Personal Heritage and Return Visits to American Colonies in Mexico

Abstract

This article describes a case study of one Anglo-American village in Mexico that has become a salient personal heritage tourism destination for its émigrés and the descendents of its early pioneers. Several characteristics of personal heritage tourism are established and used to interpret the tourism situation in Colonia Juárez, Mexico, which involves varying elements of visiting friends and relatives, attending local celebrations, visiting cemeteries and doing genealogy research, undertaking religious activities, visiting historic sites, participating in ancestral livelihood activities, and developing a bond to the community. In addition, visitors' perceptions of the potential for future tourism development are described, together with their perceived constraints to visiting the village.