MPI Study: Heritage Tourism and Nostalgia Trade - A Diaspora Niche in the Development Landscape

Diaspora heritage tourism and nostalgia trade are increasingly garnering attention in the marketplace. Diaspora tourists, for example, are more likely to make connections with the local economy spending more of their money on local businesses acquiring nostalgic goods. Studies also show that diaspora populations promote nostalgia trade by bringing back nostalgic goods which they feel helps them preserve their ethnic and cultural identities while also easing the integration of their homeland economies into the global economy.

This report is a study by the Migration Policy Institute under a USAID grant, exploring the role that heritage tourism and nostalgia trade play within diaspora communities and also in the broader international markets for goods and services.