Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys

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.

Dallen J. Timothy is Associate Professor of Community Resources and Development at Arizona State University and Visiting Professor of Heritage Tourism at the University of Sunderland. Dr Timothy is editor of the Journal of Heritage Tourism and has published numerous books and articles on heritage, planning, borders, and religious tourism.

Daniel H. Olsen is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Waterloo. His research interests include religious heritage tourism, cultural geography, and the geography of religion. He has published several articles and book chapters on various aspects of heritage tourism, religious tourism, and cultural geography.