Spiritual tourism

Place is major element of tourism activity, and therefore most tourism programs are based on that criterion. One of the main goals of tourism planning and management is assisting tourists in order to achieve deep understanding of a destination. In this regard, the way in which Place is being studied and interpreted plays a crucial role in realizing the goal of tourism. Landscape Science, as an objective-subjective phenomenon, introduces new ways to interpret place and landscape based on which tourists receive information about place and also enter a Holistic World described by landscape literature. This paper reviews education and training methods and investigates tourism as a knowledge system that is able to discover the latent meaning of the place. Adopting the landscape tourism approach is therefore a prerequisite for the perception of the meaning of places.  

Although today it is common to categorize spiritual tourism separately as a type of tourism, spirituality can be found at the heart of any travel. What might be taken as granted is that the tourist is going to add something to his/her self and, in this respect, some degree of spirituality can be sought in every type of tourism. Therefore, through entrepreneurship and innovation it would be possible to focus on the development of businesses which are able to offer some degree of spirituality to tourists according to their needs. This paper seeks to provide a deeper view of the relationship between authentic experiences and spiritual tourism and the role of entrepreneurship in utilizing this relationship in order to enrich tourists’ experiences. In other words, the spiritual dimension of every type of tourism is discussed and the necessity of its reinforcement through entrepreneurship in tourism and a systematic approach towards the issue is considered.

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.

Comprehensive and reliable conceptual definition of concepts can be considered as the first step toward managing the phenomena based on those concepts. Spiritual tourism is a multidimensional phenomenon with different mixed concepts such as spiritual experience, spiritual tourist, achieving spirituality through tourism, deepening and institutionalizing spirituality perception (experience), training and learning spirituality (spiritual experiences), development planning, spiritual tourism economics, and spiritual tourism marketing. The mentioned concepts are formed in dialectical models that are influenced by disciplines such as geography, history, economics, management, religion, and mysticism. Regardless of the level and the type of combination of concepts, the definition of these concepts may be different in various paradigms due to the differences in assumptions, ontology, epistemology and methodology of different paradigms. Such a different even makes the spiritual tourism’s definition process more difficult. Spiritual tourism has already common definitions in literature that are not formally classified based on various paradigms’ assumptions; and have not been specified by the tourists under which paradigm that they are formed. Therefore, in this paper, the concept of spiritual tourism is reviewed from the perspective of different paradigms such as positivism, critical romanticism, post-modernism, critical realism, and pragmatism and new definitions are extracted. Based on the results of this article, the passage from abstract concepts to operational concepts in the field of spiritual tourism has been smoother. Besides, a more sustainable vision has been created about how to create and disseminate knowledge in the field of spiritual tourism. Hence, the main aim and contribution of this article is to extract the different conceptual definitions of spiritual tourism in different paradigms, in order to provide a reliable paradigm conceptual definition of tourism spiritual. The present paper concluded that a reliable and comprehensive definition of spiritual tourism can be provided in Pragmatism Paradigm framework.  This pragmatic definition can be used as a base for future planning, management, marketing, and other operational and administrative applications.

Spiritual tourism and fulfilling its promotion and development is one of the challenges of this recently blooming industry during the last decade. Such matter must be reconsidered by the society inside the country on one hand, and promoting and organizing such approach internationally on the other. To improve and create variety in this industry and helping to introduce and develop the spiritual culture of this country therefore, finding innovative and interesting methods seem to be a major necessity. The religious-cultural potentials of the country and religious rituals and theatrical performance and national religious semi-theatres in particular are some of the most significant instances which could be under instruction and short and/or long-term planning of tourism industry managers. By investigating these arts and rituals, their features and the way they could be applied in this survey, in this article we would introduce and then explain each item and discuss their potentials afterwards. So what is emphasized in this article is that the Persian theatre, rituals and Persian Ta’zieh in particular are so potent and have their cultural and artistic functions which could be included in grand programs based on a precise, systematic plan and contribute to their rapid growth and becoming one of the major tourist spots and attractions. In this respect, we introduce and respect such rituals and their characteristics and features to our citizens and other nationalities to recognize spiritual tourism in particular. We aim to propose approaches and suggestions in order to recognize, record, organize and collect such rituals in both domestic and foreign tourism. This article has a descriptive-analysis approach based on library documented records.

The main purpose of this study is identifying influential factors on the future of spiritual tourism and formulation of plausible scenario for it. From philosophical point of view, this paper is pragmatic, exploratory from target’s point of view and it’s practical. It’s a survey research in collecting data and its methodology is mixed. In this study, by studying the literature and interviewing with experts, the factors influencing the future of spiritual tourism were identified and then, using the Cross Impact analysis approach, the data was entered into the MIC MAC software and two key factors affecting the future of spiritual tourism in Qom province. It was found out that Facilitate versus Rigor and Culture policy which were selected among the eleven final effective factors. In the next step, four scenarios are presented in this study. These scenarios include Limited liberalism scenario, Liberal world Scenario, Negligence scenario and Authoritarian Spirituality scenario.

  Today, sustainable development of tourism as a strategy for the development of cities, especially remote cities is a relatively new idea that its importance has been realized by policymakers. This type of tourism can be considered as a source of income, creating jobs, and making positive changes in the income of cities. In tourism studies, there are also discussions about spiritual tourism. However, most scholars do not consider spiritual tourism as realtourism because it is like an umbrella that can include various types of tourism that leads to a transcendental sense and sacred values such as ‘Spiritual city tourism’.Then, using laboratory techniques of test and evaluation of fuzzy DEMATEL decision making, as one of the appropriate decision-making techniques that deal with systematic relations between variables, relations among factors influencing the development of Spiritual city tourism in Tehran are studied and modeled. The results of the fuzzy DEMATEL method showed that factors affecting the development of Spiritualcity tourism include Appropriate planning and management, Direct supervision of the government and institutions on those active in the field of tourism, Presence of experts fluent in live languages of the world beside tourism attractions, Attracting foreign investment for the development of Spiritual city tourism activities with contracts and special facilities, Marketing, advertising, and introducing tourism attractions in national and international areas, Culturalization of tourism development and promotion of tourist acceptance culture among city residents.

Recreation and entertainment are among the major objectives and intentions of tourism. The reasons put forward by tourists include escaping quotidian life and social interactions. Relying on the Muslim mystics’ view of the real nature of human being, this article offers an analysis of escaping quotidian life and environment in the discovery of real identity and studies the role of traveling in this regard. This analysis showed that from the Muslim mystics’ viewpoint, the real nature of humans is impoverishment and desperate need for a raison d’etre. Meantime, social interactions and affiliation with minor and major social groups overshadow such identity and create obstacles in the way of self-awareness. That explains why the disciples of Islamic Sufism were recommended retreatment. Even today, traveling and tourism provide such an opportunity for humans to distance themselves from the social groups and classes they belong to for some time and gain spiritual experience through a more precise perception of their own reality

Spirituality is an inner and natural concept and a truth in the heart of the universe that human beings can achieve in the context of travel and tourism, as well as in the path of movement and communication with society, the universe, and God. The revival of high values ​​and indicators aims to create and recreate a new identity and promote to create and recreate the sense of spirituality in a meaningful relationship between tourists and visitors with the environment. The environment and elements in the urban space in macro-planning is a crucial and undeniable issue. This article examines the role of art and architecture in strengthening the spiritual dimension of tourism with an emphasis on aesthetic elements. For this purpose, seven examples of ancient historical and religious buildings in Qazvin, including Saad Al-Saltanah Palace, Chehel Sotun Palace, Aali Qapo Mansion, Darb-e Koushk Gate, Jameh Mosque, Al-Nabi Mosque, and Imamzadeh Hussein (AS), have been studied. Accordingly, by applying an analytical-descriptive approach based on library documents and by using Content Analysis and inferential method, this study identified elements, indicators, and components of aesthetics that lead to promotion the sense of spirituality of tourists in tourist places. These components include environmental psychology, the importance and impact of urban space and landscape, art and perception of aesthetics, beauty and perfection, color and light, geometry and its application in sacred art, geometry in Islamic decorations and patterns, form and structure of Islamic art and transcendent values in Iranian-Islamic art patterns.

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.

Bali tourism faced conflict with the local community because of the utilization and commodification of sacred and forest areas. The first sacred area conflict occurred in 1994, based on the use of the sacred land “Tanah Lot” become tourists resort namely Bali Nirvana Resort (BNR). Furthermore, this problem is presently observed in the utilization of mangrove forests for the international airport and LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals, respectively. In these conflicts, all facilities are designed to support the increase in the inbound tourist visits and foreign investment. This growth of Bali tourism threatens the development of sustainable tourism, which concerned with environment, local communities and local economy, but spiritual tourism creates the conflict subsided due to the dependence of spiritual tourism on sacred areas, the environment, and local community resources. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of spiritual tourism in building sustainable economy based on the local wisdom of Bali Tri Hita Karana. Data were qualitatively analyzed and obtained from literature reviews, observations, and in-depth interviews. The results showed that spiritual tourism emphasized sacred areas, the surrounding natural environment, and local community assets. This dependence developed a mutually beneficial relationship, subsequently leading to the CSR of Spiritual Tourism. The CSR based on the local wisdom Tri Hita Karana which create harmonious between the local people, environment, and investment.

This research aims to identify the factors that influence the growth of cultural tourism in Iran and propose a corresponding model. Following the identification of these factors, a scenario is written to optimize their utilization. The research employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to achieve its objectives and finalize the factors. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with experts in the field. In the second phase, after the formal validity of the factors is confirmed, their fuzzy cognitive mapping and scenario are designed using the FCMapper and Pajek software programs. As the results show, the factor of “creating investment opportunities and attracting financial resources in the field of cultural tourism” is the most influential, while the factor of “providing diverse and creative services in Iran’s cultural tourism” is the most impressionable for the development of cultural tourism in Iran. In the task of scenario writing, it has been discovered that, by focusing on attracting financial resources, managers can enhance the infrastructure, create a context for interaction with other countries, identify new target markets, and offer creative services to Iranian cultural tourists through diverse tours. The findings can help stakeholders, managers, and policymakers in Iran’s tourism industry design and develop plans and strategies for the growth of Iran’s cultural tourism

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.