Tourism and informal pilgrimage among the Laater-day Saints

Most major world religions have some sort of doctrinal basis for and formalized rituals relating to pilgrimage travel. In some cases, pilgrimage is a required element of religious worship, whether it is essential in the quest for a happier afterlife or for initiatory purposes (Morinis 1992). However, not all major faiths embrace the notion of pilgrimage, at least in its traditional sense. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (informally referred to as the Mormon Church or the LDS Church) does not have formal pilgrimage practices or proscriptions, and yet every year thousands of church members travel to places associated with the birth and growth of their religious faith, their scriptural heritage, and to sacred temples. While much of this travel is a grassroots-inspired movement, church leaders also encourage this informal pilgrimage-like travel to important sites, such as temples, and places related to church history and heritage. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the relationship betweentourism and the LDS Church. In particular, three different aspects of this relationship are discussed. First, the views of the church related to tourism will be addressed. Even though little has been officially stated about tourism by church leadership, it is possible to highlight a number of implicit views by examining the scriptural basis of hospitality and proselytization as they relate to tourism and how LDS Church leaders, historically and contemporarily, interact with tourism at historical and sacred sites. Second, the informal motivations Mormons have for traveling to church history locations and heritage sites associated with holy scriptures are examined. Last, the pilgrimage-like travel patterns of Latter-day Saints are examined in terms of the major destinations they visit when traveling for religious purposes. Before discussing these three aspects, however, a brief introduction to the LDS Church is necessary.