Culture shock is described as the feeling of abandonment experienced by an individual, who has been exposed abruptly to a new or unfamiliar way of life. However, due to the rapid increase in immigrants in various countries, the concept of culture shock has been replaced by the concept cultural unrest. Cultural unrest is described as a situation where two cultures live together, but their togetherness is triggered by acceptance that has occurred due to shared concern, resentment, and indifference (Moufakkir 324). Four stages are involved in the cultural unrest. The first one is the stage of high expectations while the second one is the cultural shock, which is characterized by problems and weaknesses. The third stage is balancing the positives and negatives while the last one is the equilibrium stage where acceptance is achieved. Effects of culture shock on tourists and individuals, in general, are both positive and adverse. For instance, the adverse consequences include hostility, psychological distress, and constant frictions. On the positive side, it creates a channel where an individual can learn about other cultures and strive towards personal development.
Types of cultural shock include role, language, transition, cultural fatigue among others (Moufakkir 330). A tourist who visits other countries and is exposed to less controlled cultural differences due to globalization also experiences the effects of culture shock. International tourists experience cultural confusion because of varied ecological and social environments. However, these tourists do not experience the same level of effects because some have faced cross- cultural differences in their homelands that have helped them to kill the culture shock. For instance, the citizens in Netherlands have experienced cultural unrest for an extended period. Cultural shock has affected tourism in the following sectors: language, religion, ethnicity, dressing code, music, lifestyles, and arts and crafts among others. External factors such as time, features of the destination, cost, and benefits influence travel destination choices and propensities. The internal factors include images, beliefs, perceptions and motives. Perceptions may have adverse effects on destinations. For instance, the Moroccan image in Netherlands by the Dutch can affect their travel propensities. Travel propensity of tourists is influenced by their perceptions about immigrants (Moufakkir 338).
Work Cited
Moufakkir, Omar. "Culture shock, what culture shock? Conceptualizing Culture unrest in intercultural tourism and assessing its effect on tourists' perceptions and travel propensity." Tourist Studies 13.3 (2013): 322-340.
