religious tourism

A connection has long existed between tourism and spirituality. More specifically, travel for spiritual purposes has for centuries been a popular manifestation of human mobility. Pilgrimage and other spiritually-motivated travel is widely considered to be one of the earliest forms of tourism and nowadays, religious tourism, in all its forms, has evolved into a major sector of the global tourism market. Over the last three decades, however, an alternative perspective on the tourism-spirituality relationship has emerged. Focusing on the meaning or significance of contemporary tourism, it is argued that tourism is a sacred journey, a secular spiritual experience; in other words, tourism has become a secular alternative to the institution of religion, the contemporary tourist a modern, secular pilgrim. Hence, a conceptual divide exists in the relationship between tourism and spirituality, between spiritual (religious) tourism and tourism as spirituality (religion).  Moreover, that divide is evidenced in much of the extant research into tourism, religion and spirituality.                 As this paper suggests, however, such a conceptual divide over-simplifies the relationship between tourism and spirituality; not only is the distinction between spiritual / religious tourism and tourism as a secular spiritual experience becoming increasing fuzzy – some traditional religious travel experiences, for example, are taking on the aura of commoditised tourism products, with implications for the experience of participants themselves – but also the relationship can be viewed from different disciplinary and theoretical positions. A humanistic perspective, for example, questions the notion of spirituality itself, whilst varying interpretations of religion / spirituality also cast the relationship in different lights. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore the complexity of the spiritual dimension of tourism. Reviewing the extant literature, it highlights the dimensions of and limits to research into the relationship between tourism and spirituality and, exploring the phenomenon from a variety of perspectives, challenges contemporary understandings and points to areas demanding further research.  

Religious tourism is a kind of tourism that nowadays is defined by the elements of the spiritual motivation of the tourists rather than the destination of this tourism. This paper aims to introduce The Eye of Insight Islamic mysticism and Third Eye in the philosophy of the East and to investigate the importance of opening these eyes in creating the sense of spirituality for the tourists. Results showed that both in Islamic mysticism and in the philosophy of the East, human perfection has been depicted as a journey from material world to the world of meaning. In this regard, seekers are recommended to open eyes of their hearts in order to contemplate on nature and explore the meaning hidden in it. Relying on such an approach helps the tourists correct their attitudes toward nature based on this ideology and is effective in the individual and ethical perfection of the tourists. It has also abundant effects in collective and global scale since it can prevent the negative effects of the view that considers nature as a means for enjoyment and consumption which is frequently seen in mass tourism. This approach is also useful in sustainable tourism and protection of natural resources.

This study investigates the role of religious tourism and experimental marketing in developing entrepreneurial sports opportunities in Mashhad. As the first step, the study's statistical population consisted of all tourists in Mashhad who have been there for at least one week for religious tourism and have also visited this city's recreational and sports centers. Moreover, three standard questionnaires were used to collect data and to analyze the data, the Skewness and Elongation tests were used to determine the data distribution, one-sample t-test to compare the mean of variables with the hypothetical standard, Kendall W test to prioritize the components from the sample view and modeling equations were used; on top of that, all analysis was performed using SPSS software version 23 and SmartPLS version 3. The results showed that the average score of religious tourism, experimental marketing, and entrepreneurial sports opportunities and their components are relatively good. Hence, their average score was more than three. Results also showed that religious tourism and empirical marketing positively and significantly affect developing entrepreneurial sports opportunities in Mashhad. Finally, the structural equation model of the relations of the three main variables of this research and their components had a suitable fitting.

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.

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.

Researches indicate that tourism, and specifically religious tourism, has an ancient history. This issue which is one of the significant foundations of the global economy in the twenty first century is now apparent among the nations of the globe, especially for Muslim nations, more than ever due to travel incentives and invention of various means of transportation. Since the old times, people traveled around the globe for several purposes including food, touring, trade, pilgrimage to holy places, entertainment, a variety of sports, which is continued with an increasing trend. Nowadays, one of the most common types of tourism is the religious and pilgrimage tourism which is flourished and prospered, in the light of Islamic laws and regulations, after formation of stable Islamic governments and as security is maintained. An special attention has been paid to touring and journeys in Islam religion, specifically in the word of God almighty in the Holy Quran, touring is emphasized and repeated as examples for the servants in more than tens of verses so that people act intelligently as they see the relics of the past, and in fact, these are a guiding light for those who are trying to provide themselves with spirituality and free themselves from the darkness and to bring peace and comfort besides safety for themselves. The Islamic country of Iran, has a high potential of religious tourism, and with the holy shrine of his Holiness Imam Reza (PBUH) and the holy shrine of her Holiness Fatemeh Masoumeh (PBUH) and also over 3400 known Pantheons which many of them is the shrine of great martyrs, also 8919 holy religious places, can be the vanguard of religious and pilgrimage tourism in the world and thus to benefit from its economic and spiritual effects, which we address here in this paper.

Religious tourism, also commonly referred to as faith tourism, is a type of tourism, where people travel individually or in groups for pilgrimage, missionary, or leisure purposes. The world's largest form of mass religious tourism takes place at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Religious tourism is one of the earliest forms of tourism. The idea of the religious pilgrimage begins almost with the dawn of humanity.  Almost since the dawn of history human beings have traveled to holy sites. Religious tourism has increasingly won in popularity in recent years. Khorasan province, due to some places of pilgrimage especiallythe holy shrine of Imam Reza has always been suitable place for Attract tourists and pilgrims . Therefore, the main purpose in this paper is A Sociological Study of Religious Tourism in Khorasan Province. It is mention in the theoretical framework the present research for its analysis of data, is based on Butler theory. This article is based on quality method and tools of data collection are Informal interviews and participant observations comprise the methods of data collection.

In this study, we were in search for identification and leveling the dimensions of supply chain in the Iranian religious tourism industry. In terms of purpose, this research is applicable, and in terms of implementation method is descriptive survey of correlation type. The participant team consists of 30 experts and university professors who had been selected by the purposeful method and the snowball sampling. By relatively extensive studies in the field of supply chain, we extracted the most significant factors in the religious tourism industry. Then, fuzzy Delphi method was used to identify the dimensions and parameters of supply chain in this industry. In the next step, the interpretive structural modeling was used for leveling the key factors. Data collections tools included interviews, documents and statistics, and questionnaires; the findings based on the data analysis showed ten main dimensions in the supply chain i.e. accommodation, transportation, visiting centers, reception centers,stores, environment and energy, travel agencies and tour operators, security and safety, economic management, information centers and communications that 3 dimensions reception centers,stores, and travel agencies and tour operators were in the first level; and 2 dimensions i.e. accommodation, and environment and energy were placed in second level; and visiting sites in third level; the economic management, information centers and communications in fourth level; accommodation in fifth level; finally the security and safety were put in sixth level.

In the 21st century, the meaning of places is essential to people. Meanings have gained symbolic importance through tourism heritage. Tourism is a powerful force  in shaping the world and our understanding of different cultures, people, and  places. This research investigates the complexities of religious tourism and the  management of religious destinations. It obtains criteria for managing religious  goals with a detailed look and uses the descriptive-analytical method based on  library documents and the opinion of research experts. Then, using research experts  and ISM-PLS hybrid approach, a three-level framework for managing religious  goals in Yazd city has been presented and analyzed. The results showed that the  government's decisions and actions were the most effective criteria. The ultimate  goal was to create a sense of trust and security among religious tourists. It is hoped  that the findings of this research will be a starting point for managing religious  tourism destinations and a guide for examining the complexities of Islamic tourism  destinations and their management.

Most existing research on pilgrims and religious tourists has focused on their motivation, with limited attention to their actual experiences. This knowledge gap is particularly apparent in the Islamic context, where understanding the experiences of pilgrims and religious tourists is crucial for predicting their future behaviors. This paper aims to identify the key dimensions of pilgrims' and religious tourists' experiences during the Arba'een pilgrimage. To achieve this objective, a thorough review of the relevant literature was conducted, and appropriate questions were developed and refined through consultation with experts in the field. The target population for this study consisted of Iranian pilgrims who participated in the Arba'een pilgrimage. The researchers utilized a convenience sampling method to collect 229 completed questionnaires, which were then analyzed using exploratory factor analysis in SPSS software. Through this analysis, the researchers identified six key dimensions that contributed to the experience of Arba'een pilgrims: spiritual and emotional, cognitive, interactive, pleasant, physical-bodily, and learning. This research suggests that while the primary motivation for pilgrims is a spiritual experience, other types of experiences can also enhance their overall pilgrimage experience. These findings have practical implications for destination managers, as they can use them to design various experiences that cater to the needs and preferences of different types of pilgrims.

Prior research has extensively examined the motivating factors driving tourists to visit religious sites; however, there has been a noticeable gap in understanding the emotional experiences of tourists during these visits. The primary objective of this study is to explore and quantify the emotional states, arousal levels, and overall satisfaction of tourists while visiting religious destinations. The study draws upon data gathered from 149 tourists who visited the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Descriptive statistical methods are employed to assess and compare different demographic groups within the sample. The results of this study reveal that visiting religious places evokes a profound sense of inner peace and happiness among tourists, transcending religious boundaries. Remarkably, even tourists practicing religions other than the one associated with the visited site reported feeling blessed during their visits. Participants described a heightened sense of inner contentment and noted that the physical and mental pressures they carried seemed to dissipate during their pilgrimage. These findings contribute significantly to our comprehension of the multifaceted dimensions of religious and spiritual tourism, shedding light on the pivotal factors that drive individuals to embark on transformative journeys. By delving into the emotional and experiential aspects of religious and spiritual tourism, this study underscores the importance of emotional well-being and inner fulfilment as crucial motivators in tourists' engagement with religious sites.