Abstract
Tourism phenomena provide researchers with useful opportunities for studying Christian populations. While research focus has largely been upon institutionally sanctioned traditions of travel such as pilgrimages, the ways in which Christians participate in other forms of tourism are increasingly understood as important indicators of group and individual identity. Indeed, there are a range of ways that Christian tourists travel that may have nothing to do with ‘Christianity’, and that may not primarily be motivated by notions of sacrality or salvation, but which still have meaning in their lives. As tourism constitutes part of the lived experience of many Christians, scholars seeking to understand people and practices rather than institutions and texts have an interest in investigating it. This chapter outlines avenues of enquiry that might shape the study of Christians doing tourism. Those investigating phenomena involving Christian tourists can use these outlines to help design research projects that adopt both the ‘Lived Religion’ paradigm and tourist studies perspective.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Bloomsbury Handbook to Studying Christians |
Editors | George D. Chryssides, Stephen E. Gregg |
Place of Publication | U.K. |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Academic |
Pages | 235-238 |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781350043404 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781350043381 |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- religion
- tourism
- Christians