The tourism industry has recently realized that spiritual journeys are a new hot niche. Although pilgrimages may be new to some tour operators, visiting holy places has been going on for a long time. Tibet’s Mount Kailash has been a sacred travel destination for 15,000 years, making it the oldest known pilgrimage site in the world. To this day, many Buddhists believe that taking the 32-day trek to an elevation of 18,000 feet washes away a lifetime of sins.
The idea of sacred places is not limited to Europe and Asia, on the North American continent, native peoples went vision-seeking to sacred mountains, canyons, and forests long before the European invasion of the 15th century. For example, the traditions of the Nlaka’pamux First Nation near Lytton, British Columbia, hold that there are sacred sites in the Stein Valley where young people still perform vision quests that give them insight into their life’s purpose.
In Western culture, pilgrimages of one kind or another continue to cross over from the subculture into the mainstream. It was in 1983 when Shirley MacLaine wrote about having an out-of-body experience in hot springs in Peru in “Out on a Limb.” The book was a national bestseller spending 15 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. However, Ms. MacLaine was not taken seriously by the masses. However, in 2006, when Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love” was released, it not only stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for 187 weeks, it also spawned a film starring Julia Roberts as a woman who he travels to spiritual sites in India and Bali to balance his life. Suddenly, tour operators rushed to organize “Eat Pray Love” tours for women in the hope of gaining inner peace.
In general, it is argued that the general increase in spiritual tourism in recent decades is directly related to the influences of the generation born after the end of the Second World War. USA Today in 1997 published an article on the trend toward travel that explores not only the physical terrain but also the psyche, citing: The practical explanation is that the baby boomers have reached the age where we have accumulated all possible things, and we are still not satisfied. We’re looking for meaning in life, and that extends to our vacations,” says Robert Scheer, 51-year-old editor of Power Trips, a new travel magazine devoted to “sacred places where you can commune with the spirit of Mother Earth. “
Travel companies often receive glowing testimonials from people who have embarked on their spiritual journeys and return home feeling like they have changed for the better. For example, a Fr. Caldwell from Chicago wrote of a trip to Peru: “I was lucky enough to meet a shaman who helped me open my heart to myself. As a natural consequence, I have opened my heart to others. My friends and business acquaintances have commented on my ‘aura’ of peace and joy.
“Traveling to sacred places is nothing new,” concluded Martin Gray, an anthropologist and photographer who lives in Sedona. “But the reason for making those pilgrimages has changed.”
