Identity tourism

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Identity tourism refers to the ways in which travel ties into different dimensions of identity. It covers travel motivated by interest in ones own or others' racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, sexual or gender identity. It also concerns the construction of cultural identities and re-examination of one's ethnic and cultural heritage via tourism.^[1]</ref>

Research on the topic of identity and tourism dates back to a 1984 special issue of Annals of Tourism Research guest edited by Pierre L. van den Berghe and Charles F. Keyes.^[2] This volume examined the ways in which tourism intersects with the (re-)formation and revision of various forms of identity, particularly ethnic and cultural identities. Since that time, various scholars have examined the intersection between dimensions of identity and tourism. For instance, anthropologist Edward Bruner wrote extensively about tourism and personal identity change in a key article published in the Annals of Tourism Research (See Bruner, Edward M. 1991. “The Transformation of Self in Tourism.” Annals of Tourism Research 18 (2): 238–50).

The way people construct and re-examine their ethnic and cultural heritage can also occur through the internet.^[3]

Early contributions of identity tourism allowed scholars to examine the intersection of tourism and identity. Early scholars conducted investigations regarding the influence of the locations of tourism and how the culture portrayed influenced the visitors' images and cultural stereotypes (see work by Pierre van den Berghe, Edward Bruner and others).