Yes, definitely. There was tourism in Greece in the Classical Period, too. Epidaurus is a good example: a major religious sanctuary, side by side with a theatre and athletics venues, all part of the thriving local economy propped up entirely by tourism. Fun fact: history's first recorded hypochondriac was a frequent patient/visitor at the temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus.

There were “pilgrimages”, trade, and extended families. Joseph traveled with his brothers to Egypt long before 300 BC

Alexander the Great visited it in 334 BC: https://greekreporter.com/2025/09/07/alexander-the-great-vis...

Edit: this was also mentioned in the article

not only there was, people were still people and we have roman and greek graffiti on monuments ("X was here" and similar).

For example the great pyramids were already a popular "tourist" destination hundreds of years before christ.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza#Historio...

It seems that a major objective of Judaism’s monotheism and singular Temple complex was predicated on being “A Light to All Nations” and a central, exclusive focus for pilgrimage (and therefore, economic activity) during the Jewish feasts.

In fact this is exactly the same situation which drives pro-Israel sentiment in modern times: pilgrimage == tourism == $$$.

There was trading, and that alone could shift objects well away from their original locations without any contact with the original creators.

There were also nomads, pilgrimages (as some have said), and African swallows.

That's covered in the article.

no, but in first century bc and after that the roman world was connected enough that rich young romans were doing their version of the grand tour. Cesar managed to be kidnapped by pirates doing something like that, if I remember it correctly.