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Sanctuaries And Catholic Kitsch: Hypertrophy Of Devotional Production, Fiorella Giacalone

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

For the pilgrim has always been important to establish a link with places of worship, notably by buying religious souvenirs, prayer cards, postcards. The devotional objects, the Catholic kitsch have become a sort hypertrophy of bad taste. The purchase of household objects, statues of the saint, become central components of the trip and remember the same pilgrimage. The paper deals with the dynamics of the religious Kitsch in Cascia and Assisi in Umbria, Italy.

The methodology used is ethnography and observation in the cities of Assisi and Cascia. I have collected many Christian kitsch objects and pictures of the saints …

Religious Tourism In The Diaspora: Orthodox Christian Monasteries In North America, Dino Bozonelos

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Religious tourism is flourishing in North America. There is a growing number of sacred sites in the U.S. and Canada that have been popularized by religious tourists. As Olsen (2016) notes, many of these sacred sites were founded by immigrant groups, seeking to recreate reinvent sacred sites they would visit in their homeland. This is especially true among the Orthodox Christian diaspora, where visiting monastic orders for prayer and spiritual reflection is a strong part of one’s Orthodox identity. In addition, Orthodox monasteries have become popular visits with non-Orthodox Christian Americans and Canadians, who come for the serenity and peace …

Religion Or Fandom? Secular Ritual In Pop-Culture Pilgrimage, Kyungjae Jang

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper aims to consider the meaning of secular ritual in pop-culture tourism, and to clarify the role of social media as a tool for making and transmitting secular ritual, focuses on Asian fans’ pilgrimage of Japanese mixed media Love Live! School Idol Project.

The paper first introduces contemporary sacred meaning-making as a theoretical framework. Then, based on anthropological research, the paper analyses how secular ritual is made and transmitted, focuses on Asian fans’ popular-culture pilgrimages. The specific popular culture work chosen, after five years of participatory research in Japanese popular culture-related pilgrimage, was an event related to the Japanese …

The Possibility Of Pilgrimage In A Scientific World, Stephen Haller

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper discusses the conflict between science and religion in the context of pilgrimage. Since a scientific world-view rules out many ideas which are traditionally associated with pilgrimage, such as miracles and the effectiveness of prayer, it seems that pilgrimage might be a practice inconsistent with the modern scientific age. Attempts have been made to reconcile this conflict by arguing that science and religion do not conflict, but are non-overlapping spheres of inquiry. Thus, it is possible to make sense of pilgrimage in a scientific age, if one strips their pilgrimage of all aspects to which science might object. However, …

Pilgrimage Motivations Of Motorbiking Vicars From Leeds Diocese, Ruth Dowson Rev.

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

The new Church of England Diocese of Leeds was instituted in April 2014. To mark this development, a group of motorcycling vicars began to meet regularly and undertake ‘rides out’, across the diocese and further afield. Through a series of semi-structured interviews and more informal conversations with the Biker Revs, including staying with them at religious destinations on two longer trips in 2016 and 2017, this research investigates their experiences and motivations for undertaking pilgrimage on motorbikes. As a basis for comparison, this paper utilizes Michalowski and Dubisch’s 2001 iconic ethnographic research on an American motorcycle pilgrimage, to analyse the …

Understanding Visitor Motivations To A Wayside Chapel In Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, Daniel H. Olsen

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

While academics that study religious tourism tend to focus on large-scale events and sites that attract thousands and millions of people, little has been written about small-scale sites that attract very few people but are still considered to be a part of religious tourism supply. This presentation focuses on a wayside chapel in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Located on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) , this wayside chapel is visited by hundreds of travelers a year who are passing through Brandon. An analysis of guestbook comments over a number of years highlights some of the reasons why people …

Motivations For Pilgrimage: Why Pilgrims Travel El Camiño De Santiago, Angela Antunes, Suzanne Amaro, Carla Henriques

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Given the importance and rise of religious tourism, this study aims to identify pilgrims’ motivations to undertake the Camiño de Santiago and examine differences regarding socio demographics and other characteristics. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from pilgrims that had travelled the Camiño de Santiago at least once. A total of 1,140 valid responses were collected from 45 different nationalities. The results indicate that pilgrims are mostly motivated by spiritual aspects, by wanting new experiences, for the outdoor experience and for cultural reasons. Religious motivations and fulfilling promises are the factors with the lowest averages, demonstrating that modern …

Religious And Pilgrimage Tourism: A Path To Sufism, Tariq Elhadary

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

The paper attempts to shed some light on religious tourism as a broad term which lends itself to cover Muslim tourism, Christian tourism, or any other religion linked with the term ‘tourism’. The paper likens religious tourism to Sufi travel and wander. It inquires about the similarities between Sufi wander and religious tourism, and what they both have in common. Moreover, how far and true religious tourism embodies the essence of Sufism in its search for love, peace, and knowledge. Sufism embraces love as a means of transformation to better human beings; Where does religious tourism stand as far as …

The Customisation Of 'Religion' In The Context Of Iran, Hossein Godazgar, Shiva Velayati

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

In the first four centuries of Islam in Iran, Mosques were arguably the only sacred places for Iranian Muslims to pray. It was only after the invasion of the Mongolians and the resulting expansion of Shi’ism and Sufism throughout the country that the tombs of some sacred figures became shrines and important sites for pilgrims. Examples of these include the shrines of Hazrat-e Ma’asoumeh in Qom and Imam Reza in Mashad. Other tombs were developed to a smaller scale and are generally called ‘Maqbarahs’, which mainly embraces those of the descendants of twelve Imams (Imamzadehs) and spiritual Sufi figures. Maqbarahs …

Smart Media Technologies Impact On The Spiritual Experience Of Hajj Pilgrims, Jahanzeeb Qurashi, Richard A. Sharpley

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Over the last two decades, information and communication technologies have advanced rapidly and continue to do so. Currently, the popularity and spread of SMART Media Technologies (SMT) is not only transforming the lives of tourists around the world in general, but is impacting on the experience of pilgrims on the Hajj in Saudi Arabia in particular,(Brdesee et al, 2013). Indeed, the Saudi government has undertaken a number of initiatives to encourage the use of SMT in the religious tourism industry, (Majid, 2016).

Specifically, the availability of SMT services such as Hajj Apps, E-bracelets for pilgrims, free WIFI and mobile charging …

Applying A Systems (Holistic) Approach To Religious Tourism, Tadeja Jere Jakulin, Alan Clarke Professor

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper explores the ways in which the rigour of systems thinking can underpin critical research in religious tourism. Following a brief introduction of the principles of analytical systems approaches, the paper elaborates how these principles can drive analyses of religious tourism.

Systems approach is a methodology for complex phenomena research, theory and cybernetics, the disciplines, which play an important role in different fields of scientific research. Hereby we will present the tourism system from systems point of view with special regards on religious tourism.

Systems Approach uses a different process. It puts the system in the context of the …

Improving Sacred Sites Management Through New Technologies: The Case Of Montserrat, Sílvia Aulet Serrallonga, Lluís Prats

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

It is proposed in this paper a new method to improve sacred sites management through the use of new media.

Montserrat Monastery, in Catalonia, is the major sacred site of the country, also, one of the most visited places for tourist. Over 2,5M visitors each year visit this sacred place, generating, sometimes, conflicts between different types of visitors and carrying capacity problems.

The project proposes to implement a technology solution based on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi coverage in different areas and buildings of Montserrat. This solution allows geotag visitors using their mobile phone in order to track their behaviour and interact …

The Influence Of Facebook In The Holiday Decision Making Of Muslim Women In The Uk, Imran Khan

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Muslim consumer segment now represents the Fourth ‘Billion’ segment after China, India, and women overall in all around the world. Muslim population is increasing faster than the other segments in the UK. Muslim women play a significant role in family decision-making. Yet, researchers have neglected this segment. On the other hand, internet plays a vital role in decision-making and likewise, social media is influencing the family decision-making. Furthermore, women have an influential role at following stages of decision-making specifically in holiday decision making: information search, information processing, and determination of specific holiday package. Muslim population is growing very fast in …

Motivations For Visiting Sacred Sites: The Case Of Senhora Da Lapa Schrine, Cristina Barroco, Joaquim Antunes, Hermínio Dias

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Religious tourism in Portugal is extremely rich and integrates a variety of religious festivities, sacred heritage, Jewish legacy, organized and well known routes and famous religious shrines throughout the country. The Nossa Senhora da Lapa Shrine can be distinguished, since it is one of the oldest sacred sites in Europe. According to Raj and Griffin (2015) in the current literature there is relatively limited research exploring the understanding and motivation of religious tourists’ patterns of visitation to sacred sites. Thus, the current study intends to identify what motivates people to visit sacred sites and why visitors choose to visit the …