Tourism and Religion

Issues and Implications

Edited by Richard Butler, Wantanee Suntikul

Publication date:

30 January 2018

Publisher

Channel View Publications

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781845416454

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.

List of Contributors

List of Tables

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Biographies

1. Wantanee Suntikul and Richard Butler: Tourism and Religion; Origins, Interactions and Issues

Faiths and Tourism

2. John King: Indigenous Tourism: The Most Ancient of Journeys

3. Kevin O’Gorman: Origins of Hospitality in Monastic and Christian Orders

4. Razaq Raj and Kristel Kessler: Inspiration for Muslims to Visit Mosques

5. Noga Collins and Nimrod Luz: Judaism and Tourism over the Ages: The Impacts of Technology, Geopolitics and the Changing Political Landscape

6. Yuji Nakanishi: Shintoism and Travel in Japan

7. Pushkar Kanvinde and Binumol Tom: Hinduism and Tourism

8. Cora Wong: The Monks and Nuns of Pu-Tuo as Custodians of their Sacred Buddhist Site

Issues and Problems

9. Matina Terzidou, Caroline Scarles and Mark Saunders: The Vow and Tourist Travel

10. Noga Collins-Kreiner and Deborah Shmueli: Politics, Tourism, Religion, and Conflicts: A Suggested Framing Framework

11. Rami K. Isaac: Religious Tourism in Palestine: Challenges and Opportunities

12. David Mercer: Marketing Myanmar: The Religion/Tourism Nexus in a Fragile Polity

13. Elina Ostrometskaia and Kevin Griffin: Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage in Russia

Secular Tourism in Sacred Places

14. Silvia Aulet Serralonga: Spiritual Tourism in Europe, the SPIRIT-Youth Project

15. Dallen J. Timothy and Daniel H. Olsen: Religious Routes, Pilgrim Trails: Spiritual Pathways as Tourism Resources

16. Simon Curtis: Reaching Out – Engagement through Events and Festivals – the Cathedrals of England

17. Daniel H. Olsen and Dallen J. Timothy: Tourism, Salt Lake City, and the Cultural Heritage of Mormonism

18. Amos S. Ron: Religious needs in the tourism industry: the perspective of Abrahamic tradition

Conclusions

19. Richard Butler and Wantanee Suntikul: Tourism and Religion: Themes, Issues and Conclusions

This book reveals uncharted controversies and conflicts and moves beyond traditional academic approaches of ‘religious tourism’. It brilliantly explores political issues, fundamentalism, commercialization and sustainability using a tourism rather than religious lens. Butler and Suntikul do a wonderful job linking complex issues and exploring sacred sites, religious conflicts, tourism development and marketing through holistic and wider sustainability interpretation.