Does tourism reduce social distance? A study on domestic tourists in Turkey

The main purpose of this study is to determine whether the tourist’s social distance perceptions towards the local people are reducing thanks to tourism and the causes of tourist’s social distance perceptions. The Social Distance Scale of Bogardus was employed to prepare the questionnaires that were used in the study. Domestic tourists (n = 400) visiting the Southeastern Anatolia Region (before and after their visit) and people who had not visited the region (n = 263) before were asked to complete the questionnaire. The tourists’ social distance towards the local people has changed positively.