Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Thick Description Of Ashura Rituals In Iran: Case Study Of The Nakhl-Gardani Ritual, Gholamheidar Ebrahimbay Salami, Mostafa Mahmoudi

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

A Nakhl is a huge wooden structure similar to a cypress tree in shape, which on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian national and religious legends is carried ceremonially, symbolising their coffin. The origins of the ritual of Nakhl-gardani go back to ancient Iran and the martyrdom of the legendary hero Siavash. But after the coming to power of the Safavid Shiite government, this ritual was held only to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein every year on the day of Ashura in the arid and desert areas of central Iran, where the cypress trees grow. The present article …

The Development Potential For Local Communities Of Religious Tourists Visiting Sacred Graves, Mohammad Taufiq Rahman, Rully Khairul Anwar

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study aims to analyse the impact of religious tourists’ visits to tombs of saints. It illustrates the effect of these visits on the economic development of the surrounding community. This is qualitative research with a sociological approach used to determine the public acceptance of religious tourism to sacred places such as the Tomb of the Islamic Saints in Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia. The results show that the community has made economic use of tourists that perform pilgrimages to fulfil their psychological needs, such as peace, tranquillity, and a sense of security. Furthermore, local governments’ development of religious tourism makes …

Residents’ Perceptions Of Religious Tourism And Its Socio- Economic Impacts On Host Communities: A Study Of Redemption Camp, Mowe, Ogun State, Nigeria, Titilayo Olufunke Olukole

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism has been identified as one of the major tourism types with impacts on the sociocultural and economic life of the host community. Nigeria is well-known globally for high levels of Christian religious activities attracting worshippers from different countries. However, little is documented on the socio-economic impacts of the religious tourist flow to Christian religious sites on host communities in Nigeria. This paper was designed to investigate the socio-economic impact of Christian religious tourism on host communities, using the Redemption Camp, RCCG and Mowe Community, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, Nigeria as a case study. Both quantitative and qualitative research …

The Effect Of Covid-19 On Independent African Churches (Iacs) In Johannesburg, South Africa, Constance Nyika, Milena Ivanovic, Kevin A. Griffin

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper explores the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the religious tourism activities of the four most prominent Independent Apostolic Churches (IAC) operating in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is an interpretive qualitative research study based on data from 15 telephone-based semi-structured interviews with congregants and church leaders of the Zion Christian Church, Zimbabwe (ZCC Mutendi), The Apostolic Church of Johane Marange, The Apostolic Church of Johane Masowe and Apostolic Faith Church, Mugodhi. Thematic content analysis was used for data analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the religious tourism activities of all four IACs in the study as they …

Socio-Cultural And Economic Impacts Of Religious Festivals On Sustainable Local Community Livelihoods In Kerala: The Case Of Palakkad, Dr. Bindu V T Nair, Aiswarya Babu N

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Festivals depict the heritage, culture, and traditions of a particular region. They create a state of exhilaration and enthusiasm. Kerala is a state in southwest India with its own distinct culture and traditions. The state is also known for its religious pluralism. This study attempts to understand the perceived impact of religious festivals on the local community livelihoods in Palakkad, a district in central Kerala. Twelve temples in which religious festivals are held annually, with attendance in the range of thousands, were selected. The selected temples are famous for hosting specific religious festivals which attract a large number of visitors, …

Hospitality On The Camino De Santiago: Clues From Interviews With Hospitaleros During The Pandemic, Berenika Seryczynska, Piotr Roszak, Tomasz Duda

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The practice of making the pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James), one of the three most important medieval pilgrimage routes in Europe, has undergone various transformations related to religious, cultural and political considerations. In 2019, the Pilgrim’s Reception Office in Santiago de Compostela recorded 327,378 pilgrims from all over the world. The aim of this research was to understand the impact of the pandemic on hospitaleros – the individuals who host pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago – and perform a comparative analysis against the hotel industry. In particular, it was noted that in a …

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 …

Branding The Sacral Landscape: Religious Content In Regional Tourism Marketing, Set In A Post-Secular Society, Markus Hilpert

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

There is a paucity of research on the branding of sacral landscapes as a regional strategy in tourism marketing. On the one hand, the concept of place branding, to date, has been transferred very little to sacred destinations, while on the other hand, religious content and modern tourist marketing barely fit together. Nonetheless, the perception of religion in a postmodern society opens up new opportunities for sacred places to reposition themselves in the competition faced by tourist destinations. The aim of this article is to show how German tourism regions with a religious focus build their brand. Through analyzing six …

Anchorite Sacred Caves In Serbia: Balancing Between Pilgrimage And Religious Tourism Development, Aleksandar Antić

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Serbia is a country with diverse karst terrain, full of various surface and underground karst formations. This terrain is one of the factors that influenced the development of cultures and civilizations in this area. Many archaeological findings indicate that prehistoric people found refuge, safety and peace in many caves in present-day Serbia. The natural environment has also influenced many spiritual endeavours, which have shaped cultural identities throughout history. In this study, Orthodox anchorite sacred caves in Serbia are explored, as well as their related pilgrimage activities and potential for religious tourism development. For the purpose of this research, three pilgrimage …

A Naturalistic Inquiry Of Pilgrims’ Experience At A Religious Heritage Site: The Case Of A Shaktipitha In India, Harveen Bhandari, Amit Mittal

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religion in the Indian context is an inseparable element that dominates Indian lives, culture and psyche wherein significant number of people undertake pilgrimages every year. Pilgrims travel to different religious sites spread throughout the country and an intimate bonding exists between people and religious sites that invariably constitute their heritage. The worship of deities is a significant and popular ancient custom in the history of Indian culture. Pilgrims to any religious heritage site participate in different activities and their involvement in these activities builds their spiritual experience. So, the purpose of this research was to investigate the pilgrims experience at …

Terrorism In The Middle East: Implications On Egyptian Travel And Tourism, Tamer Z.F Mohamed, Tamer S. Elseyoufi

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper attempts to shed the light on challenging issues affecting travel and tourism industry especially in the Middle East such as political, socio-economic and security instability. Due to its geopolitical and historical importance, the paper focuses on the situation in Egypt as a descriptive case study. The methodology relies on historical review and impact assessment to understand the roots and extended branches of instability in the Middle East that led to the Arab Spring, by focusing on the Egyptian case in the last half century. The assessment explains the negative effect of Western and Egyptian policy on extending the …

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 …

Demographic Characteristics Influencing Religious Tourism Behaviour: Evidence Form A Central-Eastern-European Country, Anna Irimias, Ariel Mitev, Gabor Michalko

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Although religious tourism and pilgrimage have been widely studied there is very limited research that explores the peculiarities in attitude and behaviour among tourists with different demographic factors. The present exploratory study enhances the discussion on perception of religious tourism behaviour. Specifically, eleven statements on attitude and behaviour were explored among 345 Hungarians with different socio-demographic backgrounds. The results show that there are significant variations between senior and young travellers: seniors see as important, the educational purposes and feelings of national identity related to sacred sites while these are less motivating for the young. The frequency of participating in religious …

Shrine Pilgrimage (Ziyārat) In Turco-Iranian Cultural Regions, Mehdi Ebadi

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Academic studies, dedicated to various aspects of religiously motivated travel have increased steadily, especially in recent years. Despite the huge amount of publications related to tourism and religious pilgrimage, there is still a gap between abstract theory and empirical research. Studies devoted to pilgrimage in the developing countries generally, and Islamic regions in particular are rather few in number in spite of its socio-economic importance and widespread practices. The present work tries to address this relative lack of attention and will shed more light on the tradition of shrine pilgrimage (known as ziyārat) in Turco-Iranian cultural milieu that is almost …

Religious Tourism And Italian Sacred Mounts: Experiences Of Networking And Co-Operation At A Unesco Site, Raffaella Afferni, Carla Ferrario

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

A Sacred Mount is a historical holy site and former pilgrimage attraction. It is a devotional complex located on a mountain, and composed of a series of chapels and shrines in which scenes from the life of Christ, the Virgin Mary or the saints are represented through paintings and sculptures. In 2003 the Sacred Mounts of Piedmont and Lombardy were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List being considered as representative of something that can be understood, in part, through visitor interactions with the areas in which they are located (see Di Giovine, 2009:208).

The visitors to Sacred Mounts are: …

A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Weekend–Trips In Religious Tourism: Insights From Two Cultures, Two Countries (India And Italy), Kiran A. Shinde, Katia Rizello

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper explains peculiarities, significance, and universality of weekend-trips as significant form of religious tourism using a comparative analysis of this phenomenon in two pilgrimage sites from two different cultures (and countries), namely, Vrindavan in India and the Shrine of Santimissi Medici in Italy. The findings derived from a case-study approach and visitors’ survey method confirm that religious tourism falls under the more general category of leisure and that visitors who flock to these places on weekends do not coincide either with general models proposed in the extant literature, nor can they be assimilated to the conventional categories of pilgrims …

A Scalar Comparison Of Motivations And Expectations Of Experience Within The Religious Tourism Market, Daniel H. Olsen

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Academic studies on tourism market segmentation have decreased in scale over time, with the focus on tourist segmentation changing from segmenting the market as a whole to segmenting specific tourism niche markets. This change in scale can also be seen in how academics have attempted to segment the religious tourism market moving from discussions related to the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy to segmenting visitors based on religious affiliation to world regions and countries to specific religious activities such as religious festivals and infrastructural amenities such as hotels. In this paper the author, following Wall’s (1997) discussion of the spatial characteristics of tourist …

The Pilgrimage To The San Nicola Shrine In Bari And Its Impact, Katia Rizzello, Anna Trono

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is defined as a journey to the Holy but more specifically as an inner journey to one’s deepest religious feelings. This type of journey has assumed new forms and types that bring it closer to modern tourism in general, though it maintains its distinctive characteristics, which will be the object of this paper. These changes in the nature of pilgrimage, which in part reflect the parallel socio-cultural transformation of the average visitor, have brought about a major reorganisation of the places involved and have had a significant socio-economic impact on the territories involved. The concentration of visitors and in …

Introducing The International Journal Of Religious Tourism And Pilgrimage

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Welcome and Introduction to the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage