Short description:

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.

Long description:

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.

Table of Contents:

1. Investigating the intersections between religion, spiritualty, and tourism. Section I: Definitions, Theories, and Concepts. 2. Pilgrimages, journeys, and outings: The historical mobilities of religious praxis. 3. The political economy of religious and spiritual tourism. 4. The religious and spiritual dimensions of leisure travel. 5. Religion, spirituality, and wellness tourism. 6. A new spiritual marketplace: Comparing New Age and New Religious Movements in an age of spiritual and religious tourism. 7. Fan pilgrimage, religion, and spirituality. 8. Secular pilgrimages in a post-secular world? Experiential journeys and hope for the future. 9. Pilgrimage, tourism, and peace building. Section II: Spaces and Places. 10. Environment as a sacred space: Religious and spiritual tourism and environmental concerns in Hinduism. 11. Tourism and spirituality: Green places, blue spaces, and beyond. 12. The religious and spiritual appeal of national parks. 13. Religious theme parks. 14. Religious and spiritual retreats. 15. Religious and spiritual world heritage sites. Section III: Motivations, Experiences, and Performance. 16. Travel motivations of pilgrims, religious tourists, and spirituality seekers. 17. Volunteer tourism: A spiritual and religious journey of meaning, transcendence, and connectedness. 18. Experiences along the Camino de Santiago. 19. Gender and performance in the context of religious and spiritual tourism: pilgrimage and sacred mobilities. 20. Issues of authenticity in religious and spiritual tourism. 21. Aftermath: Calculating the effects of pilgrimage. Section IV: Managing religious and spiritual tourism. 22. Socio-political and economic implications of religious and spiritual tourism. 23. The environmental impacts of religious and spiritual tourism. 24. Marketing religious and spiritual tourism experiences. 25. Managing religious and spiritual tourism sites. 26. Managing complex issues in religious and spiritual events, festivals and celebrations. 27. The use of information and communication technologies in religious tourism. 28. Interpreting religious and spiritual tourism destinations/sites. 29. Coexistence between tourists and monks: Managing temple-stay tourism at Koyasan, Japan. 30. Food and religion: Tourism perspectives. 31. Safety, fear, risk, and terrorism in the context of religious tourism. 32. Religious and spiritual tourism: Sustainable development perspectives. Section V: Emerging and Future Directions. 33. Religion, spiritualty, and tourism: Emerging and future directions.