Tourism retains some metaphysical connotations of pilgrimage

“Could there be something of the sacred left in the tourist’s experience today? As well as the similarities in scale, modern-day mass tourism maintains some of the metaphysical connotations of the pilgrimage. After all one does not actually purchase anything physical when planning a trip, rather its a means by which we can acquire experiences. Thus the sheer intangibility of the modern-day holiday (and one should not forget the religious provenance of this word) hearkens back to its spiritual predecessor. Similarly while a secular world may allow tourists to create their own holy places, sanctified by natural beauty, good weather or physical challenges, the idea that one returns from sacred journeys with a changed perspective is still implicitly the case. Tourists, like pilgrims, seek recreation in the fullest sense of the word.”
–George Pendle, “Sight Seers,” Bidoun, Spring/Summer 2006