Embarking on a '(birth)rite of passage' : exploring the role of liminality and youth transitions in diaspora tourism motivation

Motivations to participate in diaspora tourism‘birthright’programs havewidely encompassed themes of heritage exploration, including a desire todevelop personalised attachments to people, places, and memoriesconnected to ancestral heritage or a‘homeland’. Despite the popularity ofsuch programs among young members from the diaspora, the additionalrole that life course positioning plays in structuring motivation is lessunderstood. In this paper, I analyse the motivations shared through semi-structured interviews with a group of young Hungarian-Australians whoattended a 10-month‘birthright’diaspora program in Hungary. Byapplying a rite of passage lens to their stories, I highlight thatuncertainties about the future, escaping the mundanity of everyday life,and the burden of impending adult responsibilities, were strong factorsshaping their gap year motivations and overall view of the program. Thepaper thus encourages a more nuanced interpretation of diaspora tourismmotivation through a liminal and youth transition context. It also promptsfurther thinking toward the role and representation of such programs asalternate rite of passage events, representing a critical point of transitionbetween life stage endings and beginnings.