History of US Tourism

Tourism is one of the leading industries in the United States as well as an important leisure-time activity in which Americans engage the past and locate themselves in American society by viewing local and regional cultures that may differ from their own. The impulse to travel has built or reshaped cities and towns as well as regions.

This course examines the role of tourism in American society and culture from the early nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. It emphasizes how larger historical trends—the rise of the middle class, transportation innovations, westward expansion, the emergence of commercialized mass culture, industrialization, war and depression, to name but a few—shaped tourist attractions and how tourism molded local, regional, national, racial, and ethnic identities. We will examine Americans’ motives for choosing various destinations—retreat and spiritual uplift, health and recreation, historical understanding, celebration and commemoration, multicultural exoticism, and entertainment. We will also trace the development of numerous tourist destinations, including seaside and mountain resorts, national parks, natural springs, religious retreats, amusement parks and theme parks, battlefields, living history museums, preserved or reinvented historic sites, gambling and vice destinations, and urban entertainment districts.