Introduction

Human beings have a long history of mobility for many social and economic purposes, including hunting and fishing, trade, warfare, celebrations and religious pilgrimages. Some archaeologists believe the Turkish site of Göbekli Tepe (10th–8th millennium BCE) to be one of the earliest spiritual gathering places or centers of worship ever discovered. Evidence of religious pilgrimages has also been found from the Vedic age in northern India (c. 1500–500 BCE) during the early stages of Hinduism. Pilgrimages thrived during the Middle Ages in Asia and Europe, although portrayals of this as an early form of tourism have focused largely on the movement of Christians between Europe and Jerusalem, and throughout the lands of the Bible, until the 16th-century Christian Reformation prohibited pilgrimage travel for many Europeans.

Other types of tourism also have a long history. There are records of pleasure travel and ‘sightseeing’ in Egypt as early as 1500 years BCE (Casson, 1994). During antiquity and the Middle Ages, social elites traveled for ‘holiday-making’. Many ancient accounts suggest that nobility, merchants, traders and the aristocracy during antiquity traveled to see sites and places that were already considered quite old. The seven wonders of the ancient world were important destinations during the Greek and Roman empires. In fact, the earliest Greek guidebooks included descriptions and travelers’ reviews of the Egyptian Pyramids, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum of Mausolus, the Ishtar Gate and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia (Timothy, 2011).

As well, the Grand Tour of Europe (17th–19th centuries) was an activity wherein young aristocratic males traveled to various European destinations on set itineraries to view great works of art, historic cities, ancient ruins, and to learn from the artistic masters. This became a right of passage for many youth of the upper classes and is frequently cited as the early forerunner to modern-day tourism (Towner, 1985).