International journal of Tourism, Culture and Spirituality

Pilgrimage can be considered as one of the oldest manifestations of religious tourism history and it is coupled with the formation of religions among human beings. On the one hand, the shrines of the religious personalities enjoy a special place in religious convergence, and on the other hand, it is considered a suitable platform for cultural and spiritual awareness among pilgrims. Nowadays, proper management of pilgrimage and recognition of the capacity to convert these centers into cultural hubs of the country, especially with the geographical distribution of their influence, is very important. Accordingly, it is necessary to describe and analyze religious propositions and pay attention to the potential facilities and talents of religious tourism. This research uses the descriptive-analytical method based on library documents to investigate the impact of pilgrimage institutions as an effective mechanism on spirituality and cultural life.

The study aims to evaluate the effective factors on creating a social bond in religious tourists using the services of recreational-sports complexes in Mashhad. The research method was quantitative with a structural equation model approach. The statistical population of the study was religious tourists who used the services of recreational-sports complexes in Mashhad. A total of 388 tourists were selected as the sample by convenience sampling. The measurement tool was a modified Adamczyk 25-item questionnaire based on expert opinions, which has four subscales (intimacy, security, passion, and commitment). The face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts while the construct validity was confirmed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was also obtained by more than 0.7 using Cronbach's alpha. To analyze the data, descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used. Finally, the results revealed that the components of secure and intimate bonding are the most essential elements of creating a social bond in religious tourists using the services of recreational-sports complexes in Mashhad, respectively. Consequently, this study emphasizes strengthening indicators such as infrastructure development, equipment, and facilities to reduce risks, using new marketing methods, protecting the tourist information, attention to the opinions, interests, and values of religious tourists, creating an intimate and social atmosphere, creating a secure and reassurance environment, etc. to create a social bond in religious tourists using the services of recreational-sports complexes.

The growing and accelerated growth of the tourism industry has led many scholars to call the twentieth century the century of tourism. The tourism industry is one of the most important phenomena of the present century. This study aimed to investigate the effect of commemorative memoirs of tourists on the intention to re-buy (retry) tourists in Mashhad. The research is applied in its purpose, and it is descriptive-correlational. The statistical population is the tourists who visited Mashhad in the spring of 1396, and as the sample, 384 people were selected. Lisrel software was used to analyze the data. The results showed that reminders of tourism memories have a positive and significant effect on the use of memorable leisure destinations, retreat and attachment to Mashhad city, Satisfaction of tourists with a trip to remember the memories of tourists, attachment to the city of Mashhad, and re-trips have a positive and significant effect, The use of memorable leisure destinations also has a positive and significant impact on the intention of traveling and attachment to Mashhad. Also, the attachment to Mashhad has a positive and significant effect on the intention to retreat. The combination of destinations with the inclination of tourists also has a positive and significant impact on the recollection of tourists' memories. 

The present study tries to analyze the role of emotional intelligence of service providers in the trip process (before, during, and after) with a different view of sustainable tourism (from the perspective of tourist satisfaction) and emphasis on the human spiritual needs, to pave the way for further access tourist satisfaction and implementation of sustainable tourism. This is an applied exploratory research and has been done by content analysis and system thinking (to draw a conceptual model qualitatively and validated by experts). Data was collected through in-depth interviews with experts in sustainable tourism and spirituality. Experts were recruited through purposeful snowball sampling until data saturation and theoretical saturation. based on the findings, service providers' emotional intelligence plays an important role in improving the travel process by (A) helping the tourist in choosing the right travel package (before the trip), (B) creating a sense of calm, cheerfulness, and happiness in the tourist through responding to his spiritual needs (during the trip) and (C) impact positively in the mental evaluations and future decisions of tourist (after the trip). Based on systemic thinking, the results showed that paying attention to the tourists' spiritual needs through the employees' emotional intelligence is effective in achieving more sustainable tourism, so according to research findings and the widespread role of emotional intelligence in the travel process, training of service providers in the use of emotional intelligence is recommended to activists and planners in this industry

The number of traveling Muslims has increased substantially, and demands for Islamic facilities and services that adhere to their religious practices are growing exponentially. This creates business opportunities for service providers in Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike. Propelled by the growth of this new market segment, service providers such as airlines and hotels have customized aspects of their businesses to accommodate these niche demands. However, some industry players willfully ignore this market, either for fear of losing non-Muslim customers or lacking the know-how to tap into this lucrative new market. This research benchmarked some service providers (hotels) worldwide and conducted a content analysis of their websites to identify the services they provided for Muslims. The evidence shows that some hotels worldwide provide limited services to satisfy Muslim needs. Most of these hotels did not provide information about their Islamic facilities on their website, including some hotels in Islamic countries. This can be related to the social pressure (non-Muslim tourist markets), which prevents service providers from advertising their services. Lack of knowledge and research on the factors that prevent service providers from serving Muslim tourists and little information about their challenges make this area unexplored. Future research should test the research model proposed by this study and identify the factors influencing the service provider’s intention to serve the Muslim market and the barriers. This paper can serve as a guideline for industry players to partake in this growing and lucrative market.

Religious tourism is one of the world's most critical current types of tourism, especially in Islamic countries such as Iran, which has a high potential for development and progress in this field. However, the development of this type of tourism in our country is not restricted to only religious cities but includes other cities in Iran. With its religious-pilgrimage functions, Sari city in Mazandaran province provides an appropriate ground for developing religious tourism as one of the main forms of tourism. The present research first conducted a set of observations in the region after studying library documents using the field method. After analyzing data from the observations, research questions were evaluated by organizations, experts, and the local community. The results were quantitatively examined by SWOT analysis. Finally, according to extracted concepts from qualitative and quantitative analysis, a model for the development of religious tourism was obtained based on library and field studies using interviews and then evaluated by experts. Results show that religious places of Sari city aren’t on the list of development priorities. It presents a model for development in this region with more challenges. Therefore, the qualitative and quantitative analysis results of this research imply a very appropriate situation and a high potential for religious tourism, emphasizing Imamzadeh in Sari city.

Nowadays, creativity has become a strategy in tourism development; cities and regions that want to increase their attractiveness to the creative class must support creative industries. Intangible cultural heritage (ICH), as a unique advantage in the tourism industry, provides global competitiveness for the community. Sustainable tourism approaches are needed to transition and promote ICH as a sustainable tourism resource successfully. Accordingly, this study investigates the role of women's creativity in developing intangible cultural heritage with a creative tourism approach. The statistical population of this study is women in the Uramanat region and tourists in the area. A sample of 360 people from each community was selected by purposive and available sampling. Creativity with measurement approach and value creation and development of intangible cultural heritage with the dimensions of preserving originality, empowerment, maintaining the meaning of content, emphasizing identity, parallel development of tourism, and heritage protection was measured by a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity was assessed using construct validity. Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability were used for instrument reliability, and both were acceptable. The studied model was tested using the least-squares approach. Findings showed that creativity has a significant positive effect on the development of intangible cultural heritage. In many destinations, the development of creative tourism, one of the rapid branches of economic growth, and the development of intangible cultural heritage in the tourism industry are essential.

The aim of this paper is to explore young people’s perceptions of spirituality as well as analyzing the role that spirituality plays in their wellness and travel. The work builds on previous studies that examined young peoples’ attitudes to spirituality, as well as research that examined cross-cultural differences in understandings of spirituality. The research draws on questionnaire data (a sample of 227) that was collected in two languages from young people in Generations Y and Z aged 18-39. The questionnaire was designed in English but was also translated into Mandarin Chinese. Both generations and cultural/language groups view spirituality as more connected to the self or nature than to religion or God. Attention to religion and spirituality scored much lower than other lifestyle and wellness domains. When travelling, the desire to engage in religious and spiritual activities were also ranked low compared to other activities. The data shows that young people tend to define spirituality more in relation to their own self and nature than to religion. Spirituality is ranked relatively low compared to other domains of wellness. However, although religious and spiritual motivations and benefits are ranked lower than some other experiences during travel, many young people prioritize trips that involve better connections to nature and the self, which reflects their original definitions of spirituality.

Fine arts can be considered the most precious and original cultural manifestations of nations. Today, the attractiveness and function of these arts in the tourism industry are considered an obvious matter. It is estimated that the cultural tourism market size is about 40% of the total international tourist arrivals. It is expected to grow more in the following years. Cultural tourism during its development has found several sub-branches, among which music tourism is very important. In this practical-developmental study, the coordinates and capacities of Iranian music were investigated and explained from the viewpoint of music tourism using a descriptive-analytical method to recognize and introduce the valuable features and capabilities of Iranian music from other well-known kinds of music in the world. According to the findings, ten titles were introduced as coordinates of Iranian music in music tourism, various traditional Iranian musical instruments and forms, the variety of regional music, the variety and plurality of Iranian musical instruments, the Iranian vocal forms, and their connection with Iranian poetry and literature, mystical dimensions of Iranian music, improvisation, the variety of Iranian dances related to types of music, music therapy music traditional ceremonies, ability to combine Iranian music with other types of music and traditional instruments. Obviously, the results of this research can be useful for researchers and activists, as well as the country’s future policies in the field of tourism, to pay attention, emphasize, and invest as much as possible in the capabilities of such a unique national heritage.

The potential of a destination to offer distinct local foods influences its image and brand, which in turn results in attracting tourists. In addition, it can be considered a tool to promote a given destination. From a sustainable perspective, culinary tourism provides local communities with a range of opportunities for growth in economic, sociocultural, and even ecological dimensions. Local community involvement is essential in any process involving the promotion of local tourism products; therefore, the importance of local community participation is emphasized in this study. To this end, the current study aims to determine how a community can be involved in promoting cuisine as a cultural tourism product. Adopting a qualitative approach, this research applied interviews as a tool to gather the required data. The city of Rasht in Iran was designated as the study area. The study population was specialists and academics in tourism marketing, officials in tourism-related institutions responsible for local tourism development, chefs, and locals working in the local cuisine sector. A content analysis was performed, leading to the extraction of nine main themes, including community-led creative promotional efforts, continuity and preservation of the position by local people, empowering the local community, sustainable development of food tourism emphasizing community involvement, the government’s support and providing the required infrastructure, building and maintaining the brand, advertising effort, supply and sale, and research and development.

In 2000, spiritual tourism began to develop in Bali. The development of spiritual tourism started to occur in Ubud, which is a rural tourism area. This spiritual tourism is an alternative to the mass tourism developing in Bali, which is in Denpasar and Badung. Mass tourism has brought various environmental, social, and cultural problems to Bali, such as reducing green areas. During these environmental, social, and cultural problems, spiritual tourism has emerged that is pro-environment, pro-local communities, and pro-local economy. Therefore, this article will reveal spiritual tourism's potential, development, and role in sustainable tourism development. Tourist destination theory, life cycle theory, and sustainable tourism theory will be used to explain the phenomenon of spiritual tourism. This article results from qualitative research with data collection methods through literature study, observation, and interviews. The analysis technique is done qualitatively. The results show Bali has attractions, facilities, access, and management organizations to develop spiritual tourism. This spiritual tourism is a builder of sustainable tourism because it is pro-environment, pro-local community, and pro-local economy.

Tourism covers all the visitor's activity from the beginning to the end of the trip. It is a journey made for business, experience, relaxation, pleasure and learning. This trip can be rooted in the beliefs and culture of the tourist and based his values. In this case, tourism activities can change the worldview by increasing the tourist's knowledege of visiting nature and heritage. According to most psychologists, not paying attention to mental needs endangers the physical health of community members. Strengthening the positive spiritual dimensions by traveling to religious and pilgrimage sites can mainly meet these significant human needs. The present research is based on descriptive study and library documents. The purpose is to describe the relationship between tourism, religion and spirituality. The results of this study show tourism could be based on the divine worldview. It can also be associated with spirituality and the acquisition of morality and lessons. Based on this, it can be said that tourism activity is based on spirituality.