From religious tourism to nostalgic pilgrimages. Reflections from Mexico

ABSTRACT By exploring the origin, motivation, and behaviour of visitors to the Saint Francis celebration in Real de Catorce (Mexico), this article exposes the link between religious tourism and nostalgic tourism in the case of regional migrants. The methodology was designed to use triangulation of three methods: questionnaires, informal conversational interviews, and direct observation. The results reveal that the celebration has strong family-tradition content. In this pilgrimage, religious faith coexists with longing and the search for identity. Religious tourism blends with nostalgic tourism. This becomes evident in the responses about travel motives and also in the origin of the journey, the frequency of the visits, and the kind of activities in which visitors engage. The visitors tend to come from the main destinations of past migrants from Real de Catorce. For them, a religious festival is a good excuse to embark on a recreational tour legitimated by the idea of family union and devotional obligations. By travelling to the festival, devotees comply with religious obligations, connect with family origins and enjoy recreation. This innovative study of religious and return tourism on a relatively regional scale shows that nostalgia is not associated exclusively with international migration.