The Asia-Pacific region is considered the world's religious core with the greatest number of pilgrims and travellers for religious events, for both international and domestic tourism. It is estimated that there are approximately six hundred million national and international religious and spiritual voyages in the world, of which 40% take place in Europe and over half in Asia. According to UNESCO, 60% of the world's population practises a religion and these believers form the demographic base of religious tourism. This study has therefore clearly identified areas of interest that appeal to the religious aspects of travel and it is the responsibility of tourism administrators and travel professionals to glean this information and look at religious tourism as a resource in the same light as the sun, sea and sand holidays that are readily marketed by tourism professionals.

This innovative collaborative work—the first to focus on Buddhist tourism—explores how Buddhists, government organizations, business corporations, and individuals in Asia participate in re-imaginings of Buddhism through tourism. Contributors from religious studies, anthropology, and art history examine sacred places and religious monuments as they have been shaped and reshaped by socioeconomic and cultural trends in the region. Following an introduction that offers the first theoretical understanding of tourism from a Buddhist studies’ perspective, early chapters discuss the ways Buddhists and non-Buddhists imagine concepts and places related to the religion. Case studies highlight Buddhist peace in India, Buddhist heavens and hells in Singapore, Thai temple space, and the future Buddha Maitreya in China. Buddhist tourism’s connections to the state, market, and new technologies are explored in chapters on Indian package tours for pilgrims, thematic Buddhist tourism in Cambodia, the technological innovations of Buddhist temples in China, and the promotion of pilgrimage sites in Japan. Contributors then situate the financial concerns of Chinese temples, speed dating in temples in Japan, and the diffuse and pervasive nature of Buddhism for tourism promotion in Ladakh, India. How have tourist routes, groups, sites, and practices associated with Buddhism come to be possible and what are the effects? In what ways do travelers derive meaning from Buddhist places? How do Buddhist sites fortify national, cultural, or religious identities? The comparative research in South, Southeast, and East Asia presented here draws attention to the intertwining of the sacred and the financial and how local and national sites are situated within global networks. Together these findings generate a compelling comparative investigation of Buddhist spaces, identities, and practices.

This book brings together a range of case studies in the areas of religion, religious tourism and pilgrimage in Asia. It assesses the increasing linkages and interconnections between religious tourism and secular spaces on a global stage, and explores key learning points from a range of contemporary case studies of religious and pilgrimage activity related to ancient, sacred and emerging tourist destinations, new forms of pilgrimage, faith systems and quasi-religious activities. The development and marketing of religious tourism are also addressed in a few chapters. The book has 17 chapters, a list of discussion questions, and a subject index.

"Religious tourism in the Asia-Pacific region is considered the world's religious core with the greatest number of pilgrims and travellers for religious events, for both international and domestic tourism. It is estimated that there are approximately six hundred million national and international religious and spiritual voyages in the world, of which 40% take place in Europe and over half in Asia. This book addresses tourism and sacred sites within the region of Asia and the pilgrims that it beckons. Case studies from across the region present more practical examples of this 'hub' of pilgrimage centres"--

Temples are everywhere in Chiang Mai, filled with tourists as well as saffron-robed monks of all ages. The monks participate in daily urban life here as elsewhere in Thailand, where Buddhism is promoted, protected, and valued as a tourist attraction. Yet this mountain city offers more than a fleeting, commodified tourist experience, as the encounters between foreign visitors and Buddhist monks can have long-lasting effects on both parties. These religious contacts take place where economic motives, missionary zeal, and opportunities for cultural exchange coincide. Brooke Schedneck incorporates fieldwork and interviews with student monks and tourists to examine the innovative ways that Thai Buddhist temples offer foreign visitors spaces for religious instruction and popular in-person Monk Chat sessions in which tourists ask questions about Buddhism. Religious Tourism in Northern Thailand also considers how Thai monks perceive other religions and cultures and how they represent their own religion when interacting with tourists, resulting in a revealing study of how religious traditions adapt to an era of globalization.

Heritage and Religion in East Asia examines how religious heritage, in a mobile way, plays across national boundaries in East Asia and, in doing so, the book provides new theoretical insights into the articulation of heritage and religion. Drawing on primary, comparative research carried out in four East Asian countries, much of which was undertaken by East Asian scholars, the book shows how the inscription of religious items as "Heritage" has stimulated cross-border interactions among religious practitioners and boosted tourism along modern pilgrimage routes. Considering how these forces encourage cross-border links in heritage practices and religious movements in China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, the volume also questions what role heritage plays in a region where Buddhism, Taoism, and other various folk religious practices are dominant. Arguing that it is diversity and vibrancy that makes religious discourse in East Asia unique, the contributors explore how this particularity both energizes and is empowered by heritage practices in East Asia. Heritage and Religion in East Asia enriches understanding of the impact of heritage and religious culture in modern society and will be of interest to academics and students working in heritage studies, anthropology, religion, and East Asian studies.

Religion and spirituality are still among the most common motivations for travel - many major tourism destinations have developed largely as a result of their connections to sacred people, places and events. Providing a comprehensive assessment of the primary issues and concepts related to this intersection of tourism and religion, this revealing book gives a balanced discussion of both the theoretical and applied subjects that destination planners, religious organizations, scholars, and tourism service providers must deal with on a daily basis. Bringing together a distinguished list of contributors, this volume takes a global approach and incorporates substantial empirical cases from Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, New Ageism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and the spiritual philosophies of East Asia. On a conceptual level, it considers, amongst other topics: contested heritage the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy secularization of pilgrimage experiences religious humanism educational aspects of religious tourism commodification of religious icons and services. A vibrant collection of essays, this outstanding book discusses many important practices, paradigms, and problems that are currently being examined and debated. It raises an array of significant and interesting questions and as such is a valuable resource for students, scholars and researchers of tourism, religion and cultural studies.

This book delves into topics on pilgrimage travel and communities from a variety of perspectives through academic research based on the Middle East, Northeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Europe, where sacred sites have become of great importance for both international and domestic tourism. In particular, Europe and Asia possess a high volume of world-renowned pilgrimage sites that are currently being developed as tourism destinations in their respective countries, such as Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Lourdes (France), and Koyasan (Japan). This book includes studies on these two continents that harbor both a great history of pilgrimage tradition, as well as tourism development related to religious travel. The book importantly covers the role of the community in religious tourism, as well as the impact on the locals, which is comparatively an unexplored area. Whilst pilgrimage is seen as an effective tool to revitalize local economies, this book also reveals the different challenges to achieving this goal. Realizing the importance of the interrelationship of community and pilgrimage travel, as well as the lack of studies on it, this book seeks to address this research gap through 14 chapters divided into two parts, ‘Communities and Constestation’ and ‘Pilgrimage Shaping Communities’. To ensure diverse perspectives, case studies from different Eurasian countries, written by authors with expertise in the study of pilgrimage and religious travel, are included. Readers can expect to gain new perspectives by having a deeper comprehension of the ‘community side‘ of pilgrimage travel in Eurasia, and thus an integral understanding of contemporary pilgrimage

This book focuses on women in tourism in Muslim countries, specifically where a woman can be seen as a tourism consumer, or a woman producing tourism. This book discusses the role of women in the Muslim world and founds that socio-culturally Islam has a greater impact on women than men. The process of identity construction and the religious values of women have also been extensively researched. But little is known about the role of Muslim women in the tourism industry and this book addresses these themes in the Asian context. This book explores these ideas as defined key categories; Muslim women from Asia travelling to a non-Muslim country, non-Muslim women travelling to Asian Muslim countries, and Women working in the tourism field in Muslim countries. This book highlights Asian countries as holding a complex mixture of cultures and identities. As Muslim communities are central in many Asian countries the tourism experience is different mainly because of cultural norms and religion. Ultimately, this book examines whether and how these complexities enrich both women and tourism industry within Asian context.