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Western Travellers In The Land Of The Buddha Legitimising Travel Through The Religionification Of Tourism, François Thibeault

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

On the one hand, tourism has developed to such a point that it now shapes other social realities in global society. On the other hand, pilgrimage phenomena are thriving in the twenty-first century, as they become both more globalised and more particularised. This paper shows that drawing oppositions between pilgrimage and tourism assumes an exclusive, dichotomous view that is misleading. Instead, I insist on an understanding of the reciprocal influence between religion and tourism in which neither of the two spheres subjects itself to the other. The argument is based on the understandings and discourses of legitimation that Westerners travelling …

Of Temples And Trees: The Black Dragon King And The Arbortourists, Adam Yuet Chau

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The intersection of tourism and religion as two more or less coherent systems of political-economic and symbolic-conceptual productions is premised on a crucial conceptual and physical domain, i.e. the sites themselves that are being visited by the tourists and pilgrims. What unites tourists, pilgrims and local worshippers is the act of visiting sites, which suggests that we might wish to call them by a unified term: site visitors. And their practice can be called site visiting. Using materials collected in the mid-1990s in rural north-central China (Shaanbei, northern Shaanxi Province), supplemented with more recent documentary materials, I shall show how …

Governance And Management Of Religious Tourism In India, Kiran Shinde

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism constitutes the dominant form of tourism in India and yet little is known about how it is governed and managed. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of governance and management of religious tourism. It first provides an overview of policy framework and governance mechanisms that are relevant for religious tourism. Then a market profile is presented to examine how the religious tourism economy intersects with the state-apparatus of policies and institutions. To better explain the complexities of religious tourism, the paper employs the axis of formal-informal economy: the informal end is where the religious tourism …

India’S Buddhist Circuit(S): A Growing Investment Market For A “Rising” Asia, David Geary

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

With the growing economic rise of Asia most of the international spotlight has focused on the rapid growth and industrialisation spearheaded by China and India, with little attention on the role of India’s robust religious tourism market that remains a vital part of its economic growth. In recent years, the development and promotion of religious circuits has become a cornerstone of India’s tourism marketing campaign that aims to capture both domestic and foreign exchange earnings. To explore the relationship between tourism and India’s religious circuits further, this article examines the role of India’s Buddhist circuit and how a series of …

When Sacred Space Becomes A Heritage Place: Pilgrimage, Worship, And Tourism In Contemporary China, R J. Shepherd

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

When promoted at sites that have traditionally been religious in character, heritage tourism evokes questions of intentionality, commodification, and authenticity. In particular, tourism at such sites is alleged to flatten out local practices, cause social problems, and commercialise the sacred. In short, local cultural practices are presumed to be transformed for the worse by tourism, a presumption which implies the existence of pristine pre-tourist cultures which can serve as baseline tools for measuring the impact of this touristic degradation. In this paper I address these concerns by examining tourism at a particular Chinese religious site, recently designated as a national …

At The Confluence Of Leisure And Devotion: Hindu Pilgrimage And Domestic Tourism In India, Knut Aukland

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In this article I draw on a wide range of studies including my own field research to provide a bird’s-eye perspective of the various points of connection, confluence and overlap between Hindu pilgrimage and domestic tourism in contemporary India. This serves three aims. First, it presents an overview of the contemporary scene in India which lends itself to comparison. Second, it illustrates the ways in which a pilgrimage tradition can be explored via tourism, as opposed to something contrasted with tourism. Thus, I hope to demonstrate the many potential research avenues beyond asking who is a pilgrim and who is …

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 …

Introduction: On Dragons And Elephants: Religion In Domestic And International Tourism In China And India, Michael Stausberg, Knut Aukland

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This introductory essay explores some of the commonalities and differences that emerge from reading this thematic issue on religion and tourism in China and India. Economic growth has led to an explosion in domestic tourism activity in both countries, and the respective states are deeply involved in this development. The Indian state sees tourism as a means to create jobs, revenue and regional development. While this is also true for the Chinese state, it further treats tourism as a means to control and manage religion. In both countries, official tourism development can lead to complete makeovers of particular sites as …

Vol. 6(I) - Cover And Table Of Contents, Kevin Griffin

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Social Contagion And Knowledge Acquisition In Construction Professional Service Firms, Oluwasegun O. Seriki, Roisin Murphy

Conference papers

The construction industry in Ireland, including professional service firms (PSF’s) operating therein, are undergoing a period of change and uncertainty driven by economic, demographic, political and technological factors. While considerable evidence exists demonstrating the relationship between environmental turbulence on organisational decision making, there remains a distinct lack of focus on behavioural patterns affecting decision-making process of construction firms. Social contagion (SC) theory asserts that the spread of ideas, attitudes, or behaviour patterns in a group is achieved through imitation and conformity, and is well established within social sciences research, and is increasingly being used to analyse organisational behaviour. However, limited …

An Exploratory Study On The Northern Sea Route As An Alternative Shipping Passage, Helene Barenksten Solvang, Stavros Karamperidis, Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos, Dong Wook Song

Articles

This qualitative inductive research explores the potential benefits for the Scandinavian economy and ports through the implementation of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as an alternative for container shipping to the established Southern route through the Suez Canal. To extract expert’s opinions and address these objectives, we utilised in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews through purposive sampling in a single case study setting.

The analysis of the data demonstrates that the commercialisation of NSR can yield benefits for the Scandinavian economy (e.g. GDP increase, jobs creation) and reveals the benefits of Scandinavian ports (e.g. ECA’s, flexibility, hinterland, etc.) compared to other ports …

School Of Culinary Arts & Food Technology - Spring Newsletter 2018, James Peter Murphy

Other resources

The School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, Spring Newsletter captured the many events, research, awards, significant contributions and special civic and community activities which the students and staff members of the schoo have successfully completed up to the Spring period of 2018. The successful completion of these activities would not be possible without the active and on-going support of the 'INSPIRED' friends of Culinary Arts (school sponsors).

Is There A Problem When Transferring Tacit Knowledge By Email Within Distributed Groups In An Organisation?, Abosede Adegbola

Level 3

This article is a work-in-progress report of a study that plans to explore the transfer of tacit knowledge electronically within distributed groups, i.e. groups of geographically dispersed organisational members who carry out the majority of their activities through information technology. With many organisations becoming international and global, there is an increasing need for Distributed Groups (DGs) and individuals to communicate with each other within those groups. Technology allows people and teams to work together at different locations and also allows the transfer of Tacit Knowledge (TK) within DGs in an organisation. The study will specifically investigate (a) possible problems that …

Liminal Entrepreneuring: The Creative Practices Of Nascent Necessity Entrepreneurs, Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo, Paul Donnelly, Lucia Sell-Trujillo, J. Miguel Imas

Articles

This paper contributes to creative entrepreneurship studies through exploring ‘liminal entrepreneuring’, i.e., the organization-creation entrepreneurial practices and narratives of individuals living in precarious conditions. Drawing on a processual approach to entrepreneurship and Turner’s liminality concept, we study the transition from un(der)employment to entrepreneurship of 50 nascent necessity entrepreneurs (NNEs) in Spain, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The paper asks how these agents develop creative entrepreneuring practices in their efforts to overcome their condition of ‘necessity’. The analysis shows how, in their everyday liminal entrepreneuring, NNEs disassemble their identities and social positions, experiment with new relationships and alternative visions of themselves, …

Book Reviews Vol 5(Iii), Carlos Fernandes

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Marian Midsize Shrines: Three Itineraries Between Portugal And Slovakia, Vitor Ambrósio, Alfred Krogmann, Carlos Fernandes, Carla Norte Braga, Isilda Leitão, Magdaléna Nemčíková

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Many travellers whose main motivation is religious tourism (Catholic) have visited the major shrines such as the Holy Land, the Vatican, Lourdes (France) and Fatima (Portugal). After having been in those places / shrines, religious tourists seek to visit other sanctuaries but find that the offer is limited. With that in mind, in 2016, three researchers drove from Lisbon (Portugal) to Levoča (Slovakia) nearly always stopping at Marian midsize shrines and, in 2017, one researcher travelled by train from Nitra (Slovakia) to Lisbon also stopping along the way at Marian midsize shrines. The data collected by participant observation allowed the …

Places Of Faith: Architectures For Hospitality In The Italian Sanctuaries In The Early Modern Age, Silvia Beltramo

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The strong affluence of pilgrims in monasteries and sanctuaries since the Middle Era, determined a veritable culture of hospitality, which was manifested by the building of new spaces dedicated to guest quarters. This research investigates in detail some meaningful examples amongst the main Italian sanctuaries - namely: Vicoforte and Oropa (Piedmont), Tirano (Lombardy) and Loreto (Marche) - looking at the solutions adopted to host the wayfarers: the hospitality spaces which characterised architecture dedicated to pilgrims between the Middle and the Early Modern Ages. Throughout this period of time, the continuous increase in pilgrimages implied new definitions of the space within …

The Economic Impact Of Pilgrimage: An Economic Impact Analysis Of Pilgrimage Expenditures In Galicia, Elisabeth J.E Graave, Jeroen Klijs, Wim Heijman

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In this article, we calculate the economic impact of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in the NUTS 2 region Galicia (Spain) in 2010. This economic impact is relevant to policymakers and other stakeholders dealing with religious tourism in Galicia. The analysis is based on the Input-Output model. Location Quotient formulas are used to derive the regional Input-Output table from the national Input-Output table of Spain. Both the Simple Location Quotient formula and Flegg’s Location Quotient formula are applied. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is carried out. We found that pilgrimage expenditures in 2010 created between €59.750 million and €99.575 million in …

Creating And Storing A Toolkit For Pilgrimage And Religious Tourism Sites, Peter Wiltshier

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper reflects our abiding interest in our origins and of those religious and pilgrimage spaces that we attest to actively being part of our cultural inheritance. It explores options for, and barriers to, the creation of a repository of information to support practitioners and the clergy to maintain and develop these religious and pilgrimage sites. A model toolkit for storing collected knowledge is presented with illustrative examples from a range of sources. The examples used are largely drawn from a Northern / Western perspective.

The Possibility Of Pilgrimage In A Scientific World, Stephen F. Haller

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The paper is a philosophical argument about whether a pilgrimage can be meaningful in a scientific age. 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 …

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

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Systems Approach has been accepted within natural sciences since Ludwig von Bertalanffy published his manifesto of general system theory (Bertalanffy, 1952) and Norbert Wiener his on Cybernetics (Wiener, 1948). The intention of general systems theory and cybernetics is the ‘ontology’ of action, which is shown by feedback information. Its goal is to find a method to predict the consequence of a decision-making action. Industrial engineering recognised it, when Forrester published the work Industrial Dynamics (Forrester, 1961) and social sciences rediscovered it with Senge’s work on the learning organisation - The Fifth Discipline (Senge, 1990). Systems Approach is a methodology for …

Towards A Definition Of Christian Mega-Events In The 21st Century, Ruth Dowson

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In an age in which the numbers of people attending churches in the UK has been falling consistently for several decades, a trend that applies across Europe and North America, there is a marked contrast in the burgeoning growth of Christian religious encounters - including church attendance - around the world, particularly in the Global South (Avis, 2007). Amongst the characteristics of this growth is the emergence of large-scale megaevents, commonly held across Africa and the Indian sub-continent, as well as smaller but significant events held around the world.

The emergence in the modern day of large-scale Christian events began …

The Importance Of Religious Tourism And Pilgrimage: Reflecting On Definitions, Motives And Data, Kevin Griffin, Razaq Raj

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This discussion paper explores the topic of religious tourism and pilgrimage, examining it from a tourism industry perspective, reflecting on definitions, motivations and scale of the ‘product’ as reported at a global level. Mindful of the fact that international records of religious tourism are scant to say the least, this is an attempt to bring together definitions, classifications and data which come from a variety of sources. The paper draws together understandings from different religious traditions, presenting data and motivations on a variety of pilgrimage types. As the paper demonstrates, this ‘niche’ product is indeed enormous, and if industry projections …

Vol. 5(Iii) - Cover And Table Of Contents

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

The Wine Tasting Experience: A Profit Generator, James Peter Murphy

Conference papers

The Wine Tasting Experience - A Profit Generator. This conference presentation addressed strategies and advice in relation to how to ideally use wine within your business as a profit generator, it offered various approaches, tools, and themed strategies which can be adopted for use in the hospitality industry. Wine is a multi dimensional beverage which offers infinite opportunities to businesses and as consumers tastes changes businesses operators much also seek new and exciting ways to attract customers to this ancient beverage.

College Graduations & Prize Givings (Circa 1970s-Onwards), James Murphy

Other resources

This file contains photographs of the numerous graduations and prize giving ceremonies which were held over the years from 1970s onwards to celebrate the unique achievements of the students, staff and management in the College. The pictures highlight the many cherished memories and individuals who have graced the educational, hospitality and bar industry in Ireland and abroad. The photographs also highlight how the college was changing over this period (from the VEC to DIT).

Embedding Ethical And Sustainable Thinking In The Entrepreneurial Mindset, Kathleen Farrell

Level 3

Ethics and sustainable thinking in entrepreneurship are complex and challenging ideas. Recent developments such as deregulation, the market economy drive for profits, lack of trust and new technology aiding and abetting this situation, are calling for the development of frameworks. There is a need to embed ethical values in society. The European Commission is opportune in putting forward ethical and sustainable thinking as an entrepreneurial competence. More research is needed into the ethical problems encountered by entrepreneurs in their organisations

A Multi-Method Scheduling Framework For Medical Staff, Wael Rashwan, John Fowler, Amr Arisha

Conference Papers

Hospital planning teams are always concerned with optimizing staffing and scheduling decisions in order to improve hospital performance, patient experience, and staff satisfaction. A multi-method approach including data analytics, modeling and simulation, machine learning, and optimization is proposed to provide a framework for smart and applicable solutions for staffing and shift scheduling. Factors regarding patients, staff, and hospitals are considered in the decision. This framework is piloted using the Emergency Department(ED) of a leading university hospital in Dublin. The optimized base staffing patterns and shift schedules actively contributed to solving ED overcrowding problem and reduced the average waiting time for …

The Roles Of Social Entrepreneurs In Rural Destination Development, Ziene Mottiar, Karla Boluk, Carol Kline

Articles

This paper examines the relevance of social entrepreneurs in our consideration of rural destination development, which represents an important tool for rural revitalization. While many peripheral rural areas face significant challenges in terms of sustaining communities and attracting tourists, it is often social entrepreneurs, as much as traditional entrepreneurs, who are involved in developing new ideas, products and activities, as well as envisioning a future for the area. This study, which is based on cross-case analysis resulting from nine semi-structured interviews carried out in rural areas in Ireland, South Africa and USA, identifies key roles that social entrepreneurs play in …

In League? Destination Marketing Organisations And Football Clubs In The Virtual Space, Gerard Dunne, David Proctor, Sheila Flanagan

Articles

Logic dictates that Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs), while representing many stakeholders, should leverage a location’s most visible assets to enhance the attractiveness of the destination at any given opportunity. This study examines the manner and extent to which four major European football franchises are mentioned and promoted on the official digital marketing platforms of their respective cities; Amsterdam, Barcelona, Manchester and Munich. A tailor made content analysis tool is used to conduct a systematic investigation of the virtual platforms over which the DMOs of these cities exert a modicum of control. The content of these platforms is scrutinised from three …