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This article examines the hybrid of heritage and spiritual tourist attractions, tourist activities, and the management of Bali's Gunung Kawi Cliff Temple destinations in the context of sustainable tourism development. A qualitative method typically involves literature studies, observations, and in-depth interviews. The hybrid approach is believed to be a pathway towards sustainable tourism in the new normal era, as it promotes community-based and environmentally conscious tourism. Tourist destinations need to build intangible products in the form of something to feel, to improve the quality of tourist attractions. The intangible aspect can lead to the development of new products related to the initial concept and become a hybrid form of tourism. The intangible derives from the environment and culture, a pathway towards sustainable tourism in the new normal era, as it promotes community-based and environmentally-conscious tourism. Regarding Tebing Gunung Kawi Temple tourism, tourists need something to feel. This has developed heritage tourism attractions into hybrid and spiritual tourism .

In the competitive tourism industry, augmented reality (AR) technology has emerged as a transformative tool for enhancing visitor experiences and promoting cultural identity by blending digital overlays with physical environments, yet prior research often overlooks its role in marketing cultural narratives from industry experts’ perspectives, revealing a theoretical gap in fostering emotional connections and sustainable development. This study aims to explore AR’s role in marketing the cultural identity of tourism destinations, examining how it creates competitive differentiation, strengthens tourist loyalty, and overcomes implementation challenges. Using a qualitative approach with thematic analysis, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 27 industry experts (academics, managers, and technology specialists in tourism and AR), achieving theoretical saturation after 18 interviews, with analyses grounded in frameworks such as Symbolic Interactionism, Experiential Marketing, and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Results revealed six main themes: enhancing cultural experiences (e.g., immersive 3D reconstructions), fostering emotional engagement (e.g., creating a sense of belonging), improving tourists’ understanding (e.g., enriching cultural knowledge and promoting responsible behavior), prerequisites for AR adoption (e.g., technological infrastructure and training), outcomes of AR implementation (e.g., increased trust and decision-making), and practical strategies (e.g., cost reduction via open-source platforms). AR delivers interactive, personalized experiences that bolster loyalty but faces barriers like high costs and the need for authentic content. This research fills the gap by providing a conceptual framework for AR in cultural marketing, offering practical recommendations for managers (e.g., collaborative content creation), developers (e.g., gamified apps), and policymakers (e.g., funding infrastructure), while emphasizing AR’s potential for sustainable tourism and suggesting future quantitative studies to validate these qualitative insights.

Health tourism, a rapidly expanding global sector, integrates medical services with cultural, ethical, and spiritual experiences. Women entrepreneurs play a central role in this domain; however, their engagement with emerging technologies and their entrepreneurial resilience are strongly shaped by religious beliefs and cultural values. Despite growing scholarly attention, the spiritual and cultural dimensions of women’s entrepreneurship in health tourism have not been systematically reviewed or conceptually synthesized. To address this gap, this article conducts a systematic literature review of 70 peer-reviewed studies published between 2018 and 2025, following the PRISMA protocol and using thematic synthesis. The review identifies and integrates recurring themes that link religion, culture, resilience, and technology adoption among women entrepreneurs in health tourism. Findings show that religious beliefs—particularly within Muslim-majority contexts—are conceptualized as forms of spiritual capital that strengthen women’s resilience, ethical leadership, legitimacy, and adaptive capacity. Cultural values such as collectivism, gender norms, and uncertainty avoidance emerge as both barriers and facilitators to technology adoption. Based on these synthesized insights, this review presents an integrative conceptual framework that maps how spirituality and culture interact to influence adaptive, technology-driven entrepreneurial strategies. The framework advances theoretical understanding at the intersection of tourism, culture, and spirituality, offers cross-cultural and gender-sensitive insights, and provides guidance for policymakers and practitioners to design empowerment and digital training programs aligned with religious and cultural contexts. Ultimately, this review contributes to the development of inclusive, ethics-driven, and sustainable health tourism ecosystems worldwide.

This study aimed to provide a mathematical model for tour guides' simultaneous allocation and scheduling. Human resource downsizing was one of the main objectives of the problem studied. At the same time, another objective was to match the capabilities of tour guides with their locations. Each of them visits many different tourist sites according to their interests and expertise. The tours and allocations of tour guides and tourists to these tours were scheduled in an integrated manner using a linear programming approach. By reviewing the available documents and data, conducting field observations, and holding interviews with key stakeholders, a clear gap in the field of Assignment and Scheduling was identified. Then various constraints and goals were thoroughly analyzed and modeled as a multi-objective problem to ensure practicality. Finally, a detailed case study was also conducted, which indicated that the derived allocation rule led to significant improvements according to various goals compared to the current allocation system.

Given the remarkable growth of animal tourism worldwide and the increasing concerns about animal welfare, this study was conducted to examine the role of Islamic teachings and ethical beliefs in shaping tourists’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviors toward ethical animal tourism in Iran. The study population comprised all individuals who had experienced animal tourism in the past five years. From this population, 145 participants were selected using non-probability convenience sampling, and a questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS software, and structural equation modeling was employed to test the study’s conceptual model. The findings showed that Islamic teachings and ethical beliefs have a significant positive effect on awareness of ethical issues and on attitudes toward ethical animal tourism. Moreover, awareness and positive attitudes significantly influenced co-creation behaviors, participation, and behavioral intentions in the context of animal tourism. The results underscore the importance of religious and ethical values in promoting responsible tourist behavior. Strengthening education, raising public awareness, and developing ethical frameworks aligned with Islamic culture can play an effective role in improving animal welfare and supporting sustainable tourism development.

This study explores how volunteer tourism fosters empathy and meaningful impact by examining the motivations and experiences of young participants in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Drawing on data from 522 youth engaged in volunteer tourism, the research focuses on three key dimensions: support for local communities, altruistic values, and the desire for co-created, emotionally rich experiences. The findings indicate that participants are not only motivated by a commitment to address social, economic, and environmental challenges, but also by a deep sense of empathy, ethical responsibility, and a need for cultural immersion. Emotional safety, mutual understanding, and interpersonal connection emerged as critical components of a meaningful volunteer tourism experience. The results also revealed statistically significant differences across demographic groups, underscoring the need for inclusive and adaptive program designs in volunteer tourism initiatives. Theoretically, the study contributes to a more holistic understanding of youth volunteer tourism by integrating emotional, ethical, and experiential perspectives. Practically, it calls for volunteer program designs that balance service activities with opportunities for personal growth, cross-cultural learning, and sustained community engagement .

Ritual tourism, as a reflection of local identity and culture, plays a significant role in shaping and renewing the tourism experience. This study aims to explain the effect of ritual tourism (with emphasis on the Yom al-Abbas ceremony in Zanjan) on the construction of place attachment among tourists. The research is descriptive-explanatory in nature and applied in terms of purpose. Data were collected through a standard questionnaire based on four indicators of place attachment: emotional attachment, place identity, place dependence, and social bonding, using a sample of 95 tourists selected through convenience sampling. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 27.1 through descriptive statistics, stepwise regression, path analysis, and Pearson correlation test. The findings indicate that the components of place attachment are interconnected and significantly related. Tourists had relatively homogeneous attitudes toward the ritual event, and the overall effect of the indicators on place attachment construction was strong (R=0.99). Furthermore, emotional attachment had the greatest impact on place identity, and social bonding showed the highest influence on place dependence. In conclusion, ritual tourism can effectively contribute to strengthening individuals' sense of belonging to a place and provide favorable conditions for the construction of place identity and social cohesion.

The aim of this research was to design a religious tourism model in Kerman City. The research strategy was Grounded Theory. The statistical population included 14 experts and officials in the tourism sector who were selected using purposive sampling. Theoretical saturation was achieved at interview 12, after which subsequent interviews yielded no additional open codes. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. The findings showed that the causal factors include the existence of Kerman's high attractions and potential in the field of religious tourism, the location of various religious and spiritual places in and around the city of Kerman, the image of Kerman as a religious city with a rich cultural history, the strategic location of the province as a domestic and international transit route. The contextual factors include the city's tourism infrastructure and the area surrounding religious places, planning and development, opportunity recognition, participation and encouragement of the private sector, changing managers' attitudes, developing an economic perspective on tourism, a holistic and strategic perspective on tourism, and urban branding in the field of religious tourism. The intervening factors included, weakness in tourism infrastructure, Kerman's remoteness from other tourism destinations, attention to tourists' behavior, some officials and citizens' unfamiliarity with the concept of religious tourism, lack of focus on sustainable tourism, institutional and managerial challenges, lack of attention to religious tourism target groups are considered as obstacles to development in this area.

The global demographic shift toward an aging population has driven the growth of senior tourism as a vital and expanding part of the tourism industry. This systematic review synthesizes empirical and theoretical studies published from 1980 to 2025, examining the main motivations, travel preferences, and challenges faced by senior tourists. Using the PRISMA protocol, 31 peer-reviewed studies were systematically identified and analyzed through thematic content analysis in NVivo software. The findings show that senior tourists are mainly motivated by intrinsic factors, such as relaxation, nostalgia, social engagement, and personal growth. At the same time, extrinsic motivators—like destination features and leisure activities—also play a role but are less explored. Preferences among senior travelers are quite diverse, influenced by age, health, socioeconomic status, and cultural background, and reflected in different choices regarding accommodation, travel timing, activities, and services needed. Key barriers to senior travel include physical and health limitations, financial constraints, psychological fears, and infrastructural issues, all of which affect participation and satisfaction. The literature indicates a regional focus on studies from Asia and Europe, with notable gaps in the Middle East and other underrepresented areas. Quantitative methods dominate, highlighting the need for more qualitative and mixed-method research to better understand the lived experiences and changing needs of senior tourists. This review provides an integrated thematic perspective that enhances understanding of senior tourism behavior and lays a foundation for creating more accessible and inclusive travel options that address the complex needs of aging populations.

Postmodern tourism is gradually shifting away from mass tourism toward more personalized, experience-based, and interest-driven forms of travel. In response to this trend, many destinations are increasingly emphasizing local cuisine and developing culinary tourism as one of the most dynamic and creative sectors of the tourism industry. However, the successful development of culinary tourism is not possible without a clear understanding of culinary tourists’ behavior. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to explain the behavior of product-oriented culinary tourists, the most specialized segment of culinary tourism, by developing a behavioral model using a mixed-method approach. In the qualitative phase, a meta-synthesis method was applied, while the quantitative phase employed structural equation modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS 4 to identify key dimensions, components, and indicators, as well as to examine the relationships among them. The sample size was determined using the Cochran formula and consisted of 285 participants, who were randomly selected from saffron culinary tourists visiting the Qaenat region. The findings indicate that tourists’ motivation, destination image, and perceived service quality have direct effects on satisfaction and indirect effects on behavioral intentions. Notably, perceived service quality also shows a direct and significant influence on behavioral intentions. Furthermore, the results highlight several key destination characteristics that strongly influence the quality of culinary tourism tours. These include cultural and culinary involvement, accommodation quality, farm-based experiences, food and beverage quality, reliable service delivery, a sense of safety and tranquillity, effective tour organization, and the quality of tour guide services .

Tourism is widely acknowledged as a potential engine of economic growth and poverty reduction, particularly in developing countries. This research investigates the impact of tourist growth on poverty reduction in Wukari Local Government Area, Taraba State, Nigeria. The study concentrated on its contributions, problems, and ideas for increasing its pro-poor effect. The questionnaire was applied to obtain data from 400 respondents. The data were examined descriptively. The findings show a clear consensus that tourism may greatly help to poverty reduction, with job creation and income generation highlighted as main advantages. However, fundamental constraints such as inadequate infrastructure, poor security, and little government backing impede tourist expansion. Respondents significantly approve policies such as government infrastructure investment, enhanced security measures, entrepreneurial training, awareness campaigns, and community participation in tourist planning. The study indicates that tourism has significant potential for poverty reduction in Wukari LGA, and that focused interventions are required to solve its obstacles for long-term and inclusive growth.

Social media has become a vital communication channel in various industries, including tourism and hospitality. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media—specifically user-generated content—on the occupancy rates of 5-star hotels in Mashhad, Iran. The research follows a three-stage methodology. First, customer reviews from Instagram fan pages of selected hotels were collected using the Graph API Explorer and analyzed through sentiment analysis to classify them into positive, negative, or neutral categories. Second, hotel occupancy was estimated using the number of weekly check-ins on Instagram as a proxy due to restricted access to official occupancy data. Finally, regression analysis was applied to examine the relationship between the percentage of positive reviews and the number of check-ins. The results reveal a strong positive correlation between favorable customer comments and hotel check-ins for most of the studied hotels, suggesting that social media plays a critical role in influencing consumer decision-making and hotel occupancy. The findings emphasize the strategic importance of leveraging social media platforms for effective marketing and customer engagement in the hospitality industry.