Religious tourism in America: Identity formation of sites and visitors.

What are the implicit and explicit identities projected by religious tourist sites? How do visitors use tourism to create their own identities? What is the relationship between the tourist site and its social settings? I propose that religious tourist sites function like other cultural products and create identity for both the cultural producers (the site creators) and the recipients (the visitors). For this project I collected data by conducting interviews and fieldwork at five religious tourist sites and modeling what I found on Griswold's cultural diamond framework (1987, 2004). What I found was that at these sites proselytizing may be one, but is not the only objective. For both the site sponsor and the visitors, creating cultural and religious identities is a foremost goal. The site is also interested in situating itself within its larger social contexts. Site creators are interested in making an imprint on both their visitors and their social settings. The site creators do this by teaching their version of history and social-religious ideals. I conclude that religious tourist sites do function as cultural products and they create religious and cultural identities based on the site creators' perceptions of the role of religion in the world.