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Proposing A Model For Religious Tourism Development: Evidence From Iran, Fatemeh Shekari, Zahra Moaven, Ali Asghar Mobasheri, Moslem Bagheri, Mehrdad Kiani, Ardeshir Bagheri

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study proposes a model for religious tourism as one of the most promising types of tourism worldwide, by focusing on the conditions of Iran as a potentially popular destination for religious tourism. The study relies on a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) method. The qualitative phase identifies the model dimensions and strategies. To do this, practitioners and experts were interviewed and the data collected were investigated through the thematic analysis method. This process revealed four main dimensions and 18 subsidiary strategies. In the quantitative phase, the dimensions and strategies identified were arranged in a questionnaire and through the survey method, …

Religious Travel To Sheikh Quro’S Tomb, Karawang, West Java, Diah Sri Rejeki, M. Sapari Dwi Hadian, Evi Novianti, Herlina Agustin

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The tomb of Sheikh Quro Karawang attracts many visitors for religious tourism. The visitors, called pilgrims in the context of this study, have different motivations or purposes and reasons. This study aims to determine the motivation of the pilgrims to conduct religious tourism to the Tomb of Sheikh Quro. To do this, descriptive survey research is undertaken in association with quantitative methods. The data were collected using questionnaires and observation in addition to the study of documentation, and expert interviews. The study results reveal that various motives encourage pilgrims to come to this region, this includes both religious and traditional …

Volume 9(I) Table Of Contents, Kevin A. Griffin, Razaq Raj, Carlos Fernandes

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of A Sustainable Muslim Model On Community Development With Special Reference To Religious Tourism, Tariq H. M. Elhadary

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper uses the descriptive qualitative approach to answer questions about how a Sustainable Muslim Model (SMM) could work as a new approach to developing and sustaining communities. This study embraces the textual analysis method to examine the prevailing published research in the context of sustainability and community development. A number of scholars have approved this textual analysis method as a tool to study religious texts.

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview and discuss the status, issues and challenge of community development in tourism. As religious tourism is gaining more ground over time, the need to …

Conference Report: 6th National Congress Of Tourist Information (Cnit), Portugal, Cristina Leal

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

Report on the 6th edition of the Portuguese National Congress of Tourist Information (CNIT), December, 2020, Porto, Portugal.

The Tangible And Intangible Heritages Of Iranian Nomads: The Touristic Potential Of Pastoral Nomadism, Hossein Noroozi

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

Iranian people have a rich and significant history of nomadism and are still in contact with this ancient practice. The purpose of this research is to investigate and evaluate the Iranian nomads’ culture from a touristic and aesthetic viewpoint. The literature shows that well-known cultural tourist attractions possess particular characteristics to become a successful and sustainable product / destination. In this paper, we argue that Iranian pastoral nomads, from a geographical, social, cultural, and artistic perspective, have numerous peculiar characteristics which are attractive to international tourists. Internationally, while the sociocultural frameworks of nomadic societies are at risk of extinction when …

Portuguese Tourist Guides And The Digital Age, Ilidia Carvalho

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

The experts of tourist information, namely, the tourist guides, are a highly qualified professional class and in continuous training. Many of these professionals seem to have certain limitations in terms of using new technologies, since many of those, working today, were not born in the digital age. They have been obliged to accept these technologies and sometimes tend to look at these new ways of communicating in a sceptical way, mainly because they do not properly know how to use them. These professionals are constantly facing the need to learn how to use these new tools, which have become essential …

Tourist Guides’ Perspectives Of Demarketing The Taj Mahal, Snigdha Kainthola Ms, Pinaz Tiwari Ms, Nimit R. Chowdhary Dr

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

A UNESCO world heritage site since 1983, the Taj Mahal, located in the city of Agra in India is an important contributor to tourism in India. In the year 2018 alone, approximately 280 million tourists visited the monument. However, the popularity of the site has several negative impacts such as yellowing of the structure, pollution and overcrowding which endangers this built cultural heritage. Due to this, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is the national authority entrusted with managing heritage sites, has initiated steps to check overcrowding in the Taj Mahal. One of the widely adopted strategies is demarketing. …

Applying Interpretation Principles To A Non-Western (Japanese) Training Context, Naoko Yamada, Jeffrey Skibins, Betty Weiler

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

Interpretive guides play an indispensable role in achieving tourism and sustainability outcomes. Although interpretation theory and best practice principles are supported by literature, they have been primarily developed in Western countries. Little work has been done to evaluate the cross-cultural applicability of using Western-based interpretation in training non-Western interpretive guides. This study evaluates the use of Western-based interpretive competencies in a Japanese training context. The efficacy of the training was assessed using quantitative and qualitative pre- and post-training data from all 42 trainees. Training programs were successful in improving trainees’ perceptions of the importance of links between individual roles and …

Reflections On How The Covid-19 Pandemic Can Change Tour Guiding, Luis Miguel Brito, Cristina Carvalho

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

This short editorial paper reflects on the Tour Guiding industry in 2020 and the impact of COVID-19. The paper suggests that while the pandemic and its associated lockdowns has devastated the tourism industry, it has also encouraged those working in the industry to be more innovative and imaginative in their business practices. While the impact of the virus is acknowledged, it is proposed that 2020 may be a turning point in redefining tourism in general and Tour Guiding in particular.

International Journal Of Tour Guiding Research Volume 2(I) Table Of Contents, Kevin A. Griffin, Luis Miguel Brito, Glen Farrugia

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

No abstract provided.

Review Of: Religious Tourism And The Environment, Jaeyeon Choe

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Despite increasing scholarly attention on the environmental impacts of tourism, there has been little research on the environmental impacts of religious tourism and pilgrimage. As the oldest form of tourism, millions of people continue to travel to sacred places across the globe each year. In addition, despite the continuous growth of religious festivals and ceremonies at sacred sites such as Kumbh Mela, India, the impact of religious tourism on the environment and its role in the sustainable development of destinations is under explored. Religious Tourism and Environment edited by Kiran A. Shinde and Daniel H. Olsen is an original edited …

The Increasing Significance Of Religious Tourism: A Case From Uttar Pradesh, India, Aruna Dhamija

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism, in its numerous forms is a major source of income for various nations. India is no exception to this. Within some countries, a few states bring the major chunk of tourists. Uttar Pradesh is one such state for India which, on the virtue of its diversity, population and geographical size, has been at the forefront of attracting tourists from not only the country but globally. There has been a consistent shift in the profile of visiting tourists as they have displayed a marked change from those seeking recreational activities to those who visit a tourist destination owing to its …

The Potentials And Prospects Of Yoga Pilgrimage Exploration In Bali Tourism, I Gede Sutarya

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Yoga tourism has been growing rapidly in Bali since the 2000s. Its practice in America and Europe is influencing its development. Furthermore, its disciples wish to visit its original birthplace, which is India, however, the country’s tourism industry is facing challenges with various infrastructure and facility barriers. Therefore, yoga tourists choose Bali, which is a place of native Hindus with complete and luxurious tourism facilities. However, Bali is not very well prepared to become a yoga pilgrimage destination, even though it has the potential due to its ancient Hindu sages. This led to this research on the problems associated with …

Going Beyond A Pilgrimage: The Feast Day Of Saint George In Lod-Israel, Mustafa Diktaş

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religion and spirituality are common motivations for travel, with many major tourist destinations having developed largely because of their connections to sacred people, places and events. Pilgrimages are one of the most important forms domestic tourism in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. On November 16 of every year, the church of St. George in Lod is filled with hundreds of worshippers who arrive for the Feast of St. George / Khidr, the day commemorating the translation of his relics to the church at the heart of Lod. Pilgrims travel from Nazareth and Bethlehem and as far away as Jordan to …

Carrying Capacity Assessment For Religious Crowd Management - An Application To Sabarimala Mass Gathering Pilgrimage, India, Faisel T. Illiyas, Shibu K. Mani, Naveen Babu

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Crowd Management is always a challenging task when people gather in large numbers. Crowd disasters in India, including recurring incidents at religious venues, demands a crowd management system developed on the characteristics of the place, event, and participants. Assessment of carrying capacity is the prime process to design crowd management protocols and regulations. Carrying capacity assessment of religious gathering venues in India is often an overlooked process. The present study assessed the crowd carrying capacity of Sabarimala pilgrimage, Kerala, India. Physical carrying capacity assessment methods used for tourism venues have been applied and contextualised for crowd carrying capacity assessment. Characteristics …

‘We Were Very Much Surprised At Their Worship’: American Girls And Religious Tourism In The Early Republic, 1780-1835, Sharon Halevi

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Following the Revolution, the United States formally embraced the ideal and practice of religious freedom. But how was this ideal instilled and practiced? Could a form of pilgrimage have been mobilised in order to inculcate it? In this article I argue that in the early American republic, religious freedom was demonstrated and imparted to adolescents through a unique form of pilgrimage: visiting and attending the worship services of religious minorities while on tour. I demonstrate my argument by considering the travel accounts of fifteen, Protestant, American adolescent girls (aged 10 to 21) between 1782 and 1835; I trace their visits …

Shopping For Salvation: A Comparative Appraisal Of The Place Of Worship And Marketplace In South Africa, Rufus Olufemi Adebayo

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Recently South Africa has been experiencing accelerated challenges on a spiritual level relating to ‘place of worship’ and spiritual pilgrimage. This has been one of the biggest challenges facing religious activities in South Africa. Arising from that, this paper examines possible connections between salvation seekers and consumers (in the marketplace). To this end, this paper seeks to understand the assertion of ‘distance to travel not being a limitation in the spiritual realm’ (Adeboye, 2014), where some Christians claim that at a certain place there is a blessing waiting for them and that they cannot find that blessing at any other …

Tourist’S Motivation And Behavioural Intention To Visit A Religious Buddhist Site: A Case Study Of Bodhgaya, Senthilkumaran Piramanayagam, Nischal Kumar, Jyothi Mallya, Rahul Anand

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The purpose of this study is to identify the motivation factors and investigate their impact on the behavioural intention of pilgrims at Bodhgaya, one of the most prominent Buddhist religious sites in India. To achieve this objective, 28 religious motivational items were identified based on previous studies and subjected to exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The EFA resulted in a three-factor model, which was further tested using confirmatory factor analysis. The identified religious motivational factors were religious belief, service quality and history, architecture and cultural aspects of religious sites. The role of these motivational factors and their influence on behavioural intention …

Religious Tourism Development Strategies In Qom Province: Using And Comparing Qspm And Best Worst Methods, Hooshang Asheghi-Oskooee, Marzieh Ramezanzadeh, Mohammad Hasan Maleki

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

After Mashhad county, Qom province has the most valuable religious, cultural, historical and natural potential as the second Iranian pilgrimage centre. This study was conducted to formulate strategies for the development of religious tourism in Qom province using the most influential view of the strategy-formation process named design school. This school normally uses External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix, Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix, SWOT Matrix, QSPM matrix, and some other tools. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were determined using IFE and EFE matrices. The SWOT matrix was prepared and then the proper strategies for the development of religious tourism …

Attractiveness Of A Religious Theme Site: The A-Ma Cultural Village In Macau, China, Kwok Shing Chan

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Specific attributes of a destination and visitors’ perceived value are two major and complementary components of tourism destination attractiveness. Based on 329 questionnaires, this study evaluates the level of attractiveness and specificity of A-Ma Cultural Village in Macau, China in the context of the emerging significance of Mazu-related heritage and religious tourism in Asia. Also, the similarities and differences between visitors from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, regarding visit motives, satisfaction, needs and preferences are examined. The statistical tools of analysis used in this study include descriptive statistics, ANOVA and chi-square test. The survey found that the A-Ma Cultural Village’s …

Analysing Religious Tourism’S Influence On Tourism Policy Makers, Aleksa Š. Vučetić

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This article seeks to determine whether there are any differences in managers’ perceptions of the impact of religious tourism on tourism policy makers. The focus is on Montenegro as an old religious tourism destination, with a long tradition of religious tourism development.

The initial survey sample had 2,104 cases, and the work sample had 2,076 cases. One-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used for testing the work hypotheses. The survey was conducted electronically and without any influence on managers as respondents. For data processing, IBM SPSS Statistics 26 was used.

The highest number of statistically significant differences was shown …

Ijrtp Title Page And Table Of Contents Vol. 8(8), Kevin A. Griffin, Razaq Raj, Carlos Fernandes

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

A Flair To Remember: Innovative Use Of Technology During Covid-19 Focus On Weddings, Carla Rosas, Danielle Lynch, Mj Adekanmbi, Simioluwa Opayemi

Case Studies

Student blog series from MSc in Event Management students at TU Dublin.

In this blog post Carla Rosas, Danielle Lynch, MJ Adekanmbi and Simioluwa Opayemi interview event planner Gabriella Olukoya from luxury events company A Flair to Remember. Gabriella gives vital insight on the current state of the wedding industry and also on how to ‘flip the script’ and use the ‘negatives’ and make them positives to elevate an events company. As a current ‘Regional Finalist’ for Wedding Planner of the Year, Gabby is a prime example of ‘Creating Success’ during COVID-19 by adding and implementing technology into their events …

Frog Prince Weddings: Using Innovation And Technology During Covid-19, Aisling Yeomans, Ciara Croke, Ellen Foley, Maire Mohally

Case Studies

Student blog series from MSc in Event Management students at TU Dublin . In this blog post Aisling Yeomans, Ciara Croke, Ellen Foley and Marie Mohally interview Daniel P. Attard, senior wedding and event planner at Frog Prince. Daniel discusses the ways Frog Prince has used technology for internal communication while working remotely and externally to manage client relationships.

Infographic: 4 Ways To Build Better Relationships With Your Volunteers, Samantha Morris

Case Studies

Infographic describing four ways to look after your volunteers.

Reaching Across The Divide: The Role Of Cultural Events In Peacebuilding, Bernadette Quinn, Adrian Devine, Frances Devine

Articles

This article assesses whether or not a cultural event can play a peacebuilding role during the postviolence phase of conflict. Cultural expression has long been a contentious issue in Northern Ireland, no more so than in Derry/Londonderry, the city at the center of this study. Adopting a qualitative approach, the authors used the city’s Fleadh Cheoil (2013) event as a case study and found that it served three of the seven peacebuilding functions outlined by Paffenholz and Spurk: social cohesion, in-group socialization, and intermediation/facilitation. The findings suggest that the event enabled positive change by building “bridges” and developing intercommunal trust …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Religious Travel: Present And Future Trends, Daniel H. Olsen, Dallen Timothy

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has had dramatic effects on both the health and economic stability of countries around the world. While several scholars and media commentators have suggested that the pandemic would be a good time to reset an unsustainable tourism system, left out of these discussions has been the impacts on religion and religious travel. The purpose of this paper is to review the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion and religious travel, including the tensions that have arisen between religious communities, governments and health officials. The paper then discusses potential futures regarding religious travel in a …

Precautions Taken Against The Covid-19 By Presidency Of Religious Affairs In Terms Of Hajj And Umrah Pilgrimage: The Case Of Turkey, Onur Akbulut, Yakin Ekin

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The gathering of people in a concentrated manner within particular spaces / places has become a serious issue during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Mass gatherings of individuals seem to be investigated intensively by researchers both in these days and will be further in the forthcoming years. Religion-oriented gatherings are of great importance because they have spiritual motivation for the ones who practice them. For many participants, these gatherings are essential at least once in their life. As is seen from its very nature, religious motivation is one of the most potent subjects to be considered in terms of mass gatherings. …

Covid-19 And Religious Tourism: An Overview Of Impacts And Implications, Raheel Yasin Mr, Junaimah Jauhar, Noor Fareen Abdul Rahim, Sarah Namoco, Mohammad Saleh Enaizan Bataineh

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism and its allied industries (airline and hospitality) have been hit hard by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) globally. This paper specifically explores the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on religious tourism and aims to enhance the literature; it also aims to provide a path for future research work, in particular empirical research or future research that covers the effects of this pandemic on destinations. This paper is built on the fusion of news published by different news agencies to support an overview of related literature on religious tourism and tourism management. This paper confirms that COVID-19 has affected religious travellers …