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Vol. 6(Ii) - Cover And Table Of Contents

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Narrating Religion For Tourists: Tourist Guidebooks’ Depictions Of Ganden Sumtseling Monastery In Xianggelila County, Yunnan, Emmelie Korell

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Located in recently renamed Xianggelila County in north-western Yunnan in the People’s Republic of China, Ganden Sumtseling Monastery constitutes a highlight for any visiting tourist. Originally erected in 1679 to reflect the significance of Tibetan Buddhism in the region, it now contributes to the tourism-generated income earned by the County. Religion has become a factor in tourism: as motivation, as a resource or even as a concept to describe the practices of tourism itself (Graburn, 2001; Oakes and Sutton, 2010; Strausberg, 2011). The question posed in this paper asks how religion is narrated in travel literature. Specifically: what story does …

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.

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.

Time Warp: Cinematic Pilgrimage To Lourdes And Santiago, Alison T. Smith

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Pilgrims experience time in ways that deviate from the norm. The pilgrim’s encounter with time can be disorienting due to environmental changes, physical hardships, and unexpected occurrences. Pilgrims may also feel an intense connection with the historical or personal past. This chapter will examine two films in which pilgrims experience dramatic shifts in the perception of time. Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a cinematic interpretation of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoires by the same name. Bauby, the editor of Elle magazine, suffers a sudden stroke at the height of his career. Subsequent to the stroke, he experiences a …

Pilgrimage In Leadership, Jane Cruz

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Humans are universally drawn to the act of pilgrimage and current research informs us that the call to pilgrimage is increasing globally. In many cases pilgrimage is associated with religious ritual or a healing process. However, when pilgrimage is understood as archetypal behaviour, it becomes clear that an inner or outer pilgrimage can serve as a powerful metaphor for the development of transformational leaders. Exploring the works of important writers and researchers in pilgrimage, mythology, religion, history, psychology, philosophy, art and leadership development, this paper will demonstrate how the act of pilgrimage is a foundational symbol for leadership development. When …

Pilgrimage Upside-Down: Kabir Ulatbansi Pilgrim, Vinod Verma

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Cultures in India, like cultures in other parts of the world, continue to surprise by their topsy-turvey existence in time, space and practices. The Nijamuddin Dargah in Delhi is one such example of composite cultures. To illustrate it further the Bhakti movements, a wave of the Nirgun/Sagun saint traditions in Indian medieval histories of literary cultures, is an appropriate example which represents a strong case of pilgrimages, alternative pilgrimages and pilgrims without pilgrimages. The poetry of the Alvars, Kabir, Malik Muhammad Jayasi, Tulsidas, Nanak, Raidas, Surdas, Mirabai, Dadu Dayal, Malukdas, Kamal, Sunderdas, Raskhan, Dhruvdas, Namdev, Lal Ded, Avvayyar and Akkamahadevi …

Unlikely Pilgrim: The English Journey Of Zilpha Elaw, Margaret Cullen

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Unlike Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists, African American Methodist preacher and fellow abolitionist Zilpha Elaw initiated her Atlantic crossing to England not as part of the anti-slavery initiative, but as a mission to bring authentic wisdom to English Christians whose pride, she asserted, corrupted real spirituality. When she met in London with the religious leaders who later lionised Douglass, they rejected her immediately. She, in turn, rebuked them for their arrogant assumptions of spiritual superiority. Like Douglass, though, Elaw’s wayfaring to England marked a turning point in her life. On her sacred venture, she became a critic of the very …

Journeying Home: Toward A Feminist Perspective On Pilgrimage, Lesley D. Harman

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The archetypal feminine has earthy, creative, visceral, emotional and spiritual connotations suggestive of women’s quest for home. I wish to explore the meaning of home within the landscapes of the sacred geography of the soul, invoking the sacredness of place, the meaning of place, and the emotion of place. Findings from a seven-year autoethnographical study of women journeying home to islands in the Thousand Islands, a border region located on the St. Lawrence River between Ontario Canada and upstate New York, demonstrate that these themes figure deeply in the life decisions made by the women studied. ‘The River’ is experienced …

Ritual Identity, Suzanne Van Der Beek

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Rituals are often used as opportunities for self-reflection and identity construction. The Camino to Santiago de Compostela, which has become a singularly popular pilgrimage since the late 1980s, is an example of a ritual that is explicitly used to gain a deeper understanding of one’s identity through distancing oneself from daily life and creating a space of contemplation. Implicit in this function of rituals in general, and the pilgrimage to Santiago in particular, is the assumption that one is more authentic and closer to one’s true identity during the pilgrimage than one is in daily life. The ritual self, as …

Historical Perspectives Of Shifting Motives For Faith-Based Travel, Dane Munro

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Throughout pre-history and history, millions of people of many religions and faiths have undertaken pilgrimages. Although ‘the quintessential form of religiously motivated travel is pilgrimage’, the meaning of the practice of pilgrimage has changed over the centuries (Dietz, 2005:27). There are also some consistent Leitmotifs and principles in religious travel. Participants of the New Religious Movements (NRM) travel to Neolithic and other prehistoric sites (such as Malta) for a spiritual experience at such sites, seeking to fulfil needs which the historic churches cannot or no longer can fulfil. (Rountree, 2002:475-496). Many NRMs are based on historical values, past religions or …

When Is A Journey Sacred? Exploring Twelve Properties Of The Sacred, Jasmine Goodnow, Kelly S. Bloom

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

One of the first definitive works on the concept of the sacred was Emile Durkheim’s 1912 work The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. In it, he defined the sacred in opposition to the profane. The next major work on the sacred was not until Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, in 1959. A review of the literature since that time reveals that the thinking on the sacred/profane dichotomy has changed little since these seminal writings. A useful tool for examining the sacred was created in 1989 when Belk, Wallendorf and Sherry explored the dichotomy as it relates to …

Grit Or Grace: Packing For The Camino De Santiago, Megan Havard

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

As the director of a new collegiate study-abroad program that will invite students to complete a segment of a Christian pilgrimage across northern Spain, the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), I am tasked with setting the expectations of students, parents and administrators, and with addressing the needs of student travellers. The present chapter analyses several genres of cultural artefacts that novice pilgrims, such as my students, are likely to encounter prior to departure: travel guidebooks and manuals, publications more generally about sacred journeys, pilgrimage memoirs and films. These texts help to frame the journey ahead as a pilgrimage, …