How to deal with racism on group tours abroad
Travelers frequently encounter overt racism, microaggressions, and exclusionary dynamics both from locals and within predominantly white tour groups. This makes it difficult to enjoy vacations or find comfortable group agencies, often forcing travelers to constantly stomach offensive remarks or look for diverse alternatives.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- Most of it landed at once — the busiest month was September 2026, with 4 people.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How to deal with racism on group tours abroad
- 1Booking private tours instead of group toursDid this help you?
- 2Looking for tour companies based out of South Asia or niche operators (such as Black-owned travel companies)Did this help you?
- 3Upgrading to higher-tier or more expensive tours to avoid younger demographic crowdsDid this help you?
- 4travelling to alternative nearby countries like ArmeniaDid this help you?
- 5leaving the country earlyDid this help you?
- 6Refusing to fly by that airline againDid this help you?
- 7Raising the issue to the airline and reporting the flight and crewDid this help you?
- 8Asking other travelers of color about their firsthand experiences at the destination.Did this help you?
- 9Choosing to go anyway to avoid missing out on new experiences.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“on my first night in cambodia, a swiss girl in my group complained that the bar she went to had too many cambodians. in cambodia. on my second day a woman from new zealand yelled out the n-word. i spent 30 days with this group. i think it really depends on how well you can stomach micro-aggressions and covert racism.”source ↗
“I'm so happy I ran across your post, because I've also considered signing up with tour groups, but this is my exact fear. as a Black American woman, I worry about the diversity of each of these groups and traveling with a majority all one demographic doesn't seem particularly enticing.”source ↗
“Been to Georgia multiple times, border control is always a humiliating with a weaker passport.”source ↗
“My mom and I are going to Italy for the first time next month but I’m seeing a lot of people experiencing racism there. I’m the type that WILL cause a scene if that happens… what do/did you guys do when you experienced it??”source ↗
“Where I did have issue is with the demographic make up of the tour groups. My groups were made up of wholly European or Australian whites. They were also mostly younger as well (18-24). Does anyone know of any group tour agencies that gear towards more diverse groups? Traveling to brown countries as a brown person with a bunch of white people can be very weird at times. No offense to anyone here, but I would see and hear very off putting things while I was with them.”source ↗
“So I’m an Indian woman and I recently flew to Singapore from New Zealand and faced a lot of discrimination from the flight crew.”source ↗
“Almost no service for me and they ignored me the whole flight and finally during meal time I asked for the chicken meal and another lady on the other side asked for the same idk and the flight attendant put it in my hand and then pulled it away and gave it to that woman.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Why are locals so cold and rude?
- 2What obvious things am I missing before my first international trip?
- 19How to plan your first international trip without missing anything
- 3How to see famous European landmarks without dealing with massive crowds
- 3What to do if you are stranded abroad by sudden violence
- 5How to deal with loneliness during solo travel