Cross-cultural tourist behavior: An investigation of tourists' behavior during guided tours

In an increasingly multicultural tourism industry, similarities and differences in tourist behavior across cultural borders is gaining importance. More and more people are travelling around the world and this progress gathers cultures from all over the world together. Therefore, tourism marketers and planners operating in this environment need to understand the concept of culture and the role of national culture influencing tourist behavior. From this point of view, the purpose of this study is threefold. First it was aimed to examine behavioral characteristics of tourists visiting Istanbul with guided tours from different nationalities according to the perspectives of professional tour guides. Second, distinguish these behavioral characteristics into underlying dimensions and further examine the differences or similarities in between factors. The results revealed that there are three underlying dimensions of tourist behavior during guided tours, and significant differences were found among seven nationalities on the basis of these dimensions. Finally, conclusions and managerial implications are discussed at the end of the study. Key(Words:(!cross@cultural! tourist! behavior,! national! culture,! perceptions! of! tour!guides!