ABSTRACT
The focus of the chapter is on a phenomenon that affects many destinations across the world but receives little attention from the academic community and that is visitor harassment (VH). VH (in particular, trader harassment) is a selling behavior exhibited by micro-traders, including vendors, at tourist destinations that leaves visitors feeling varying degrees of anger, fear, and/or sadness. Common perpetrators of these behaviors include tour guides, taxicab drivers, and craft vendors, among others. The goal of this chapter is to share some of the latest research on the topic and, more specifically, to provide an overview of the practice, its economic impact on destinations, and actions tourism leaders may take to either reduce or overcome this phenomenon. In the chapter, four important points are made. One, trader harassment has features that distinguish it from other local behaviors toward visitors at tourist destinations. Two, VH is likely to have a negative effect on the extent to which tourist dollars are retained in a local economy. Three, there are steps tourism officials can take to reduce micro-traders’ harassment over the long term. Four, new research reveals specific ways tourism leaders might reduce the negative economic effects of visitor (trader) harassment on their tourist destinations.
