ABSTRACT
During the past three decades, cross-border human mobility has substantially increased. For instance, the migrant stock in the more developed regions of the world rose from 7.2 per cent in 1990 to 10.8 per cent in 2013 (UN 2013). And between 1995 and 2013 international tourism doubled to more than a billion trips (UNWTO 2014). This increasing mobility is partly facilitated by the development of communication and transport technologies. New technologies are accompanied by a new mental order and both are interrelated. In a world of ‘global life styles’ and transnational diasporas, locations at great geographical distance from one’s place of residence are becoming familiar. For instance, worldwide middle-class markers and icons like Starbucks and Nike or well-known tourist attractions like Disneyland, the Eiffel Tower or Mount Kilimanjaro are known to people living thousands of miles away.
