International Tourism and Local Religiosity
Tourism is one of the most widespread forms of globalisation, generating large-scale yet superficial exposure to different norms and lifestyles. Although its economic effects are well documented, much less is known about its impact on cultural outcomes. This paper examines how international tourism shapes religiosity, a highly visible and identity-relevant dimension of culture. We argue that tourism does not lead to cultural convergence, but rather to cultural differentiation, by exposing individuals to alternative worldviews without necessarily fostering meaningful contact. We adopt a multi-level empirical approach combining cross-country, regional, and individual-level analyzes. At the global level, we construct bilateral religiosity distances using the World and European Values Surveys and relate them to tourism flows. At the subnational level, we exploit the staggered entry of low-cost carriers as an exogenous shock to tourism exposure. At the individual level, we use longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. Across all specifications, we find that tourism increases heterogeneity in religiosity. The effects are stronger between culturally distant societies and are driven primarily by belief and identity rather than religious practice. These findings identify tourism as a key channel of cultural change that shapes, rather than erodes, religious beliefs.
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