The Role of Religious Leaders in Religious Heritage Tourism Development: The Case of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Daniel H Olsen,Scott C Esplin

doi:10.3390/rel11050256

Abstract

For centuries, people have traveled to sacred sites for multiple reasons, ranging from the performance of religious rituals to curiosity. As the numbers of visitors to religious heritage sites have increased, so has the integration of religious heritage into tourism supply offerings. There is a growing research agenda focusing on the growth and management of this tourism niche market. However, little research has focused on the role that religious institutions and leadership play in the development of religious heritage tourism. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of religious leaders and the impacts their decisions have on the development of religious heritage tourism through a consideration of three case studies related to recent decisions made by the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Highlights

Natural and human-built religious sites and landscapes have drawn both the faithful and the curious to travel long distances to participate in or observe religious rituals, or educational and leisure-related activities (Timothy and Olsen 2006; Suntikul and Butler 2018)
There has been a dramatic increase in visitation to religious heritage sites by both religious adherents and curious tourists, in part because of the popularization of these sites by government officials, tourism businesses, and entrepreneurs, who market these sites as a part of broader cultural tourism market (Olsen 2003, 2013; Timothy 2011)
Temple Square is synonymous with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with the site itself being the major tourist attraction in Salt Lake City in terms of overall visitation numbers

Summary

Introduction

Natural and human-built religious sites and landscapes have drawn both the faithful and the curious to travel long distances to participate in or observe religious rituals, or educational and leisure-related activities (Timothy and Olsen 2006; Suntikul and Butler 2018). There has been a dramatic increase in visitation to religious heritage sites by both religious adherents and curious tourists, in part because of the popularization of these sites by government officials, tourism businesses, and entrepreneurs, who market these sites as a part of broader cultural tourism market (Olsen 2003, 2013; Timothy 2011). Religious heritage site managers, tourism officials, tourism businesses, and entrepreneurs view religious heritage as a boon for the tourism industry, taking it on faith that the development of this type of heritage will strongly contribute to economic development (Olsen 2003; Shepherd 2013). Like other sectors of the tourism industry, the integration of religious heritage tourism sites into larger tourism planning agendas can lead to negative economic, socio-cultural, and environmental consequences, in cases where religious heritage tourism is the main tourism product

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Conclusion