More and more visitors are embarking on similar forays into the Navajo culture. Verginia Yazzie, a public information officer with the Navajo Tourism Office, says the hogan and breakfast program is part of a larger economic development strategy intended to attract some of the tourist dollars that are now lost to the border towns. Gas stations, hotels and Burger Kings are sprouting up throughout the reservation in areas designated as enterprise zones. At the same time, economic development officials are encouraging home-based tourism businesses to serve travelers who want to learn more about their Navajo neighbors. Cultural tourism is a niche market, and the hogan and breakfast experience is not for everyone.
Traditional hogans have no electricity, telephones or running water.
The restroom may be a plywood privy, or it may be the great outdoors. They also hope the hogan and breakfasts will help to ease a room shortage at the dozen hotels on the reservation. There are eight hogan and breakfasts currently in operation. Three more are expected to open this year. Many families now prefer conventional homes with electricity and running water for daily use, but most maintain a hogan for traditional religious ceremonies.