Sustaining tourism infrastructures for religious tourists. Main targets in such trips are places connected with the history of religion, religious events of a religious nature and the sacred objects. Here, peter wiltshier, lecturer in tourism and spa at the university of derby, explains what it is and why it is so important. Lebanon is an ancient land that has been at the heart of the growth of two of the worlds major religions, christianity and islam. Religious tourism is an important part of the tourism industry it called special interest tourism, which usually related to the followers of particular faiths who visit. Spiritual journeys are one type of cultural tourism that is on the rise, as people are increasingly looking to develop their own spirituality and to discover that of others. For centuries, diverse religious traditions have shared this land, creating a rich mosaic of religious beliefs and a unique. It is difficult to give a specific definition of religious tourism and the reason behind it is that cultural.
The worlds largest form of mass religious tourism takes place at the annual hajj pilgrimage in mecca, saudi arabia. Religious tourism an introduction perspective of religious tourism in india religious tourism can be defined as travel with the core motive of experiencing religious forms, or the products they induce, like art, culture, traditions and architecture. Spiritual tourism is a tourism that is motivated by faith or religious reasons has been in evidence for centuries sharply and sundram, 2005. In many instances, religious tourists journey to these sites on the anniversaries of events that are of importance to followers of specific religions. Pdf religious tourism, pilgrimage, and cultural tourism. Adventure tourism is defined as the movement of the people from one to another place outside their comfort zone for exploration or travel to remote areas, exotic and possibly hostile areas. Their difference is the motivation to take the trip. This is due to the fact that religion has influenced the tourism scene in an outstanding manner. That lord buddha in his prime career point had denounced worldly pleasures in quest of the eternal knowledge or nirvana is nothing, but a bright instance of religious tourism setting a historical.
It is a trending type of tourism in many world regions, particularly in europe. Religious tourism usually involves followers of particular faiths visiting locations that some people regard as holy sites. Notably, there are very many religious sites that also double as. The most represented religion groups are christians, islamists, hindus, buddhists and jews.
Religious or faithbased tourism, however, is not only about pilgrimages. Tourism, the worlds largest industry, is essential to a communitys economic vitality, sustainability, and profitability. Methodology site description gishen debre kerbe mariam is located 482 km north of addis ababa, the capital city of. Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism, is a type of tourism with two main subtypes. It is a product of modern social arrangements, beginning in western europe in the 17th century, although it has antecedents in classical antiquity. Tourism, the act and process of spending time away from home in pursuit of recreation, relaxation, and pleasure, while making use of the commercial provision of services. Religious tourism, also commonly referred to as faith tourism, is a type of tourism, where people travel individually or in groups for pilgrimage, missionary, or leisure fellowship purposes. Particular homelands and cultural norms have always been constructed with reference to, or contrasted with, the lands and habits of the other. The role and importance of cultural tourism in modern tourism.
However, religious tourism is one of the least studied areas in turkish tourism literature. Being one of the most ancient civilizations of the world, india has been in. Under the religious tourism should understand the activities related to the provision of services and. Religious tourism has increasingly won in popularity in recent years. What are the opportunities for religious tourism from europe. Forms of religious tourism today a brief systematic overview of the different forms of religious tourism would shed more light on this subject.
In georgia, tourism is the states second largest industry and heritage tourism is its fastestgrowing segment. Understandings of religious tourism have evolved beyond pilgrimage and now encompass the meaningfulness of a destination. The role and importance of cultural tourism in modern touri sm industry 203 according to hofstede 1997 the core of a culture is formed by the values figure 1. The global market for religious tourism continues to grow. Georgia is among the top 10 states in the country in heritage tourism visitation. Geertz believed that religion often equates with faith and belief in a higher power or truth, but it is more commonly defined in religious studies as the patterns that. Sustaining tourism infrastructures for religious tourists and.
Taking look back to the history we can find many indicators showing the importance of religious tourism in. The forms can be differentiated according to the criteria of length of stay. Tourism and its associated practices interact with religious life and the institutions of religion in virtually every corner of the world. One of the oldest types of tourism and a worldwide phenomenon of religious history, it can be differentiated into various forms. Religious tourism, tourist resources, environmental problem i. Growth of religious tourism future for religious heritage. Religious tourism potential of gishen derbe kerbe mariam. Oct 10, 2015 word spiritual tourism came to existence 7. According to the findings of the study, there is a census about improvement of socialcultural issues caused by religious tourism in mashahd. Impact of religious tourism on he economy of countries case.
The most frequent form, pilgrimages, is thought to be the predecessor of the modern tourism phenomenon. The main objectives of the paper is to evaluate tourism infrastructure i. The countries of origin of international tourism are one type of areas and those of their destination are of another type. These movements are placed within the framework of socalled subjective. Religion has over the years had great effects and impacts on tourism. Religious tourism usually in form of pilgrimages are journeys undertaken for religious reasons. The importance of religious tourism and pilgrimage. Faith based travel may take place for life cycle events, for missionary work, for reasons of humanitarian interest andor. Tourismconcept, resources and development geography of tourism in india 92 the tourist flow between places depends upon general attractiveness of one country for another and business or cultural connections.
There is an emergence of experience industry from the pilgrimage route, as cultural heritage attraction, in view of cultural tourism, aimed at consuming experiences and engaging in enchantment. Religious tourism has taken place since the dawn of civilisation. Religious tourism, in the literature of tourism studies is, often described interchangeably as a cultural heritage tourism, cultural tourism, cultural heritage tourism and spiritual tourism by different authors. Travel for religious purposes is deeply rooted in the history of tourism. Religious tourism, sometimes called spiritual tourism, has gained an increasing role throughout the world. The revival of an old medieval pilgrimage road the route to santiago in the 1990s has. In spiritual tourism while practicing different spiritual activities tourists move in the direction of positivity. Religious tourisman introduction perspective of religious tourism in india.
Tourists traveling for religious purposes, is the person to leave the country of residence for a period of not more than six months to visit the holy places and religious centers. In more recent times, however, it has been suggested that modern tourism has become the functional and symbolic equivalent of more traditional spiritual practices, such as festivals, pilgrimages, yoga. Of all these, during the religious festivals environmental pollution prevails on a large scale. Pdf religious tourism, sometimes called spiritual tourism, has gained an. The shortterm religious tourism is distinguished by excursions to nearby pilgrimage centers or religious conferences. Religious tourism, also commonly referred to as faith tourism, is a form of tourism, where people travel individually or in groups for pilgrimage, missionary, or leisure fellowship purposes. Religious tourism is that form that is exclusively or strongly motivated for religious reasons. The study found that religiousbased experiences could provide experiencedbased economies. Religious tourism often also referred to as spiritual and faith tourism is one of the fastest growing. In 2007, spiritual tourism was judged by the unwto as the most rapidly growing segment, although it cannot be easily framed. A study of eyo festival in lagos, nigeria 527 conclusively, he explained that festival is a form of cultural propagation, that is, it enables one to get a practical experience of the peoples custom, their way of. The main objective of the tourist is acquiring new knowledge about culture or history from other countries or cities. In the first case we are dealing with pilgrimage and the second with religious cultural tourism.
The pilgrimage has often been defined as a journey. In addition, an increasing number of people who do not consider themselves religious are interested in spirituality. Jan 29, 2019 religious tourism is one of the earliest forms of tourism and is a fast growing market. Religious tourism is one of the earliest forms of tourism and is a fast growing market. The search was run in june 2017 for the last time and all early cite papers falling under the criteria were also included. Religious tourism including pilgrimage is embedded within a complex of heritage tourism and mass tourism activities. Religious tourism, also commonly referred to as faith tourism, is a form of tourism, whereby people of faith travel individually or in groups for pilgrimage, missionary, or leisure fellowship purposes. This means that the market for religious tourism from europe is very.
Due to its initial component, pilgrimage, it is often considered the oldest form of. The religious tourism is often synonymous with cultural tourism, spiritual tourism, pilgrimage tourism, and cultural heritage tourism. Typical religious tourism destination are common to both afore mentioned types. Therefore, this chapter aims to determine and assess the religious potential of turkey in an exploratory manner. The different levels of culture will be the rituals, the heroes and the symbols of the given. The main purpose of this research is to assess the religious tourism potential of gishen debre kerbe mariam. The town of medjugorje, in herzegovina, draws over a million visits anually since six children claimed to have seen the virgin mary there in 1981. Religious tourisman introduction perspective of religious tourism in india religious tourism can be defined as travel with the core motive of experiencing religious forms, or the products they induce, like art, culture, traditions and architecture. The role and importance of cultural tourism in modern. The number of studies related to religious or faith tourism has increased significantly in the last 10 years, but there are still some gaps related to religious tourism. International journal of religious tourism and pilgrimage. Adventure tourism is a type of tourism in which tourist do some adventures activities like as skydiving, hill climbing, scuba diving. Portugal offers a roadmap of temples, devotions and religious festivals that you can follow out of faith or driven by a more universal spirituality, whether in search of the sacred or on a journey of selfdiscovery. Tourism is defined as the totality of relationship and phenomenon arising from the travel and stay of strangers provided the stay does not imply the establishment of a permanent.
Due to its initial component, pilgrimage, it is often considered the oldest form of tourism, dating thousands of years back. May 09, 2020 religious tourism usually involves followers of particular faiths visiting locations that some people regard as holy sites. The worlds largest form of religious tourism takes place at the annual hajj pilgrimage in mecca, saudi arabia. Information about the openaccess journal international journal of religious tourism and pilgrimage in doaj. Introduction for as long as human beings have existed they have been interested in travel. Tourism, economy and environmental problems of a religious. History of religious tourism dr prem travel and tourism. The article examines the nature of pilgrimages in relation to tourism and traces the main phases in their development. Europeans are increasingly drifting from traditional religions towards a more spiritual way of practising their faith.