Nationalism, geopolitical tensions, cultural gaps, and economic crises are reshaping global tourism, study finds

University of Sharjah

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Extent of hypernationalism and propensity to conform to a similar lifestyle/culture.

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Credit: Tourism Management (2025): DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2024.105005

by University of Sharjah

Tourism, long seen as a bridge between cultures and economies, is undergoing dramatic transformations mainly due to the rise of deglobalization, a new study, authored by the University of Sharjah, finds.

Deglobalization is both a concept and a movement. It is the opposite of globalization. It refers to a world which is less connected, in which powerful nation states curtail cultural exchanges and impose strict border controls and trade tariffs.

The study, published in the journal Tourism Management, sees deglobalization as a phenomenon presenting “a paradox by emphasizing disconnection, reduced economic interdependence, and an increase in nationalist sentiments.”

The study’s author, Dr. Salman Yousaf, Sharjah University’s Associate Professor of business administration, says more and more tourists are affected by a world in which deglobalization is emerging as a reality and where travel decisions are increasingly shaped by geopolitical tensions, national identity, and restricted mobility.

Global tourism is experiencing an unexpected reversal, he notes, adding that tourism, traditionally regarded as a key driver of globalization, is now witnessing a retreat toward more insular travel behaviors.

The conceptual study builds on seminal literature on deglobalization as a social phenomenon and a deliberate economic strategy which many countries, hitherto diehard advocates of globalization, are adopting to fend off what they see as economic collapse.

The US is mentioned as an example of a deglobalizing country where, in addition to stricter border controls and trade tariffs, there is a notable shift both discursively and in practice “towards protectionism, signaling a deeper systematic shift towards a more nationalist and isolationist stance in global politics.”

Dr. Yousaf identifies four distinct categories of deglobalized tourists: The Unconstrained Explorer, The Unconstrained Conformist, The Constrained Explorer, and The Constrained Conformist. These classifications, he maintains, help explain how external barriers such as visa restrictions and internal factors like hypernationalism are redefining travel choices.

For example, Dr. Yousaf refers to the diplomatic tensions between India and the Maldives and how they resulted in a significant decline in Indian tourists visiting the island nation.

He mentions that the diplomatic spat prompted Indian tourists to shun the Maldives and opt for domestic beach destinations like Lakshadweep, illustrating how nationalistic sentiments can directly influence travel decisions.

“The … India-Maldives tourism dispute serves as a pertinent case, illustrating the impact of nationalistic and political narratives on tourism discourses,” according to the study. “On January 4, 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Lakshadweep islands highlighted India's domestic beauty, sparking debate on social media about the need for Indian tourists to visit the Maldives, a major outbound travel destination.”

Similarly, Dr. Yousaf finds UK's Brexit decision a catalyst behind the notable drop in European tourist arrivals, disrupting traditionally almost non-restricted cross-border travel. “Britain's decision to leave the European Union was based on a widespread public sentiment that the country should regain greater control over its borders, immigration, and job opportunities for its citizens.

"The impact of deglobalization on tourism is profound. We are seeing a significant shift towards domestic and culturally familiar travel, with tourists preferring destinations that align with their political and social values," the study notes.

Dr. Yousaf cites consumer ethnocentrism – the tendency for individuals to favor domestic products over foreign alternatives – as one of the key forces behind the emergence of deglobalized tourism. In tourism, he says, the concept extends to travel choices, where travelers opt for destinations that reflect their national identity and values. This shift has major implications for the global travel industry, as destinations reliant on international tourists may need to adapt their strategies, Dr. Yousaf points out.

The study finds that sociopsychological factors also play a growing role. They show that discrimination, cultural unfamiliarity, and safety concerns to be factors pushing many travelers toward destinations where they feel more accepted.

The study dwells on what it calls “the socio-cultural dynamics” Western tourists encounter when visiting Muslim-majority countries where they “may feel compelled to conform to specific dress codes …, a measure taken to mitigate the discomfort associated with the scrutinizing gaze of the host community.

“Similarly, Muslim travelers, while visiting non-Muslim majority countries, often exhibit preferences for tourism experiences that are congruent with Islamic teachings in terms of halal tourism and halal leisure, which may result in circumscribed travel experiences.”

Halal, Arabic for lawful, is an Islamic tenet referring to leisure, food, and drink which Islam allows followers to have. Outside the realm of what is Islamically halal is for Muslims considered haram or forbidden.

The study sheds light on what it dubs as “rationalized touristic experiences” of travelers belonging to “stereotyped ethnic or religious groups.” Islamophobia is mentioned in the study as an illustration of cultural deglobalization and its negative repercussions on Muslim tourists.

Additionally, the study touches upon the experiences of Moroccan tourists in the Netherlands, a country with a sizeable Moroccan migrant population. Leaning on previous literature, the study reveals “how stigma associated with Moroccan immigrants constructs a devalued social identity for Arab and Muslim tourists visiting the Netherlands for leisure and recreation. This stigma by association leads to meta-stereotypes affecting all members of the community.

“These insights highlight the complex nature of deglobalization, showing it is driven not only by physical barriers but also by social and psychological factors,” the study shows.

The study reports that government-issued travel advisories play a significant role in shaping tourism trends. Often used as a form of political leverage, these advisories, it adds, influence public perception of safety and desirability, reinforcing the patterns identified in the study.

Dr. Yousaf’s classification of ‘deglobalized tourists’ into four distinct categories is based on external travel and personal preferences. "Understanding deglobalized tourist segments allows businesses to tailor their offerings, ensuring inclusivity while adapting to changing consumer behaviors."

This segmentation provides insights into how political and cultural identity shape travel decisions. In India and numerous other countries, particularly those with nationalist policies and propensity towards border controls and travel restrictions, nationalist rhetoric has influenced even domestic tourism, leading to boycotts of destinations perceived as politically misaligned with national interests, the study shows.

The study, according to Dr. Yousaf, carries considerable implications for tourism and presents challenges and opportunities for the travel industry. Countries dependent on international visitors are called upon to rethink their marketing strategies, emphasizing safety, cultural familiarity, and political neutrality.

Meanwhile, the study shows that with the trend to deglobalize surging along with the rise in nationalism and nation states, the growth of domestic tourism could at the same time offer new economic opportunities for regions investing in local travel infrastructure.

It is essential to study “the potential for domestic travel to bolster local economies and support sustainable development, along with the socio-economic impacts of shifting tourist preferences towards localized experiences,” if one is to understand the effects of deglobalization on local tourism, the study reveals.

Until the tourism industry adapts to these shifts, the future of global travel remains uncertain, warns Dr. Yousaf, emphasizing that while some trends may be temporary responses to recent crises, others suggest a longer-term transformation.

Whether this shift represents a momentary retreat or a permanent reconfiguration, one thing is clear: the motivations behind travel are evolving, and the industry must be prepared to navigate a rapidly changing landscape, he goes on.

The study by Dr. Yousaf highlights the critical role of diversity and inclusivity in shaping a thriving tourism industry. By analyzing successful multicultural and multiethnic destinations, the research suggests that embracing inclusivity can boost tourism performance and foster a more connected global society.

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Journal

Tourism Management

DOI

10.1016/j.tourman.2024.105005 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Emergence of deglobalized tourist segments: Trends, challenges, and future research directions

Article Publication Date

11-Feb-2025

Second-hand smoke exposure during childhood leaves its mark on children's DNA

A new study shows that postnatal exposure to tobacco smoke alters DNA methylation, which may help explain adverse health effects

Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)

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Children exposed to second-hand smoke at home are more likely to show certain changes in the epigenome, which can alter the way genes are expressed. These epigenetic changes could influence the development of diseases in the future. This is the main conclusion of a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation. The results, published in Environment International, highlight the need to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke, especially in children's environments.

Our DNA acts as an instruction manual for the body. Without changing the contents of the "book" (i.e. the gene sequence), tobacco smoke can add "marks" to certain pages, affecting the way these instructions are read. One of these marks, DNA methylation, is one of the main epigenetic mechanisms, allowing gene expression to be turned on or off.

Second-hand smoke’s mark on the DNA

While the effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy have long been known to affect the epigenome, this research is among the first to show how second-hand smoke exposure during childhood may also have an effect.

The study included data from 2,695 children from eight European countries: Spain, France, Greece, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK and Sweden. The participants were aged 7-10 years and were volunteers from six cohorts of the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium (PACE).

Using blood samples from participants, the team looked at the level of methylation at specific DNA sites along the genome and related it to the number of smokers in the household (0, 1, or 2 or more).

DNA methylation changes were identified in 11 regions (called CpGs) that were associated with exposure to second-hand smoke. Most of these regions had also been linked in previous studies to direct exposure to tobacco in active smokers or during pregnancy. In addition, six of them are associated with diseases for which smoking is a risk factor, such as asthma or cancer.

"Our study shows that second-hand smoke during childhood leaves its mark at the molecular level and can alter the expression of genes that influence disease susceptibility in adulthood", says Marta Cosin-Tomàs, ISGlobal researcher and first author of the study.

A global problem with long-term consequences

Despite increasing regulation of smoking in public places, the household remains a major source of second-hand smoke exposure for children. In 2004, it was estimated that 40% of children worldwide were exposed to tobacco smoke. Childhood exposure to this pollutant not only increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, but can also affect neurological development and immune function.

"The results suggest that second-hand smoke in childhood leads to epigenetic changes similar to those observed with intrauterine exposure to tobacco or active smoking. This underlines the urgency of implementing comprehensive measures to reduce childhood exposure to tobacco smoke, both at home and indoors", says Mariona Bustamante, ISGlobal researcher and senior author of the study.

"It is not a question of appealing to the individual responsibility of families: exposure to tobacco is a public health problem and hides an issue of social inequality. Socio-economic and environmental factors, together with the influence of powerful commercial interests, make it difficult to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke in certain households," concludes Marta Cosin-Tomàs.

 

Reference

Cosin-Tomas, M., Hoang, T., Qi, C., Monasso, G. S., Langdon, R., Kebede Merid, S., Calas, L., de Prado-Bert, P., Richmond, R., Jaddoe, V. V., Duijts, L., Wright, J., Annesi-Maesano, I., Grazuleviciene, R., Karachaliou, M., Koppelman, G. H., Melén, E., Gruzieva, O., Vrijheid, M., ... Bustamante, M. (2025). Association of exposure to second-hand smoke during childhood with blood DNA methylation. Environment International, 195, 109204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109204

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Journal

Environment International

DOI

10.1016/j.envint.2024.109204 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Anti-smoking program adds wastewater-based epidemiology to track nicotine use in communities

Research sleuths at University of California, Merced applying sewage-testing tools that were put to powerful use at height of COVID

University of California - Merced

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Research led by University of California environmental engineering Professor Colleen Naughton will use wastewaster-based epidemiology to measure nicotine use in local communities.

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Credit: University of University, Merced illustration

University of California, Merced's Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center has embarked on an innovative partnership with researchers at the university who track an entire community’s health and habits with samples of human sewage.

The project aims to determine trends and levels of nicotine use in San Joaquin Valley communities through chemicals in wastewater. Collecting hard data on smoking and vaping can aid NCPC’s mission to help local public health agencies, community organizations and tobacco-control researchers give informed responses to the problem.

Traditional methods of collecting data about nicotine use, such as surveys and phone calls, often suffer from low response rates and difficulties in connecting with hard-to-reach populations.

Tobacco is a significant health concern in the Valley’s rural areas. The prevalence of cigarette smoking among rural adults in the United States was reported at 28.9%, notably higher than the general adult population's 11.5% in 2021. Smokeless tobacco also is used more extensively in rural areas than in urban communities.

The persistent popularity of vaping, especially among younger users, makes it all the more challenging to educate people about nicotine’s health dangers and to influence effective policies against the availability and sales and nicotine products.

NCPC, part of UC Merced’s Health Sciences Research Institute, was created in 2018. In 2024, it earned a $3.9 million grant from the University of California’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, extending NCPC’s work for at least four years.

The UC tobacco research program also is the source of three $50,000 grants the NCPC can award for pilot research projects. The first went to the wastewater-detection project, led by UC Merced environmental engineer Professor Colleen Naughton.

Naughton is working with UC Merced environmental engineering Professor Marc Beutel and San Diego State University public health Professor Eunha Hoh. The project will start by collecting wastewater from two cities in Merced and Stanislaus counties and from the UC Merced campus. Sewage samples will be analyzed for nicotine metabolites over a span of several months, allowing researchers to observe trends and patterns of use.

“You can see if it’s increasing or decreasing at certain times of the year. You also can see if your interventions are working, based on whether concentrations rise or fall,” said Naughton, who expects to have the pilot project running by this summer.

Public health Professor Arturo Durazo, NCPC’s director, said detecting nicotine levels in wastewater can establish a new model for tracking actual substance use.

“We continue to have significant gaps in reliable measurements of how many people smoke or use other tobacco products in the San Joaquin Valley. This could help fill those gaps,” Durazo said. “From there, perhaps the research could extend to other substances such as cannabis, alcohol or fentanyl.”

Naughton and her FEWS-US lab gained wide attention during the COVID-19 pandemic when they developed the first global dashboard for wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2, the COVID virus. Wastewater-based epidemiology expanded around the globe during the pandemic. The Naughton lab’s @COVIDPoops19 account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared findings from multiple continents.

Today, Naughton co-leads Healthy Central Valley Together, which monitors wastewater in Merced, Stanislaus and Yolo counties to track diseases and infections such as influenza, hepatitis, candida and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. 

Durazo said the remaining two $50,000 grants will be awarded once a year for early career investigators who want to do pilot research that can help shape tobacco and nicotine policies. The work by Naughton and her successors can lay the groundwork for more extensive, federally funded research.

 

Study finds consumer openness to smoke-impacted wines, offering new market opportunities

Oregon State University

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Experimental set up for Oregon State University research into consumer perception of smoke-tainted wines. The red light masks any potential color differences between the wines that may bias consumers.

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Credit: Jenna Fryer

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Certain groups of consumers appear to be open to drinking smoke-impacted wines, a finding in a new study that could provide market opportunities for winemakers increasingly dealing with the effects of wildfire smoke on grapes.

The study by researchers at Oregon State University and in New Zealand found that consumers, particularly those that like smokey flavors in food and beverages, are open to drinking smoke-impacted wines. They also found that the type of information on the label can modulate consumer acceptance.

“This research provides vital information for the wine industry,” said Elizabeth Tomasino, a professor of enology at Oregon State. “It demonstrates that with certain wine drinkers there is a potential market for these smoke-impacted wines.”

As the number and size of wildfires grow globally, the wine industry has been heavily impacted. For example, an economic analysis of the 2020 wildfires on the West Coast of the United States estimated wine industry losses up to $3.7 billion.

Following the 2020 fires, a research team, led by Oregon State scientists, received a $7.65 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the impact of smoke on wine.

Since then, the researchers have made several key advances. They discovered a class of compounds that contribute to smoke impact in grapes. They also developed spray-on coatings for grapes that have shown promise in preventing off flavors in wines that result from contact with wildfire smoke.

The latest research, published in the journal Food Research International, focuses on consumer attitudes toward smoke-impacted wine, a topic that has received very little attention.

For the study, Tomasino and Jenna Fryer, a doctoral student in her lab, sent smoke-impacted and non-smoke wine made from Oregon pinot noir grapes to New Zealand. There, working with Amanda Dupas de Matos and Joanne Hort at Massey University, they recruited 197 participants for the study.

They conducted the research in New Zealand, a region where winemaking has not been significantly impacted by wildfire, because they were interested in how people would respond to the wines. Future research will compare the results from New Zealand to findings from tasting panels in Oregon and Ohio.

With the research in New Zealand, two clusters of consumers were identified, one that liked the smoke-impacted wine (110 people) and the other that disliked it (87 people).

Findings of the study included:

• The smoke-liking group had an average liking score of 6.86 out of a nine-point scale.
• The smoke-disliking group had an average score of 3.26.
• The introduction of labels, versus unlabeled wine, increased liking of the smoke-impacted wines for the smoke-dislikers from just over three to more than five on the nine-point scale. One of the labels overtly referenced wildfires with the words “Smoke Stack, experience the 2020 vintage with this unique, lightly smokey wine.”
• The different labels didn’t have much of an impact on the smoke-likers, but their average scores were still above six, outpacing the dislikers.

The findings indicate that there are potential tools winemakers can use to make a smoke-impacted wine viable for the market, the researchers say. One option is blending, a common winemaking technique that in this case could involve mixing a smoke-impacted wine with a non-impacted wine. Winemakers can also take different approaches to labeling and marketing to specifically target the smoke-liking group.

“Our findings indicate that there is more forgiveness among consumers for these smokey wines than winemakers think,” Tomasino said. “It seems winemakers have a lot more options if they want to sell wine made with these grapes.”

Pinot noir grapes at Oregon State University's Woodhall Vineyard  undergoing smoke experiments.

Credit

Sean Nealon

Journal

Food Research International

DOI

10.1016/j.foodres.2025.115881 

 

Beyond DNA: How environments influence biology to make things happen

The emerging science of predictive phenomics asks why things end up as they are

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

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Hydrangeas demonstrate the importance of phenomics and the powerful influence that the environment has on organisms. The flowers are blue when grown in soil that is acidic but pink when they are grown in alkaline soil. The color of the petals is part of the plants' phenotype, the set of their observable characteristics.

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Credit: Illustration by Sara Levine | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

RICHLAND, Wash.—Curled up inside every single one of the trillions of cells in the human body is six feet of DNA, spooled tightly and carrying the genetic instructions that govern so much of who a person becomes. It’s a nicely wrapped package of instructions for a lifetime.

 

But having the package in hand is a far cry from understanding how it’s executed.

 

It’s been 20 years since scientists completed the Human Genome Project, sequencing the entire length of DNA found in a person. Scientists have now done the same with an amazing array of organisms, including some types of worms, mice, mosquitoes, fruit flies, trees, rice and pufferfish.

 

Science is awash in genomes and the genes within.

 

Now, scientists are exploring the world beyond genes.

 

The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this week in Boston will feature the session, “After the Genome: What Comes Next and Are We Ready?” The session Friday, Feb. 14 has been organized by chemist Thomas Metz and data scientist Katrina Waters of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Arpana Vaniya of the University of California at Davis will serve as moderator.

 

“The genome revolution has been incredible,” said Metz, an expert on the types of small molecules that are present in living systems and that influence biological functions. “But genes don’t explain everything. In people, it’s been shown that our genes predict maybe 40 percent or less of our long-term health and disease risk. What accounts for the rest?”

 

The AAAS session brings together a panel of three experts in genomics and phenomics to explore the many emerging factors that work downstream of the DNA “instruction manual” to bring about the world around us.

 

Aristides Patrinos of New York University’s Langone Health Center will kick off the session, leading a discussion about the origins and accomplishments of the Human Genome Project as well as future directions. That project was launched by the Department of Energy and completed by a collaboration of hundreds of scientists funded through DOE and the National Institutes of Health, as well as a private sector effort headed by J. Craig Venter.

 

Gary Miller of Columbia University will explore environmental factors and how they affect biological processes to influence living organisms. Taken together, the many environmental factors that act together to influence an organism’s biology are called the “exposome.” The process happens every day in our lives. For instance, two siblings who have largely the same genes have different lifestyles; the one who is sedentary and eats poorly has a heart attack at a younger age because of those environmental influences. Beyond the discussion at AAAS, Miller is co-organizing an “Exposome Moonshot Forum” that will take place in May.

 

PNNL scientist Katrina Waters will round out the session with her talk, “Predictive Phenomics: The Next Revolution in Life Sciences.”

 

Phenomics is unknown to most people outside of science, but it’s a pivotal concept that explains much of the world around us. An organism’s phenome includes all its observable traits: tall or short, fast or slow, green eyes or blue, and so on. The genes provide a starting point for such traits, but then countless interrelated chemical changes happen moment to moment that determine what actually results. Examples include some turtles whose gender is determined by the temperature in which they incubate as eggs, and hydrangeas, whose color is determined by the pH level of soil.

 

At PNNL, Waters leads the Predictive Phenomics Initiative, where she and dozens of other researchers seek to understand not just what factors influence an organism’s biology but how they do so in concert with each other. The researchers are combining chemistry, engineering and artificial intelligence to develop microbial systems that support the future bioeconomy and enhance national security. The PNNL team has organized the first-ever Predictive Phenomics Conference, to be held April 29–May 1 in Richland, Wash. Attendees will hear from more than 100 scientists active in the discipline.

 

The Predictive Phenomics Initiative and the Exposome Moonshot both focus on understanding the extensive molecular signaling that acts downstream of DNA to influence an organism.

 

Metz points out that all DNA is made up of just four nucleotides and that just 22 amino acids make up proteins. But beyond, there are potentially millions of small chemical signaling molecules that interact with and modify DNA, RNA and proteins. Once an underestimated phenomenon, scientists today are developing tools and conducting experiments that are revealing the huge impact that these signals have on our world—whether plants grow well, people are vulnerable to illness, and yeasts are triggered to produce useful chemicals.

 

“We know a great deal about DNA and RNA,” said Metz. “We have the proper tools to comprehensively examine those molecules, and we’ve been remarkably successful at understanding them. But there is so much more to know about processes downstream of DNA and RNA, and our understanding of these is limited because we don’t have the optimal tools to answer our questions.”

 

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