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Xenophobia is an irrational fear or contempt of strangers or foreigners. This ancient cultural and political phenomenon is also present in contemporary tourism, mainly manifesting itself in the hostile attitudes of residents towards tourists. Tourism research has not shown a specific interest in this problem, except in a broader context. Sociological studies on the stranger were an important starting point. The tourist can in fact be considered like the stranger in transit in a foreign community. The strangerhood perspective was developed to emphasise the cultural distance between the stranger and the integrated community. Xenophobia in tourism can thus be studied by the social sciences from different viewpoints, focusing on aspects such as interpersonal relationships (psychosociological or anthropological host guest relationships); intercultural communication with stress on groups; and socioeconomic forms of neocolonialism or imperialism. Xenophobia should in any case be considered in domestic and international tourism in terms of economic, social and cultural distance, which is accentuated by the type and number of tourists and the rate of tourism development. The demonstration effect, stereotyping, social impacts and sociocultural change are all related concepts (see also change, sociocultural).