Introduction
With a rapid rise in the globalization of the worldâs economy in the last few decades, the number of people traveling to other countries for business, education, employment, migration, and tourism has grown exponentially (Fung et al. 2017; Gaur et al. 2017; Sharma et al. 2018; Sharma et al. 2016; Tam et al. 2016). For example, there were 258 million international migrants around the world by the end of 2017, accounting for 3.4% of the worldâs population compared to 2.9% in 1990, which represents a huge increase of 105 million (i.e., 69%) in the number of international migrants between 1990 and 2017 (United Nations 2017). At the same time, the number of international tourists reached a record 1.322 billion in 2017, which generated more than US$1.5 trillion in total revenues, employed directly or indirectly one in ten people around the world, and contributed 10% of global GDP, 7% of the worldâs total exports, and a staggering 30% of total services exports (UNWTO 2018). If we add the number of people traveling overseas for education, employment, and business to the above figures, it is possible that at any given point of time, almost 2 billion people are in a country different from the one they were born in, accounts for almost one-fourth of the worldâs population.
The above astonishing figure clearly shows how so many countries around the world (especially the developed economies ) are increasingly becoming much more culturally and ethnically diverse, which incidentally has always been the case in many large multicultural and multiethnic emerging economies , such as India , Brazil , and Indonesia. According to a recent report (Euromonitor International 2015), strong migration flows into many developed economies combined with higher birth rates among their ethnic minority populations have resulted in an unprecedented rise in the levels of ethnic , cultural, and religious diversity in these countries. Euromonitor International (2015) report reveals some startling figures about the growing cultural diversity in the developed markets. For example, the USA has the highest number of foreign-born residents among developed markets with over 22 million in 2013, followed by Australia and Germany with 8 million foreign-born residents each.
Most of the growth in the number of foreign-born residents in the USA is from higher birth rates among naturalized or second-generation Hispanics . However, Asians have recently crossed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants coming into the USA , possibly as a result of increased border security clamping down on illegal immigration from Mexico . Asian immigrant communities are also growing strongly in countries such as Australia , which has now become the most culturally diverse nation in the world, with foreign-born residents accounting for 31% of its total population and a net migration rate of 9.8 per 1000 population in 2013. Switzerland is closely behind with 23% of its population being foreign-born . Similar trends are observed in the immigration flows in Europe , with the number of foreign citizens shooting up between 2008 and 2013 by 51% in Italy and 24% in the UK , which has resulted in extremely adverse public opinion and public protests against immigration in these countries (Euromonitor International 2015).
According to a report by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR 2017), there were 17.2 million refugees under its jurisdiction at the end of 2016, with about 30% of these (5.2 million) present in the developed countries in Europe and North America. These refugees fled from persecution, conflict , violence, or human rights violations in their countries and most of them still live in abject poverty in their host countries with an uncertain future. However, in a stark contrast to these refugees , poverty rates among the regular migrants are declining in most developed countries with a rise in their education and income levels, leading to significant changes in their lifestyles and shopping behaviors with an increase in their purchasing power (Euromonitor International 2015). For example, Asian-Americans are the best educated and highest income ethnic group in the USA , while higher levels of edu...