The Routinization of Tourism

Kiplinger portrays Washington, DC as a bastion of sightseeing and tourism in, not only America, but the world. According to Kiplinger, this is all due DCs place as a "history factory". At the time this may have been true; I agree that the draw for citizens to see their nations capital was an intensely personal experience, something that, for the average sightseer today, isn't the case at all. I think for the majority of "tourists" who visit DCs many sights of historical significance, the experience has been lost somewhere down the line. Far to infrequently do I see someone walk into the Capital Rotunda with a look of honest awe, a true appreciation for what the space represents. Is it too much to ask that people learn at a young age the significance of our American institution of Government? I know that sounds a bit like indoctrination, but why do tourists, collectivly, seem to have no sense of respect?