Arizona State University

Connecting with the Personal Past: Heritage and Tourism in the Mormon Colonies of Mexico

The purpose of this study is to conceptualize the notion of personal heritage tourism by investigating the travel motivations, constraints and activities of personal heritage travelers to Colonia Ju�rez, Chihuahua, Mexico, particularly within the framework of attachment to place/homeland and nostalgia. Smith and White (2004) did a study on the Mormons in Colonia Ju�rez and Colonia Dublan and their attachment to the Mormon homeland of Utah. They used Conzen�s (2001) three dimensions of cultural identity, territoriality and loyalty to place to confirm the residents� attachment to the Mormon homeland.
Conzen�s (2001) homeland dimensions will also be utilized to see if there is a correlation between his concepts and the heritage visitors to their ancestral �homeland� in the opposite direct from the study by Smith and White (2004). This study will help the local population understand personal heritage travelers and how best to service their needs. It will also help personal heritage travelers, by identifying the constraints that others have had and how they have overcome them. As it has not been done in the past, the study will help develop a model or conceptual framework for understanding the multitudinous dimensions of personal heritage tourism.