Cultural attractions are often linked to unique features of the host population, and
are often related to a national minority or a segment of the population that preserved
their traditions. Ethnically or religiously varied countries may often have such unique
attractions, that seem exotic and appealing to tourists.
Multiculturality is often an attraction for tourism, offering generally an authentic
experience for visitors of different backgrounds. Besides, an ethnically or linguistically
varied population can also provide a linguisticaly more skilful labour force, that
is more sensitive to the needs of visitors coming from different cultures, and thus
create a more comfortable environment for them. The issue of multicultural societies
has recently become a sensitive issue, due to global mass migration. There is a belief
that ethnic or cultural fractionalisation would necessarily bring about difficulties
of understanding and cooperation, leading to lower economic performance, less stable
economic and social
processes and, ultimately a slowdown of economic output. The resulting conflicts,
difficulties may frighten away tourists and lead to the vulnerability of thetourism
sector in very heterogeneous countries.
On the other hand, ethnic fractionalisation and the resulting cultural diversity can
be welcome as valuable resources as the varied pool of knowledge, traditions, skills,customs,
that can enhance innovative ideas and creativity.
In the present paper evidence is looked for the relationship between ethnic, linguistic
and religious
diversity and tourism performance in a cross-country statistical analysis of 155 countries
of the world. Statistical analysis of 155 countries show, that although there is a
tendency of lower tourism performance with greated fractionalisation of the society,
the most popular and successful tourism destinations are often multicultural and multiethnic
societies.
