Author(s)

M. C. A. Pavez

Abstract

This was a qualitative study that addressed an ethnocentric discourse in the context of international tourism based on the narrative of three tourists after their travels abroad. Ethnocentrism as a central or peripheral issue gave insights to several areas of study, but, apparently, it is not relevantly spotlighted in academic research in tourism. This fact is paradoxical given that the touristic phenomenon is the most important in terms of encounters among cultures. For that reason, in order to subsidize a discussion, this paper was divided into three sections. In the first section I outlined general contextualization and presented the methods utilized to perform this work. In the second part I approached ethnocentrism from its inception and, in a second moment, correlated to tourism. In the last stage, I narrated and correlated the three interviews in order to demonstrate how the ethnocentric discourse is not capable of logically sustaining itself and finally I exposed the conclusions as well as the references utilized in this work. Ideally, the encounter among cultures should promote awareness and cultural enrichment and a subject such as ethnocentrism should be widely discussed in all instances of the touristic field, but above all in the academic field. Furthermore, to promote awareness, education and motivate efforts towards cultural relativism is not just a matter of ethics or a convenient choice, but a logical necessity in a globalized context in which we, inevitably, find ourselves.

Keywords

ethnocentric discourse, international tourism, qualitative research, cultural relativism