Bridging tourism and migration mobilities: Diaspora tourism as a coping strategy

Goal and objectives of the dissertationGoalThe fields of tourism and migration have been uneasy companions despite the fact that both study the two largest patterns of human movement across geographical areas. A recent emergence of the mobilities paradigm created potential for bridging the two knowledge networks and providing opportunities for crossover and mutual enrichment. Engaging with the intersection of tourism and migration mobilities, this study has a dual goal. Theoretically it explores diaspora tourism as a promising link between tourism and migration. Practically diaspora tourism is offered as a coping strategy that can be used by immigrants to alleviate stress associated with relocation to a culturally dissimilar society.ObjectivesIn this dissertation diaspora tourism is explored as it pertains to the fourth wave of Ukrainian immigrants in the United States by accomplishing three objectives.1. The first objective was to chronicle identity formation and adjustment issues Ukrainian immigrants experience upon arrival to the United States, and how these issues affect their relationship with and desire to visit Ukraine.2. The second objective concerned documenting immigrant imaginaries (i.e., images and ideas we hold in our consciousness) and the potential of diaspora tourism promotion through culturally grounded narratives created from accounts of immigrants' lived experiences. The processes of creating a culturally grounded narrative and its evaluation are presented.3. Finally, the third objective was to detail the act of corporeal travel of immigrants, and investigate the possible predictors of such travel. Several predictors (e.g., context of migration, media use, self-construal, destination image) were drawn from different bodies of literature and their effects on the likelihood of visiting the homeland were investigated.MethodologyA two-phased mixed methods approach was used for this study. The first phase involved conducting in-depth interviews with Ukrainian immigrants of the fourth wave, and focusing on general themes of contexts of exit and entry, issues of acculturation, identity, and self-construal, and images and opinions of their homeland. The sample was comprised of members of the fourth wave of Ukrainian immigrants who arrived in the US from 1991 to as recent as a year ago and live in New York City. Multiple Ukrainian organizations were contacted (e.g., Ukrainian churches, women's leagues, business associations, and cultural clubs) in New York City to solicit help distributing recruitment materials (e.g., introductory note, flyer through e-mail or newsletters) to their members. The recruitment and interview process, which occurred over the course of a two-day trip to New York City, continued until saturation was reached and resulted in 13 usable interviews. After completing the interviews the recordings were saved as audio files. All respondents chose to speak in Ukrainian, so the interviews were translated into English and transcribed. The translation was verified by an expert fluent in both languages. Data analysis followed Marvasti's (2003) guidelines (i.e. data reduction, display, and conclusion drawing). Data reduction and display involved the researcher and her advisor individually reading the transcriptions, making notes, and highlighting important passages. They then met to compare findings and to draw conclusions, which were rooted in the displayed data. To make the analysis more manageable, only the data that related to the research questions and the conceptual framework of the project were maintained for further analysis.The second phase was grounded in the results of the first phase and included an online survey containing questions about media usage, self-construal, and destination image.The survey also contained an experimental treatment, where respondents were exposed to culture-centric promotional narratives, followed by post-treatment destination image and diaspora tourism (i. …