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Padre Pio, Pandemic Saint: The Effects Of The Spanish Flu And Covid-19 On Pilgrimage And Devotion To The World’S Most Popular Saint, Michael A. Di Giovine

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In the Catholic world, pilgrimages and other devotional rituals are often undertaken to foster healing and well-being. Thus, shrines dedicated to saints are particularly relevant in times of pandemic. Pilgrimage to the shrines associated with 20th century Italian stigmatic, St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, known as one of the Catholic world’s most popular saints, is particularly informed by this notion, as Pio is understood as a healing saint thanks to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy that marked his ministry during his lifetime, as well as belief in the miraculous nature of his relics. Pio’s hometown of Pietrelcina and …

Virtual Pilgrimage In A Time Of Pandemic: Lessons From The Shrine Of Our Lady Of Walsingham, Susan M. Dunn-Hensley

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic has already cost billions to those in the tourist industry. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), this pandemic is ‘by far the worst crisis that international tourism has faced since records began’ in 1950. People who rely on the pilgrim trade are similarly suffering. In this short exploration, I argue that the success of virtual pilgrimage and the history of pilgrimage’s adaptability suggest that people’s appetite for pilgrimage will experience a resurgence once local and national governments lift travel restrictions. In order to assess the future of pilgrimage, I will consider the popularity of …

Covid-19 And Social Distancing Implications For Religious Activities And Travel: The Case Of The Serbian Orthodox Church, Danijel S. Pavlović

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic affects people’s everyday way of life. International tourism is one of the most affected activities today, since one of the key measures in the strategy of keeping control over the new pandemic is preventing closer human contact. This includes restricting and discouraging the movement of people towards tourism destinations. These measures have caused major problems for the tourism industry and no form of tourism has been spared. The COVID-19 outbreak, as a real threat to public life and health, has established a new measure as a mandatory condition in everyday life globally - called social distancing. This …

Pandemic Lockdown In Kerala: Vishu And Thrissur Pooram Festivals, Yadukrishna Puthanparambil Radhakrishnan

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper reflects on the impact of Covid 19 lockdown in India on religious festivals. Two Hindu religious festivals in the state of Kerala namely Vishu and Thrissur Pooram are addressed here. Both festivals are immensely popular and close to the heart of the Malayali Hindu and non-Hindu communities alike. Rather than focusing on the economic impact, the emphasis here is on the socio cultural and psychological impact that it has had on the community. The nature and spirit of these festivals differ from one another which has helped or worsened the impact for the festival lovers. Due to the …

Covid-19 Pandemic: Risks Facing Hajj And Umrah, Razaq Raj, Dino Bozonelos

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The two major gatherings of Muslims which take place in Makkah and Madinah, the two holiest cities of Saudi Arabia, are umrah during Ramadan the 9th month and Hajj Dhul-Hajjah in the 12th month of the Islamic year. The COVID-19 outbreak has had a massive economic and social impact on pilgrimages for Muslims - because these gatherings could lead to widespread exposures and possible spread of COVID-19 to every corner of the world, it forced the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to cancel Umrah in March 2020. The pandemic has also prompted the Saudi government to limit Hajj, with some exceptions, …

The Effects Of Covid-19 On Religious Activity In Malta, Vincent Zammit

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The unexpected COVID-19 pandemic that struck the world has negatively affected all kinds of everyday activities. Besides the effects that this pandemic has had on the economy, social life and political scene, it has affected religion in various ways. The effects on religion are manifold. The immediate regulations issued by the local government for social distancing, the prohibition of mass gatherings, and the closure of all religious places has disrupted all aspects of everyday religious life. Meanwhile, tourism has suffered immensely, and this has also negatively impacted the international aspect of religious tourism. The negative impact on religion is wide …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Religious Tourism And Pilgrimage To The Holy City Of Karbala, Hadil Faris, Kevin A. Griffin

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism and pilgrimage around the world have changed dramatically in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, thousands of sacred placed closed their doors; religious leaders appealed to their followers not to perform their spiritual or pilgrimage journeys for their own and others safety. The holy city of Karbala, like any other sacred place is affected by the pandemic; every year, the holy city of Karbala witnesses the convergence of millions of pilgrims, being among the most important pilgrims for Shia Muslims. Of particular importance for these pilgrims is Ashura, which marks the day that Hussain bin Ali, the grandson of …

Saint Nicola’S Feast In Bari: Before And After Covid-19. A Short Reflection, Antonietta Ivona, Donatella Privitera

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This research note has three primary goals. First, it seeks to analyse the field of religious tourism in terms of the impact of the health emergency caused by Covid-19. Second, it offers knowledge of religious tourism in Bari with its San Nicola patron feast that reflects key areas of academic insight into the religion–tourism nexus. Third, it synthesises perceptions of devotees, locals, tourism professionals and spiritual guides using the method of photography as a research technique. As a result of this reflection, the paper will show that faith and the inner experiences of the pilgrims will remain while religious tourism …

Strategic Role Of Religious Tourism In Recuperating The Indian Tourism Sector Post-Covid-19, Parikshat Singh Manhas Dr., Bipithlal Balakrishnan Nair

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study explores the role of religious tourism in revitalising the Indian tourism sector post-COVID-19, with a focus on domestic tourism. This study is guided by the interpretive paradigm and operationalised through Faulker’s (2001) model of crisis management. Expert opinions and secondary data sources (newspaper articles, magazines and media reports) were used as the data sources; these were collected through purposive sampling techniques to obtain information-rich and context-specific samples. The results reveal that religious sites could play a substantial role in reviving the Indian tourism sector by promoting staycations and micro-holidays, and by reforming existing projects such as the Swadesh …

A Discussion Of The Practical And Theological Impacts Of Covid-19 On Religious Worship, Events And Pilgrimage, From A Christian Perspective, Ruth Dowson (Rev.)

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This article explores the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 on the worship services and events of Christian communities. Focusing on the UK in terms of practice, the research includes early pandemic examples from a range of Christian traditions and denominations, as well as relevant cases from other countries. The Christian church organisations considered range from the extensive world-wide reaches of the Roman Catholic Church, to international Protestant denominations such as the Anglican Communion, and to independent non-denominational groupings and local churches. This paper considers the ways in which churches are coming to terms with the impacts of this …

The Impact Of Coronavirus On Religious Tourism: Is This The End Of Pilgrimage?, Maximiliano E. Korstanje

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The present paper, attends to the theme of COVID-19 and its negative effects on the tourism and pilgrimage industries. To be honest, although conclusive findings on this topic are premature in view of the velocity of facts, no less true seems to be that COVID-19 reaffirms a tendency originally stipulated just after 9/11 and declaration of the War On Terror by Bush’s administration. COVID-19 not only has shocked the world cancelling international flights, closing borders and airspaces, making irreparable damages to tourism and hospitality but it has operated on a much deeper level, developing a culture of fear, where ‘other’ …

Crisis Management And The Impact Of Pandemics On Religious Tourism, William Mosier, Tariq Elhadary, Ismail A. Elhaty, Mehdi Safaei

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused a worldwide shockwave of fear and much misinformation leaving chaos in its wake. Holy shrines and other religious sites have a special place in the hearts and minds of many people. For example, the mosques in Makkah and Medina, Saudi Arabia typically accommodate over one hundred thousand Muslims daily. Due to the spread of COVID-19, both mosques were forced to shut their doors to pilgrims for health and safety reasons. This situation has saddened millions of Muslims all over the globe. The same situation applies to Qom City in Iran, Bethlehem …

Reflecting On The Impact Of Covid-19 On Religious Tourism And Pilgrimage, Razaq Raj, Kevin A. Griffin

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

COVID-19 is devastating the religious tourism industry in terms of economic, social, food, employment and faith related impacts. Pilgrimages are being stopped, and mass gatherings are halted. We are in middle of a very difficult time for the religious tourism industry and this has become a major concern for governments around the world. The leading nations such as USA, UK, Italy, Spain, Japan, Russia, Germany and China are struggling to control the COVID-19 pandemic. We are facing the biggest test of the tourism industry in over half a century, one which has exceeded the downturn of the 9/11 terrorism attacks. …

Volume 8(Vii) Table Of Contents & Editorial, Kevin A. Griffin, Razaq Raj, Carlos Fernandes

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

The ‘Dark Power’ Of Instagram: Prospects And Threats For Tourism Organisations, Nicola Capolupo, Valerio Giampaola, Gabriella Piscopo

International Journal of Islands Research

The key to understand and analyse the dynamic relationship between territories, organisations and tourists is currently undergoing significant changes. Due to both their endogenous and exogenous factors, territories should be read as complex adaptive systems (CAS), i.e. systems structurally composed of different sub-systems which interact with each other and help to improve the central systems thanks to the interconnections established among themselves. Thus, in this scenario, territories evolve into potential tourism destinations if these changes make them particularly attractive and capable of setting a profitable dialogue with new emerging tourists profiles. As a matter of fact, contexts and in which …

Evolution Of Tourism, Challenges, And Its Sustainability In An Island State: Case Study Of Malta, Silvio Attard

International Journal of Islands Research

This study analyses historic developments in Malta’s tourism industry, focusing on the changing characteristics of demand and supply. The recent surge in inbound tourism appears to be largely driven by increased air connectivity to and from Malta. The advent of low-cost carriers is considered an important positive supply shock on the local sector. At the same time, the sustained shift towards stays in private accommodation can be partly explained by changing preferences, but also by capacity constraints in collective accommodation establishments. Moreover, the paper discusses the economic importance of tourism for the Maltese economy. It also examines the issue concerning …

From Insularity To Islandness: The Use Of Place Branding To Achieve Sustainable Island Tourism, Angeliki Mitropoulou, Ioannis Spilanis

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper aims to outline the role that place branding plays in shaping a new framework for sustainable island tourism. Islandness, as a contemporary context, underlines that islands share a set of unique features and they need to be studied on their own terms; they combine elements of urban and rural regions at the same time. Place branding is evolving as a crucial element for differentiated marketing that conditionally can also form an alternative tool to achieve sustainability for island regions. Therefore, policy makers need to examine tourism policies for island regions through the lenses of Nissology. It is commonly …

Competitive Intelligence For Insular Territories, Pierre Fournié, Henri Dou

International Journal of Islands Research

For centuries, the intrinsic and ubiquitous parameters of insular territories have governed social, economic and political life within the island and with outer territories. Besides some biological and physical determinism, there exists a psychological factor that conducts islanders to feel that they possess a rich and a unique identity (Gombaud, 2007:593). Nowadays, islands are impacted by communication technologies and globalization, international law and politics. The opening to tourism, international trade and foreign capital, modifies the usual landmarks and often means that traditional activities and know-how are abandoned. Historically located at the periphery, islands suddenly appear at the centre of multiple …

Developing Island Identities Through Citizen Approaches? The Contribution Of Cultural Rights Exploratory Approach By Two Islands In Brittany, Leila Damak, Danielle Pailler

International Journal of Islands Research

The identity of insular territories is generally built from top-down and ‘institutionalised’ political logics. However, in the challenge for differentiation between territories and islands, these approaches have their limits. It appears necessary to coordinate external economic and tourism development issues with local territorial issues, by identifying cultural resources as understood by cultural rights. To deploy a renewed island territorial marketing, would be a question of implementing participatory projects and methodologies to meet the following challenges: How to create a common culture? How to promote citizen tourism? How to reveal the identities involved? Our research proposes to analyse the challenges of …

Wine Tourism In Island Destinations: The Case Of Crete, Nikolaos Trihas, Anna Kyriakaki, Efthymia Sarantakou, Konstantinos Tsilimpokos

International Journal of Islands Research

Wine tourism is a type of special-interest tourism which has recorded a remarkable growth over the past few years, creating challenges and opportunities for wineries and wine regions to diversify and gain a competitive advantage. Many wine regions around the world – including several island destinations such as Tenerife, Sicily, Santorini, Corsica, Sardinia – have recognised the economic benefits of wine tourism, although much effort is needed to transform a wine region into a wine tourism destination. Within this framework, this paper aims to explore the level of wine tourism development in the Greek island of Crete. To achieve this …

Ijir Title Page And Table Of Contents Vol. 1(1), Giovanni Ruggieri, Patrizia Calò, Razaq Raj, Kevin A. Griffin

International Journal of Islands Research

No abstract provided.

Required Reading: The Role Of The Literary Scholar In Mapping Difference And Prompting Interest In Distant Destinations, Sue Norton

Articles

Taking account of research into the relationship between the reading of narrative fiction and niche tourism, this article speculates on the role of the university lecturer of literature in shaping the touristic desires of students. It is especially interested in the influence of European based lecturers of American fiction as they stimulate the geographic imaginations of their learners. Since cultural capital accrues through the reading of serious works of literature, the influence of lecturers is likely to have some bearing on the eventual travel destinations of university graduates prompted to seek out the material locations that they have read about …

Pilgrim’S Motivations: A Theoretical Approach To Pilgrimage As A Peacebuilding Tool, Sílvia Aulet Serrallonga

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper will explore the relationship between pilgrimage and peacebuilding. Studies on peace refer to three dimensions: peace from a personal dimension and spiritual sphere; peace from a social dimension and; peace from an environmental dimension (Sánchez Sánchez & Fernández Herreira, 1996). The connection between pilgrimage and peacebuilding starts with the individual quest of pilgrims; however, can be explored in the other two dimensions. The experience of pilgrimage and the pilgrims’ quest for inner peace can enhance a respectful attitude towards people and places. Through interviews and observation on two pilgrimage routes in Spain (the Camino de Santiago and Camino …

A Shared Pilgrimage Road In Israel And Palestine: From Utopia To Reality, Vitor Ambrósio

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Most pilgrimages on foot are not a journey undertaken for comfort. Pilgrims going on foot are challenged in multiple forms. Probably to have the physical energy to accomplish the distances of each pilgrimage day is a common goal, also having time to reflect and to meditate is a common characteristic, independent from each pilgrim’s religious belief. Along the Way pilgrims live ‘slow’ experiences, involving themselves with what surrounds them. In those occasions, for most pilgrims, there is an opportunity for better understanding the importance of living in peace in a common world.

Having in mind the Israeli-Palestinian geographic area, the …

Jewish Tourism To Malta: A Nostalgic Pilgrimage?, Vincent Zammit

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The good air transport links with most major European cities and Malta, has led to an increase in tourists from all over the world. This has also led to an increase in tourists of the Jewish faith. These tend to be mainly coming from North America, and the cultural tours that are planned for them, always provide a number of visits to Jewish related historical and cultural locations. The itineraries that are planned make sure that the Jewish heritage on the islands is visited. What are these locations that attract the attention of Jewish visitors to Malta?

The earliest mention …

Religious Pilgrimage: Experiencing Places, Objects And Events, Ruth Dowson (Rev.)

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This article explores the concept of the Eventization of faith (Pfadenhauer, 2010) through application of three case studies, to identify learning that might be applied to a traditional pilgrimage destination, such as Jerusalem. This Holy City is held sacred by the three Abrahamic religions, and faith-based tourism is central both to the Holy Land and to the city of Jerusalem (Leppakari & Griffin, 2017).

This paper builds on research that identifies processes and models that provide insight into the developing concept of the eventization of faith. The work examines outcomes from three different perspectives:

- The impact of traditional church-led …

Day Tripping In Jerusalem: The Curious Case Of How Russian Orthodox Christians Became The Same-Day Religious Tourists In The Holy Land, Dino Bozonelos

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Christians have emerged as an overlooked sector showing unexpected growth among same-day religious tourists to the Holy Land. How do they come to total over 200,000 unique guests and make up 91.5% of all single-day visitors to Israel when they come from so far away? Researchers need to rethink first what constitutes same-day religious tourism. Marketing mechanisms attract Russians and Ukrainians to Cyprus, and then facilitate opportunities to sample religious heritage sites in nearby Israel. Together this sequence comprises a specific causal chain which triggers one-day, round trip excursions from the Cypriot coast for an hour-long …

Motivation For Muslim Travellers To The Holy City Of Jerusalem, Razaq Raj

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper discusses and explores empirical and personal insights into religious tourism and pilgrimage, exploring it from a Muslim pilgrims’ perspective, reflecting on characterisations and motivations and discussing the sacred Journey of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from the Holy Mosque (Makkah) to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Travel is important for Muslims. Indeed, it was during the journey of Miraj that Allah ordered Muslims to pray the five daily prayers.

The concept of Islam is not merely praising Allah (SWT). Islam also means to serve society according to the directions of Allah (SWT) and the teachings of his final Prophet, Muhammad (PBUH). …

Ijrtp Title Page Editorial And Table Of Contents Vol. 8(6), Rev., Dr. Maria Leppäkari, Razaq Raj, Vincent Zammit

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Engaging With The Local: Shift In Visitor Profile At [World] Heritage Sites, Catherine Gorman

Conference papers

Engaging with the local: a shift in visitor profile at Heritage Sites

The island of Ireland has three World Heritage Sites (WHS). Two of these sites are located in the Republic of Ireland and are operated by the Office of Public Works (OPW): Skellig Micheal (inscribed 1996), and Bru Na Boinne, the Bend in the Boyne complex of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth and wider area (inscribed 1993). In 2018, Skellig Michael attracted 16,792, and the Bru Na Boinne, 321,193. Both sites have been under pressure from visitor numbers over the last number of years with Skellig Micheal, exceeding the annual …