Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Potential Of Halal Tourism In A Non-Muslim Destination: The Case Of Portugal, João Domingues, Sofia Almeida

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Halal Tourism has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing and auspicious market segments within the tourism industry. The main goal of this study is to ascertain whether Portugal has the necessary capabilities to develop a sustainable and competitive halal tourism market and if it can attract Muslim travellers. This research applied a qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews with representatives of businesses companies and institutions from various subsectors of the tourism industry. Moreover, a netnographic technique was applied to gather secondary information. The results reveal that despite Portugal having full potential and all the conditions to develop halal …

Religious Tourism At Tana Chirkos & St. Kirstos Semra: Contemporary Issues And Prospects For Sustainable Tourism, Dagnachew Nega

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism is not a new phenomenon or new practice. It has recently received considerable attention in both academia and the public at large. However, even though Ethiopia is endowed with a variety of religious tourism activities, its contemporary issues, and future prospects haven’t been utilised, outlined and managed. In the Amhara region, in the South Gondar zone, Tana Chirkos and Kirstos Semra are among the outstanding sites where lots of religious travellers are going and religious tourism activities are held. Thus, this study stands with the general objective of investigating the issues and future prospects of religious tourism development …

Tourism And Crisis: Comparing The Impacts Of Covid-19 And Natural Disasters On The Hajj And Umrah Industry, Udin Supriadi Dr, Mohammad Rindu Fajar Islamy Mr, Ahmad Fuadin Mr, Muhammad A. Rahkman Mr

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study aims to compare the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and Natural Disasters on the Hajj and Umrah industries. This pilgrimage substantially contributes to foreign exchange earnings; therefore, the negative potential caused by disasters must be a significant concern for policymakers in this sector. In recent years, religious-based tourism, especially the hajj and umrah (the out-of-season pilgrimage to Mecca), has experienced significant rise of demand worldwide. To explore the impact of various disasters on this industry, using the purposive sampling method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with travel agents in Bandung over the course of two months. The findings from …

Cultural Tourism, Religion And Religious Heritage In Castile And León, Spain, Miguel González-González, Óscar Fernández-Álvarez

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism is a driving force of the economy for many countries around the world. The large number of architectural and intangible World Heritage Sites have consolidated those countries in their strong positions as cultural tourism destinations. Within cultural tourism, religious tourism is particularly prominent. This work focuses on Spain and specifically on some of its regions which lack beaches but possess a wealth of religious cultural heritage, such as Castile and León, which have viewed such heritage as an asset to attract a different kind of tourist. The objectives of this study are to highlight the value of religious heritage …

Travelling To The Inner Self: Tourism, Buddhism And Sustainability In The Alpine Area, Tatjana Thimm

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper examines the interdependencies of tourism, Buddhism and sustainability combining in-depth-interviews with Buddhism experts and non-participant observation in a mixed-method approach. The area under investigation is the Alpine region of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, since it is home to Asian and Western forms of Buddhism tourism alike. Results show that Buddhism tourism as a value-based activity on the one hand is not commercial, but since demand is rising, on the other hand tendencies towards more commercial forms can be observed. As a modest form of activity Buddhism tourism does not shape the landscape of the Alpine area and by …

What Makes Tourists’ Experience Spiritual?: A Case Study Of A Buddhist Sacred Site In Koyasan, Japan, Kaori Yanata

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In postmodern society the importance of traditional religious organisations and practices have declined. As a result, spirituality tends to be sought outside of institutionalised religion. Tourism is seen as one avenue for such spiritual fulfilment. Tourism research commonly frames tourism as a sacred journey and has pointed out that like modern-day pilgrims, tourists seek spirituality through travel. Of course, not all tourist travel is motivated by a search for spirituality, and yet many tourists still describe their travel experiences as spiritual. Therefore, in addition to understanding motivations of travel, the tourist experience is also an important element of making tourism …

Moderating Effect Of The Use Of Ewom On Subjective Norms, Behavioural Control And Religious Tourist Revisit Intention, Ofunre C. Iriobe, Elizabeth O. Abiola-Oke

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious activities are a common topic of discussion on various platforms and online forums in Nigeria. These online interactions shape opinions and attitudes of tourist to a religious destination. The use of electronic word of mouth has become a factor in influencing behavioural intention. Hence, this study investigated the relationship between the use of eWOM and tourist revisiting intention to a religious destination and the effect of the use of eWOM on the relationship between Subjective Norm, Perceived Behavioural control and Revisit intention of visitors to religious destinations.

The hypotheses for the study was tested using a Hierarchical Regression model. …

New Age Visitors And The Tourism Industry, Peter Wiltshier

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This conceptual paper establishes a framework for socially constructed research activity to help gauge the intention of travellers in more-developed countries (MDC) of the wealthy and largely affluent North to undertake forms of continuing personal and professional development (CPD) through their travel experiences. Human physiological needs have in large already been achieved for many in more developed countries and exceeded in terms of nourishment and entertainment. Humans are social and societal creatures and in need of realisation of their spiritual, intellectual and societal choices and selections. New spiritual values are threatened by monetarism, by an ‘enveloping outside world’, as Giddens …

Pilgrimage-Tourism: Common Themes In Different Religions, Noga Collins-Kreiner

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The paper discusses common themes in different religions regarding pilgrimage-tourism and has four main goals. First, it shows that the boundaries between pilgrimage and tourism have become blurred. Second, it characterises the different changes that have taken place in pilgrimage research in recent years. Third, it re-examines three different pilgrimage case-studies in an effort to draw conclusions pertaining to the ‘pilgrimagetourism nexus’; and fourth, it highlights discrepancies between the ‘old’ paradigm, predicated on the assumption that religious elements lie at the core of pilgrimage, and the results of more recent research on secular models of travel, highlighting alternative and complementary …

Monitoring The Tourism Impact Of A Cultural And Religious Event: A Case Study In Northern Portugal, Carlos Fernandes, Carla Melo, Marta Cardoso

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The Pilgrimage of Our Lady of the Agony (Romaria de Nossa Senhora d ́Agonia), in the north of Portugal, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. Fernandes and Sampaio (2014) suggest that through the years, this event has served to connect residents and visitors alike with the heritage of the region in which the Pilgrimage has become what is arguably one of the biggest regional icons. However, no field research has ever taken place to confirm these claims.

In 2014, a pilot study was carried out using a questionnaire as a basis to evaluate the impact of this event in various …

Reflective Epilogue: Concerns In Tourism Safety, Peter Tarlow

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Tourism And Terror: A Case Study: Israel 1948-2012, Erik H. Cohen

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Israel is a popular tourist destination which has by afflicted by varying levels of terrorism against civilians over the course of its history. A longitudinal analysis of data pertaining to tourism and terrorism is undertaken to examine how terrorism affects patterns of tourism. It is found that on the macro-level, tourism to Israel continues to grow although it experiences periodic declines corresponding with times of high terrorist activity. National and religious subpopulations of tourists react differently terrorism at the destination. Overall, Jews are proportionally more likely than non-Jews to continue to visit Israel during times of conflict, but this varies …