Understanding place in Sedona, Arizona, through tourism, spirituality, and planning

Ryckman, Weldon Stenger (2021) Understanding place in Sedona, Arizona, through tourism, spirituality, and planning. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

Sedona, Arizona, attracts many tourists seeking spiritual renewal through the city’s reputation as a spiritual center or nexus of energy. Marketing by the city and various businesses in Sedona characterize the city as a “spiritual Mecca” that is the “perfect place for spiritual and personal enrichment of the body and soul.” Intersecting planning, spirituality, and tourism can yield insights into how place is produced and understood in Sedona and advance studies of place and spirituality more generally. An investigation into Sedona’s tourism culture is explored through a review of tourism studies, place and planning literature, and interviews with business owners, tourists, city employees, and locals. Findings will show how place is produced through an interconnection of actors, networks, and systems of power, while providing a relational ontology of place that negotiates across scales and between individual and collective understandings of place.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	place; planning; spirituality; tourism; Sedona, Arizona; New age spirituality;
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc
MeSH Subjects:	F Psychiatry and Psychology > F02 Psychological Phenomena and Processes
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Social and Behavioral Science > Geography, Planning and Recreation
Date Deposited:	07 Jul 2022 20:01
Last Modified:	07 Jul 2022 20:01
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5811

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