Managing Religious Tourism provides a global view of the tools and resources used in demand and supply management, in the context of pilgrimage and religious tourism. With a focus on toolkits and best practices, the book reinforces the quality of service provision and offers a reflection on consumers' perspectives and what drives their purchasing decisions with regards to a variety of destinations. These central themes are complemented by an understanding of management responses to consumer behaviour and mobility, accessibility, individualism and tourism for both sacred and secular purposes. The book also examines the ways in which networks, partnerships and the conceptual stakeholder approach can be employed by religious tourism suppliers working with destination management organisations. The text promotes sustainable development and a triple bottom line focus, with all chapters supporting policy for framing development. Key features include: - Global perspective on tools as well as management approaches and techniques. - Emphasis on sustainability in connecting sacred and secular consumers. - Focus on promoting learning and development within this important tourism sector.

This book reviews tourist motivations for making religious or spiritual journeys, and the management aspects related to them. It explores sacred journeys across both traditional religions such as Christianity and Islam, and newer forms of pilgrimage, faith systems and quasi-religious activities such as sport, music and food. Demonstrating to the reader the intrinsic elements and events that play a crucial role within the destination management process, it provides a timely re-assessment of the increasing interconnections between religion and spirituality as a motivation for travel. Providing researchers and students of tourism, religious studies, anthropology and related subjects with an important review of the topic, this book aims to bridge the ever-widening gap between specialists within the religious, tourism, management and education sectors.

Modern religious tourism is a main segment of the tourism business. The main goal of religious tourism is aimed at developing human spirituality, spiritual healing, and culture, where a person receives the experience of cooperation, or involvement with the place in which he resides, his people, culture, and religion. This type of tourism is able to play a significant role in the overall goals of society and to promote the establishment of trusting relationships between people of all cultures and religions. Global Development of Religious Tourism is a crucial reference book that contains research on the current religious situation as well as the tourism industry and provides insights on their joint development. It is not possible to study any religious field without understanding the religion itself and its impact on any country’s political and social system. Therefore, the work also examines the impact of religion and tourism on economic and social developments across the world. Highlighting topics that include sanctuary cities, religious tourism management, and religious tourism in regions that span Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and more, this book is targeted to managers, executives, planners, and other professionals in the tourism and hospitality industry; government officials; religious leaders; and researchers, academicians, and students working in the fields of tourism management, business management, information and communication sciences, administrative sciences and management, education, and social and political sciences.

The Routledge Handbook of Religious and Spiritual Tourism provides a robust and comprehensive state-of-the-art review of the literature in this growing sub-field of tourism. This handbook is split into five distinct sections. The first section covers past and present debates regarding definitions, theories, and concepts related to religious and spiritual tourism. Subsequent sections focus on the supply and demand aspects of religious and spiritual tourism markets, and examine issues related to the management side of these markets around the world. Areas under examination include religious theme parks, the UNESCO branding of religious heritage, gender and performance, popular culture, pilgrimage, environmental impacts, and fear and terrorism, among many others. The final section explores emerging and future directions in religious and spiritual tourism, and proposes an agenda for further research. Interdisciplinary in coverage and international in scope through its authorship and content, this will be essential reading for all students, researchers, and academics interested in Tourism, Religion, Cultural Studies, and Heritage Studies.

Within the past 10 years ‘Religious Tourism’ has seen both economic and education-sector growth on a global scale. This book addresses the central role of religious tourism and interrelationships with other aspects of pilgrimage management. It provides practical applications, models and illustrations and looks at secular and sacred spaces on a global stage. The second edition sees the introduction of a new structure and the addition of new international case studies. It is an invaluable reference for academics, students and practitioners and is a timely text on the future of faith-based tourism and pilgrimage.

Islamic tourism is an increasingly important market sector. This book provides practical applications, models and illustrations of religious tourism and pilgrimage management from a variety of international perspectives, supported by case studies.

This book examines both specific issues and more general problems stemming from the interaction of religion, travel and tourism with hospitality and culture, as well as the implications for site management and interpretation. It explores the oldest form of religious tourism – pilgrimage – from its original form to the multiple spiritual and secular variations practised today, along with issues and conflicts arising from the collision of religion, politics and tourism. The volume considers the impact of tourism and tourist numbers on religious features, communities and phenomena, including the deliberate involvement of some religious agencies in tourism. It also addresses the ways in which religious beliefs and philosophies affect the behaviour and perceptions of tourists as well as hosts. The book illustrates how different faiths interact with tourism and the issues of catering for religious tourists of the major faiths, as well as managing the interaction between increasing numbers of secular tourists and pilgrims at religious sites.

Religious studies and research have gained a lot of interest and attention from researchers, policy makers, and practitioners over the last few years, but the socio-economic impacts have not been explored. Taking into account the profound economic impact the tourism and hospitality industries can have on regions and cities around the world, further research in this area is critical to analyze the extent of such impact and the ramifications that are associated with it. The Handbook of Research on Socio-Economic Impacts of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the social and economic factors in faith-based journeys. While highlighting topics such as tourist spending, spiritual tourism, and local development, this publication explores religious tourism in the middle age, as well as the methods of modern religious tourism. This book is ideally designed for business managers, cultural preservationists, academicians, business professionals, entrepreneurs, and upper-level students seeking current research on religious tourism and its socio-economic impacts.

The remarkable growth in religious tourism across the world has generated considerable interest in the impacts of this type of tourism. Focusing here on environmental issues, this book moves beyond the documentation of environmental impacts to examine in greater depth the intersections between religious tourism and the environment. Beginning with an in-depth introduction that highlights the intersections between religion, tourism, and the environment, the book then focuses on the environment as a resource or generator for religious tourism and as a recipient of the impacts of religious tourism. Chapters included discuss such important areas as theological views, environmental responsibility, and host perspectives.

Religious heritage and sacred sites offer an opportunity for visitors to explore a community's cultural knowledge. However, it is important to consider the role of interpretation, meaning, experience and narrative. This book is a timely re-assessment of the increasing interconnections between the management of diversity and religious tourism, and secular spaces on a global stage. It explores key learning points from a range of contemporary case studies on religious and pilgrimage activity; these relate to ancient, sacred and emerging tourist destinations, and new forms of pilgrimage, faith systems and quasi-religious activities. By providing a conceptual framework, the book demonstrates the symbolism of sacred spaces within religious traditions and the relationships developed between them. It offers explanations on how to manage and communicate religious diversity and provides a solid overview of: Religious tourism as a tool for intercultural dialogue; Interpretation of religious heritage for tourism; Cross-cultural contacts. This book will provide a valuable resource for those researching and practising tourism management, pilgrimage and religious tourism.