Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Abstract

As gender dissident individuals, trans people are often subject to stigma, discrimination and violence. Despite the potential bene fi ts travel and tourism can o ff er to these individuals, their experiences have been widely ignored by researchers and mistakenly included under the same umbrella as lesbian, gay and bisexual tourism. This study sought to explore trans women's tourism motivations and experiences in a Mexican context. The research was grounded in social stigma theory and recently developed transgender travel and tourism theory. Based on qualitative interviews, the results reveal that trans women's motives are similar to those of cisgender tourists and that a fear of discrimination or even murder is a signi fi cant tourism constraint. Mistreatment of trans tourists can range from being misgendered to sexual harassment and verbal and physical violence. A signi fi cant issue arising in this context is the need to distinguish between pre-and post-transition travel to understand trans tourism experiences more fully. This study's fi ndings expand the current theory on – and o ff er practical implications for those involved in – transgender travel.