potential of domestic tourism for social peace in Türkiye.…”