Spiritual Tourism

In this paper, the phenomenon of “Places of Power” is discussed from a cultural, cognitive and psychophysical perspective in order to understand the specific mental state of people who sense the existence of "places of power" as well as the specific circumstances of their perception. Therefore, characteristics of modern life such as commercialisation, consumption and permanent connectedness are examined in order to explain widespread mental complaints such as burn-out or diverse forms of addiction. In this context, calming “places of power” are conceptualized as offering shelter from the pressures of the modern world. In the framework of Antonovsky’s concept of a “Sense of Coherence,” such places protect a person temporarily against irritations arising from daily life, allowing them to re-establish inner peace and orientation. To better explain the important social effects of distancing oneself from peer-groups in order to “transcend” social constraints, the tradition of pilgrimage is discussed. This traditional collective visitation of officially recognized “places of power” is explained using Maslow’s concept of the “hierarchy of needs”. Finally, this concept is adapted to natural places that could serve as individual “power places”, and the fundamental requirements needed to promote such places in the context of mental health tourism are discussed.

Guest contribution for the blog 'Urban-rural migration and rural revitalization in Japan' funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and hosted by Professor Cornelia Reiher from the Institue of Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. ベルリン大学日本社会学科管理のブログに、鳥取で行っている山岳信仰に関わる現場調査から得た成果やフィールドワークの現況についてくゲスト投稿. https://userblogs.fu-berlin.de/urban-rural-migration-japan/2021/10/29/guest-contribution-revitalization-attempts-of-buddhist-temples-in-the-rural-regions-of-tottori/

RESUMEN El objetivo del presente trabajo es mostrar la experiencia de la región de los Altos de Jalisco, con respecto al imaginario difundido para su promoción turística y el impacto que ha tenido en sus visitantes. Para ello, se hizo una revisión bibliográfica de diversos artículos acerca de turismo religioso tanto de sitios nacionales como internacionales, así como de artículos que tienen que ver con turismo y crecimiento económico o turismo y planeación económica. De igual forma se realizó la revisión y análisis del material promocional turístico de la región alteña, y se levantaron 1,500 encuestas a turistas para identificar el motivo de visita y el conocimiento que se tienes sobre la región. Como resultado se han podido encontrar datos que muestran que la difusión de esta región realizada por la dependencia gubernamental responsable de ello, y su estrategia para desarrollar una ruta turística ha tenido un impacto mínimo en los turistas. En conclusión, a diferencia del turismo religioso europeo, el de los Altos sigue teniendo más carácter devocional a pesar de los esfuerzos para su promoción turística. Palabras clave: Turismo Religioso – San Juan de los Lagos – Santo Toribio – Altos de Jalisco – Guerra Cristera ABSTRACT RELIGION AS A TOURISTIC PRODUCT: THE ALTOS DE JALISCO (MEXICO) CASE. This paper aims at showing the experience of the region of the Altos de Jalisco (Mexico), regarding the imaginary world diffused for its touristic promotion and how it had impacted visitors. We initiate by a review of the literature about religious tourism in Mexico and other countries, as well as about tourism and economic growth, and tourism and economic planning. We also analyzed the touristic promotional material of the region. A thousand and five hundreds tourists were inquired about their motives and their knowledge of the region. Our results show data which indicates that the government diffusion of this region, as well at the strategy to create a touristic itinerary, have had a very small influences over tourists. We conclude that, differently from the European religious tourism, the Altos de Jalisco tourism presents a more devoted haracter in spite of the efforts made for its touristic promotion.

This study emphasizes on Pondok institutions that serve as a religious education institution which has now been geared to be offering a new form of tourism product, known as "Pondok Pelancongan" program. The program is mainly aimed to cater for the Muslims tourists (domestic tourists) who look for religious knowledge and spiritual enhancement through Islamic touristic experience. Hence, this study attempts to identify tourist motivation to engage in "Pondok Pelancongan" program. The researcher has identified several factors that are better able to lead and attract tourists towards participating in the program. Interview sessions had been conducted with the government officers, religious practitioners and tourism association since they are well-versed with the program in an effort to get the information first-hand during the preliminary stage of the study. Apart from that, a questionnaire survey had been carried out to identify the demography of respondents, awareness and demand towards the program, and the importance of the push and pull factors towards the program. Finding shows that there is good demand for "Pondok Pelancongan" program even though the program is not quite familiar among the respondents. To a large extent, most of the respondents are willing to participate in the program which is a favourable indicator for the program to succeed in near future.

approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path" (p. 228) . Reading about Brown's alternative spiritual odyssey, however entertaining, is (for this reader, at least) in part a dispiriting experience. He chronicles so many seekers, so many channeled guides and messages, so many spiritual destinations to visit, and delivers so little in the way of genuine human (let alone spiritual) wisdom and good faith. Despite the patent sincerity of most seekers, the whole business of visiting gurus and holy places turns into a vast network of global travel, through which affluent and not so affluent Westerners 'other' the East, particularly India, and treat its traditions and religions as either recreational activities, or therapies for their personal problems. For anyone interested in contemporary religions and spiritualities, the West's focus on the 'wisdom of the East,' and the fascinating phenomenon of spiritual tourism, this book is essential, unmissable, reading.

Globalization and digitization are motivating organizations around the world to manage and internationalize their products and services. Adaptively, most Asian companies are internationalizing their businesses with respect to various industries; one obvious example is the tourism industry. The global tourism industry can be segmented into niche types such as heritage tourism, dark tourism, medical tourism, including spiritual tourism. The objective of this paper is to analyze the rise of spiritual tourism in South Asian countries and discusses its operations that are internationalized rather than being region-centric or locally focused. It is argued that public and private tourism operators in South Asia have realized that spiritual tourism presents an attractive product to invest and market based on people, places, and events. However, the challenge is to internationalize multi-faith spiritual tourism in the context of people, places, and events that would be the only way to develop and sustain this niche segment of the tourism business. It is discussed that there are various factors that could enable South Asian countries to effectively internationalize their spiritual tourism destinations. The paper concludes that business internationalization of South Asian spiritual tourism, will not only achieve economic development objectives, but also social and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and bi-lateral diplomatic goals for regional peace and prosperity.

Over the past few decades, Daoism has become a recognizable part of Western alternative spiritual life. Now, that Westernized version of Daoism is going full circle, traveling back from America and Europe to influence Daoism in China. Dream Trippers draws on more than a decade of ethnographic work with Daoist monks and Western seekers to trace the presence and spread of Westernized Daoism in contemporary China. David A. Palmer and Elijah Siegler take us into the daily life of the monastic community atop the mountain of Huashan, exploring its relationship to the socialist state; detail the international circuit of Daoist "energy tourism," which connects a number of sites throughout China; and examine the controversies around Western scholars who become practitioners and promoters of Daoism. They conclude with lively portrayals of encounters among the book's various characters—Chinese hermits and monks, Western seekers, and scholar-practitioners— as they interact with each other in obtuse, often humorous, and sometimes enlightening and transformative ways. Dream Trippers untangles the anxieties, confusions, and ambiguities that arise as the Chinese and American practitioners work through the tensions between cosmological attunement and radical spiritual individualism in their complex search for authenticity in a globalized world.

This article seeks to address the somewhat contentious issue regarding the marketing and selling of spirituality as a highly sought-after commodity in the West at present. Findings of ethnographic case study research conducted at two spiritual retreat tourism sites in New Zealand are presented. Spirituality will be framed though the conceptualisations and definitions provided by tourist and tourist host participants. The perceptions of people engaged in spiritual retreat tourism will be discussed alongside issues surrounding the commoditisation and commodification of spirituality. The critical analysis provided in this article has led the researcher to conclude that it may be a condition of modern capitalist society that people feel comfortable and are willing to pay for spiritual experiences. The case studies presented may be considered ‘best practice’ examples of when spirituality is commodified in an ethical way according to the consumers involved.

The academic literature on spiritual tourism is often limited to taxonomies of travel, and reasons for spiritually oriented tourism are analysed largely according to their economic, social and historical aspects. Despite the recent growth in interest in spiritually oriented tourism it has become increasingly apparent that to fully understand the practical implication for the field of spiritual tourism, a theoretical discussion on the discursive shift from a 'religious' to 'spiritual' experience of travel needs to be addressed. Although these concepts have only recently been touched upon in academic travel literature, they have been richly explored in literary travel-focused memoirs. It is the intention of this paper to conflate the theoretical discussion of spiritual tourism with personal accounts written by writers of literary travel memoirs. The first part of the paper will discuss the reasons for travelling for spiritual growth, as opposed to the traditional notion of religious pilgrimage supported by Michel Foucault's theory of the heterogeneous aspects of discursive formation. The second part of the paper looks into the existing ty-pologies of spiritual tourism and compares them to Joseph Campbell's (1973) stages of a mythic quest. Lastly, the third part supports the academic discussion with brief excerpts from three literary spiritual travel memoirs.

Spiritual tourism is different from religious tourism. Spiritual tourism is a tourism activity where tourists seek for spiritual experiences with no religion concern; while religious tourism is an ativity in relation with religion. Tourism stakeholders do not have clear undestanding yet of the difference between spiritual and religious tourism. This preliminary study is aimed to explore perspectives of tourism stakeholders in Bali for their understanding of spiritual tourism. A number of 23 samples stakeholders were taken from news of online media to find out their perspectives on spiritual tourism. They were divided into four categories, namely elements of goverment 4 samples, scholars 3 samples, tourism bussines practitioners 7 samples, and spiritual practitioners 8 samples. There were 3 main variables utilised to measure relationship between spiritual and religious tourism, such as Balinese culture, nature, and Hindu religion, including temples, ritual, and costumes. It was found that all stakeholders put weight on Balinese culture and nature. It means they all agreed that it was potential to develop spiritual tourism in Bali since it was supported by Balinese culture and nature. Tri Hita Karana, a Balinese local genius, had strong attention among stakeholders. On the other hand, their perspectives on relationship between spiritual tourism and Hindu religion varied among themselves. All elements of stakeholders put temples as part of activities of spiritual tourism. While inclusion of other aspects of Hindu religion, such as ritual and costume were still seen from perspective of the tourism bussines practitioners. Seen from the fact, the government must have initiative to set a meeting among all parties concerned to make one understanding of spiritual tourism, to put as regulation by the government.

Malaysia as an Islamic country is promoting tourism worldwide so as to attract more tourists to visit Malaysia. Islamic tourism is associated with the religious, spiritual and cultural aspects of tourism. Malaysia is a peaceful and harmonious country of various races and religions. There are also a lot of attractive destinations that are situated in every state in Malaysia. It was reported in 2009, a total of 284,890 Arab tourists came to Malaysia for various reasons such as for shopping, studying and experiencing the multicultural fiestas here. This paper is investigating the various features and popular destinations of Islamic tourism as practiced in Malaysia. Using a qualitative approach, the data was collected from books, journals, magazines, websites and documents. This paper will contribute towards a better understanding about Islamic tourism and Malaysia destinations for tourist.

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This draft will finally be published in the next issue of Asian Ethnology 78(2) later this year. It has changed considerably.

There are individual articulations of yoga-inflected lifestyles that form dominant narratives. These shared interpretations are directly influenced by the marketing strategies of the transglobal yoga industry's production of desire. In similar ways, Hindu supremacists, led by the likes of the Sangh Parivar, use a shared semantic assemblage that intersects and overlap with the conscious rhetoric of transglobal yoga. I refer to this shared idiom as a yoga-inflected narrative, which is powered by the Sanskrit episteme. This episteme can be loosely articulated as a set of 'Vedic' ideals. The aim of this paper is to map out the semantic boundaries of these utopian visions through a phenomenological approach. I assert that the shared core of these Vedic ideals is the pursuit of a sustainable world, which is expressed by the Sanskrit term dharma (ethical principles). This perceived environmentally friendly set of ideals, combined with the dominant apolitical disposition of transglobal yoga practitioners, allows a Hindu expansionist agenda to be infused through the global popularity of yoga. Through looking at the circuits of capital, and consumption of commodities and lifestyles within the transglobal yoga industry, this article explores an underappreciated relation between the quotidian practices of yoga practitioners and the global agenda of Hindu supremacism, and demonstrates how yoga, or rather the yoga body, can be a political instrument. I suggest that yoga practitioners, whether they choose to or not, engage in tacit, naive and unwitting support of a Hindu supremacist ideology.

The Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, better known as Rosslyn Chapel, was named ‘best attraction’ in the 2015-2016 Scottish Thistle Awards, selected ahead of other tourist attractions including the Wallace Monument, Stirling and Born in the Borders, an artisan brewery and visitor centre in Jedburgh. The Chapel also received a ‘prestigious Sandford Award for its education work’ and was certified Gold by the Green Tourism Business Scheme in 2016. Rosslyn Chapel is a small, elaborately decorated fifteenth century church in Roslin village, seven miles south of Edinburgh. The foundation stone was laid by William Sinclair, Third Earl of Orkney and First Earl of Caithness, in 1446. The chapel is owned by a trust administered by the Sinclair (St Clair) family, and in 2000 was in urgent need of repairs. The publication of Dan Brown’s sensationalist novel about Robert Langdon (a Harvard scholar of religious ‘symbology’) and Sophie Neveu (a French cryptologist) investigating Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s bloodline and the whereabouts of the Holy Grail, The Da Vinci Code (2003), featured Rosslyn prominently. The film, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou as Langdon and Sophie (2006), featured a climactic sequence at the site, and created a touristic audience with interests far removed from the original Catholic function of the Chapel, and from the research of Medieval Studies scholars

Prehistoric monuments in Britain are sites that have ‘drawn’ people throughout history, due to their impressive size, dramatic location in the landscape, and the sense of permanence and timelessness they convey. The religious attraction of such stones for modern Pagans has been studied in some detail, particularly in terms of renowned circles like Stonehenge and Avebury, but the appeal that Neolithic monuments have for ‘spiritual tourists’ has not been assessed to date. This article focuses on the Rollright Stones near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, a relatively accessible group of monuments that has an established body of folklore attached to the site, a profile in popular culture, and a recent history of use by modern Pagans as a ritual site. The author’s fieldwork at the Rollright Stones in 2014 produced three interrelated hypotheses: first, the primary appeal of prehistoric monuments for ‘spiritual tourists’ is aesthetic; second, that responding aesthetically to such monuments is an experience that feels ‘special’ to spiritual tourists and often involves an experience of the ‘numinous’; and third, this ‘specialness’ is linked to ideas about what it means to be human, the relationship of the past to the present and future, and to the process of identity-construction and the search for wellbeing that spiritual tourists typically engage with in their travels.

India has become one of the prominent
destinations for spiritual tourism with several
international tourists visiting multiple spiritual
tourist sites for their spiritual or religious
fulfilment. Limited research exists that investigate
in depth what really motivates an individual
to take on a spiritual journey. Literature also
demands enrichment in terms of challenges or
barriers to a spiritual tourism. Feedback from
the pilgrims can help shrine administration to
effectively utilise the donor money in improving
the facilities during the journey and experience
of the spiritual tourist. Through this paper, we
make an effort to address this gap by conducting
in-depth interviews of pilgrims of two most
prominent spiritual tourism sites in North India,
analysing their narratives using interpretative
methods. We present pilgrim’s feedback on the
motivational aspects of their spiritual tourism
as well as challenges encountered during the
journey. Feedback from them is reported for
enhanced experience.

Dissertation Research Proposal -SOAN 60922 Student Number -8557204O MAVA Second Semester -2012/2013 Word Count -3965 The Other Becomes Another Considerations over the commercialization of spirituality, healing rituals and neo-shamanism in the Amazon basin of Peru \ 1. Abstract This dissertation is concerned with the socio-economic dynamics present in the Peruvian jungle regarding the modern usage of the psychoactive brew ayahuasca. To what extent has one of the most ancient indigenous panaceas become an institutionalized commercial product for foreigners to come and experience a sort of fast-food version of shamanism. And how do the natives and Indian mestizos see the proliferation of this profit orientated and very unique, even extreme, kind of tourism? Supported by Michael Taussig's concepts of cultural mimesis and Luis Eduardo Luna's extensive work and practice with ayahuasca I seek to comprehend

Spiritual tourism has been proposed as a phenomenon in leisured travel. It is defined as tourism characterised by a self-conscious project of spiritual betterment. A small number of scholars have commented on it both directly and indirectly, and it is clear from these reports that there are a wide variety of practices in a great many locations around the world. What has not received sufficient scholarly treatment yet is the phenomenological taxonomy of spiritual tourist experiences, in part due to the divergent conceptions of what the term encompasses. By proposing a focused yet malleable frame of reference for the term it is possible to create a taxonomy that is empirically driven and that has application in the broader field of tourism studies. As such, this article argues that spiritual tourist experiences should be roughly grouped into five varietal categories – healing, experimental, quest, retreat, and collective – that often overlap, and which serve to illuminate broader social currents in Western societies.

Dalam penelitian ini, penulis menemukan potensi wisata lain yang mampu dikembangkan dan ramah terhadap lingkungan, yaitu wisata spiritual. Penulis menemukan beberapa potensi pariwisata spiritual yang berbasis alam, musik, kreativitas, aktivitas fisik, dan aktivitas spiritual. Namun untuk wisata spiritual berbasis konseling belum dapat terdata dikarenakan tidak tersedianya informasi yang jelas terkait jasa konseling tersebut. Dengan melalukan analisis dan pembuatan strategi pengembangan melalui Analisis S.W.O.T, penulis memberikan gambaran terkait Kekuatan dan Kelemahan pada potensi-potensi yang dimiliki oleh Kabupaten Badung, serta menggambarkan Peluang dan Tantangan yang ada dan mungkin dihadapi dalam mengembangkan potensi pariwisata spiritual ini.

Spiritüel turizm; kişinin inançlarına ya da inancına olanak sağlayan kutsal bir mekâna veya türbeye, tapınağa ya da mabede yapılan bir seyahat olmasının yanı sıra kendi özünü bulma arayışı olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Temelinde, turistin sadece seyahati süresince değil, hayatı boyunca geçerli olabilecek deneyimler kazanmasını amaçlamaktadır. Bu nedenle sadece dini amaçlarla olmayıp, turistlerin spiritüel bakış açısı kazanarak kendi içsel dünyalarını keşfetmek amacıyla yaptıkları seyahatler spiritüel turizmin kapsamında değerlendirilmektedir. Nitel araştırma tekniği kullanılan bu araştırmada öncelikle alan yazın incelemesi yapılmıştır. Ardından dünyada aktif olarak görülen spiritüel turizm hareketleri incelenmiştir. Araştırma, spiritüel turizm hareketlerinin nerelerde ve ne şekilde gerçekleştiğini ortaya çıkarmayı ve ileriye dönük spitirüel turizm potansiyelini ortaya çıkarmayı amaçlamaktadır. Ulusal alan yazındaki kısıtlılıktan dolayı uluslararası alan yazından yararlanılarak yapılan bu araştırmada spiritüel turizmin gerçekleştiği ve turizme kazandırılmaya çalışılan spiritüel alanları etkin bir biçimde kullanan destinasyon faaliyetleri incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, her bir ülkenin kendine has spiritüel değerlerinin ve uygulamalarının olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Özellikle Hindistan, Nepal, Peru ve Bali gibi destinasyonların spiritüel turizm pazarlaması alanında planlamalar yaparak ülke turizmini geliştirmeye çalıştıkları görülmektedir. Ancak bu pazarlama planlarının ağırlıklı olduğu segmentler, ülkeden ülkeye farklılık gösterdiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Spiritüel Turizm, Spiritüalizm, Turizm, Spiritüel Turist Tipolojisi. Abstract Spiritual tourism is defined as not only a journey to a sacred place, a tomb or to a temple, a sanctuary that allows one's beliefs, but also it is defined as a quest to find your own sense of self. Basically, spiritual tourism aims to enable tourists to gain experiences that can be viable not only during travel, but throughout life. For this reason, travels not only for religious purposes but also travels that are made by gaining spiritual point of view in order to explore their inner worlds are considered within spritual tourism. In this research using qualitative research technique, firstly literature review was conducted. Then, the spiritual tourism movements that are active in the world are examined. The research aims to reveal where and how the spiritual tourism movements take place and to reveal the potential of future spritual tourism. Due to the limitation of national literature research, in this study, which is made by using international literature review, spritual areas in which spritual tourisms are took place and which are being tried to gain tourism are investigated in this study. As a result of this study, it has been revealed that each country has its own unique spiritual values and practices. Especially destinations such as India, Nepal, Peru and Bali are seen to have been trying to improve the country tourism by making plans in spiritual tourism marketing. However, segments where these marketing plans are predominant have reached the result that they vary from country to country.

There are two images of Sir. Patrick Geddes that have been received by subsequent generations, Geddes the Liberal and Geddes the Mystic. This paper examines the ways in which revived sensitivity to the wisdom and limitations of Geddes the Mystic may help facilitate the process of transforming human-nature relations and staving off the cultural and ecological genocide of Modernity.

The twentieth century saw travel for leisure or pleasure –  tourism –  reach a position of centrality in the cultural praxis of large swathes of Western society. Situated as a component part of larger trends such as social mobility, consumerism, individual freedom, and eclectic postmodernity, travel quickly acquired a multivocal capability in Western narrative. To travel for leisure became a statement of means, of class (for example, Butlins in contrast with St Moritz), and of identity, but also of belief, desire, and fantasy. These were tropes familiar from the accounts of Grand Tourists, medieval pilgrims, and other travellers throughout prior centuries. However, travel also became mundane; something expected of a normal person, and, in certain ways, something to be loathed. At the same time, changes in the religious topography of the West were also afoot. These changes have often been characterised as the result of ‘secularisation’ or ‘modernity’, though these concepts have been heavily critiqued in recent years.  What can certainly be said is that the religious landscape of the West demonstrated certain numerically small, though thematically important, changes that indicated, amongst other things, a turn ‘Eastwards’, as Colin Campbell has asserted.  That is, we can observe an increasing openness to ideas of a non-Western origin (even given the problems attendant upon representations of ‘the East’ highlighted by Edward Said) for religious and spiritual inspiration. It has become clear that in the Western cultural milieu, this was, in part, fuelled by the writings of Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, one of founders of the Theosophical Society, and her followers and heirs.  Their legacy has been the normalisation of travel to countries such as India for the purposes of spiritual benefit.

The second volume of Religion, Pilgrimage and Tourism concerns how people have experienced religious travel from the ancient world through to modernity. The difficulties incumbent upon separating out ‘pilgrimages’ from ‘religious travel’, and ‘religious’ travel from journeying for purposes other than religious duty or spiritual benefits form the substance of the first volume in this series. Erik Cohen identified eight possible models of tourism that are relevant and applicable to forms of religious travel across both time and space/place. These are: 1) tourism as commercialised and industrialised hospitality, emphasising the tourist as guest; 2) tourism as democratised travel, emphasising the tourist as traveller; 3) tourism as leisure, emphasising the tourist’s recreational activities; 4) tourism as modern pilgrimage, emphasising the tourist’s interactions with the sacred during travel; 5) tourism as a manifestation of specific cultural themes, emphasising emic understandings by tourists of themselves; 6) tourism as a form of acculturation process, emphasising the tourist’s encounters with the host culture(s) as transformative; 7) tourism as a site of ethnic interrelations, which is similar to the acculturation model; and 8) tourism as a form of colonialism or neo-colonialism, emphasising the ways tourists expect to find home comforts and social structures replicated for their convenience in travel destinations (Cohen 1984: 375-376). These eight interpretations are utilised to interpret various sites of travel activity in the past, and to problematise the relationships between pilgrimage and tourism, sacred and secular, and obligation and recreation, and to draw attention to issues of gender and class impacting upon the historical study of religious travel.

Ayahuasca is the most common term which refers to a plant based hallucinogenic beverage made with the jungle lianas Banisteriopsis Caapi (Schultes 1972:35; De Rios 1984:8). Through a review of this literature, my project evaluates how the changing geographic boundaries, cultural context and worldview of ayahuasca users alter the intention and meaning of ayahuasca usage. This paper provides a contextual overview of hallucinogenic plants in Central and South America, key themes in shamanism and Amazonian shamanism. Local Amazonian ayahuasca use in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, Brazilian ayahuasca religions, neo-shamanism and ayahuasca drug tourism literature is presented and analyzed drawing upon Van Gennep’s (1960) “Rites de Passage”, Victor Turner’s (1970) “Liminality”, Shaw and Stewart’s (2003) problematization of syncretism and Grimes’ (1992) characteristics of the reinvention of ritual. Literature regarding therapeutic/medicinal ayahuasca use and ayahuasca legality is also presented. I argue recent and contemporary ayahuasca use may utilize traditional elements of Amazonian shamanism, though depart from Indigenous cosmology as ideologies governing it’s use become syncretic, institutionalized and influenced by Western individualism.

Spiritual tourism is different from religious tourism. Spiritual tourism is a tourism activity where tourists seek for spiritual experiences with no religion concern; while religious tourism is an ativity in relation with religion. Tourism stakeholders do not have clear undestanding yet of the difference between spiritual and religious tourism. This preliminary study is aimed to explore perspectives of tourism stakeholders in Bali for their understanding of spiritual tourism. A number of 23 samples stakeholders were taken from news of online media to find out their perspectives on spiritual tourism. They were divided into four categories, namely elements of goverment 4 samples, scholars 3 samples, tourism bussines practitioners 7 samples, and spiritual practitioners 8 samples. There were 3 main variables utilised to measure relationship between spiritual and religious tourism, such as Balinese culture, nature, and Hindu religion, including temples, ritual, and costumes. It was found that all stakeholders put weight on Balinese culture and nature. It means they all agreed that it was potential to develop spiritual tourism in Bali since it was supported by Balinese culture and nature. Tri Hita Karana, a Balinese local genius, had strong attention among stakeholders. On the other hand, their perspectives on relationship between spiritual tourism and Hindu religion varied among themselves. All elements of stakeholders put temples as part of activities of spiritual tourism. While inclusion of other aspects of Hindu religion, such as ritual and costume were still seen from perspective of the tourism bussines practitioners. Seen from the fact, the government must have initiative to set a meeting among all parties concerned to make one understanding of spiritual tourism, to put as regulation by the government.

Pilgrimage tourism in India is an inseparable part and parcel of their life. India’s tradition, legacy, culture and other pious beliefs are the most determinant factors of undertaking pilgrimage tours across the many religions. More than 1/3rd of the total population in India is conventionally having the habit of undertaking pilgrimage tourism to fulfill their religious vows and also to perform some rituals for their forefathers especially in Varanasi and Rameshwaram Hindus traditionally performing yagas for their parents. Most of the Pilgrimage centres in India are the most attracting tourism spots as well as the recreation centres which would force them to make trips regularly in a year. Pilgrimage is popular in all regions in all strata of people without any cohesion. Their own traditional beliefs and way of life is also one among the adding of factor of undertaking tourisms. Important pilgrimage centers like Madhura, Ayodhya, Ajmer, Velankkanni, Kanchipuram, Amritsar and Langodhriare the living spots of holy people, burns and customary old aghoris which are following mystical standards. The author brings out an elaborate effort to trace the importance of pilgrimage tourism and recently implemented PRASAD and HRIDAY schemes role of rejuvenating and also how far the programs are acted as a catalyzing agent for the promotion pilgrimage tourism and initiatives are discussed below under some important heads. Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation drive a public venture formed by the Union Ministry of Tourism.

Buddhism as the Unique Selling Proposition is not only a strategy to draw future tourists to the region, but also a strategy to position Buddhism as something ‘unique’ to Ladakh and as the primary brand image of the region drawing upon the ‘imaginative value’ of Buddhism and the cultural resources that Buddhism as a globally attractive and popular religion may bring. This chapter is based on ethnographic research in the region since 2011, and includes over 18 months of fieldwork among Ladakhis in India. My methodology draws upon qualitative data gathered through fieldwork stays, formal and informal interviews, participant observation documented through field notes, long-term and ongoing social media research, and analysis of marketing materials such as websites, brochures and guidebooks. This chapter contributes to our understanding of Buddhist commodification through investigating the positioning of Buddhism as a Ladakhi ‘brand’ and the imaginative value that Buddhism brings to tourism marketing.

RESUMEN El turismo religioso es una opción estratégica de desarrollo para muchos destinos. Requiere orientación al turismo, importante inversión de capital privado y público, y pre-disposición de las autoridades eclesiásticas para adaptarse a las necesidades del visitante. Este artículo examina el turismo religioso de carácter católico en distintos lugares de México y Europa y valora implicaciones relacionadas con el ciclo de vida. Finalmente, se hacen recomendaciones para desarrollar el potencial de los lugares analizados, y para el avance del concepto de ciclo de vida de destinos turísticos religiosos. Palabras clave: turismo religioso, ciclo de vida de un destino. Life-cycle stages in religious tourism development: a comparison of case studies ABSTRACT The religious tourism is a strategic development option for many destinations. It requires a tourism orientation, significant private and public capital investment, and a willingness on the part of religious authorities to adapt to visitor needs. The aim of this article is to examine the development of Catholic tourism in different Mexican and European regions and assess related life-cycle implications. Recommendations are made for developing the potential of

This paper discusses imitation or ‘fake’ stone circles built in countries that have no such monuments (like America and Australia) and also in Britain. I argue that building these circles is a contemporary re-enchantment of the landscape. Those who encounter the enhanced natural setting in non-religious contexts are impressed and aesthetically persuaded, and those who are Pagans or 'spiritual' often appropriate these fake circles as sites appropriate for modern rituals.

From books to movies, the media is now flush with spiritual and wellness tourist-related images, films, and fiction (which are primarily produced in the West) about Southeast Asia. Combined with the positive effects of spiritual practices, greater numbers of tourists are travelling to Southeast Asia for mindfulness, yoga, and other spiritual pursuits. Influenced by popular mass media coverage, such as Hollywood movies and literary bestsellers like Eat Pray Love (2006) and tourism imaginaries about particular peoples and places, spiritual tourists are visiting Southeast Asia in increasing numbers. They travel to learn about and practice mindfulness, so as to recharge their batteries, achieve spiritual fulfillment, enhance their spiritual well-being, and find a true self. However, there is a notable lack of scholarly work around the nature and outcomes of spiritual tourism in the region. Owing to its Buddhist temples, cultural heritage, religious history, infrastructure, and perceived safety, Chiang Mai in Thailand, in particular, has become a major spiritual tourism destination. Based on participant observation including informal conversations, and 10 semi-structured interviews in Chiang Mai during two summers in 2016 and 2018, our research explored why Western tourists travel to Chiang Mai to engage in mindfulness practices regardless of their religious affiliation. We explored their faith in their spiritual practice in Chiang Mai. Rather than the faith implied in religion, this faith refers to trust or confidence in something. Interestingly, none of the informants identified themselves as Buddhist even though many had practiced Buddhist mindfulness for years. They had faith that mindfulness would resolve problems, such as depression and anxiety, following life events such as divorces, deaths in family, drug abuse, or at least help free them from worries. They noted that mindfulness practices were a constructive means of dealing with negative life events. This study found that the informants sought to embed mindfulness and other spiritual practices into the fabric of their everyday life. Their faith in mindfulness led them to a destination where Buddhist heritage, history, and culture are concentrated but also consumed. Whilst discussing the preliminary findings through a critical lens, the research recommends future research pathways.

Citation: Parsons, H., Houge Mackenzie, S., & Filep, S. (2019). Facilitating self-development: How tour guides broker spiritual tourist experiences. Tourism Recreation Research.  Recent research on co-created tours has suggested that guides broker tourist experiences in four domains: physical access, understanding, encounters, and empathy. However, tour guides’ mediation of an individual’s inner journey or experience has not been a focus of scholarly literature to date. This study addressed this gap in the literature by examining the processes tour guides use to broker guests’ self-development within a spiritual tourism context. Semi-structured interviews conducted with spiritual tourism guides revealed the following common themes and chronological processes that spiritual tourism guides employed to broker guests’ self-development: Preparation (psychological and emotional); Establishing ‘Enclave’ (creating a space of emotional safety); Mentoring (identifying opportunities for growth & development); Facilitating Reflection; and Encouraging Integration. These findings supported the four proposed brokering domains, as well as suggesting a fifth domain: brokering the tourist’s ‘inner journey’ and self-development. The theoretical and practical implications of these brokering domains in relation to spiritual tourism are discussed.

This PowerPoint presentation (Part B) accompanied the oral presentation (Part A).
It discusses the changing concept of spirituality in post modern
society; the decline of allegiance to religious doctrine; the movement toward development of the self and interconnectedness with the earth; the influence of cultural, environmental and ecological consciousness; and the development of and increase in secular pilgrimage. Further, it discusses the impact spiritual capital, gained from the journey, can have in the work, social and family communities of travellers..."

The musical aspect of religious tourism is currently amongst the less investigated themes. A first survey suggests that although it does not appear to be the main motivation for religious travel, it is a valued component of the experience. The aim of this study is to explore how sounds operate to forge social and spiritual identifications on the principles of Lefebvre’s rhythm analysis (2004).
This paper contributes to the emerging field of experiential tourism research by confirming that religious experiences are not only interior but also involve sensory experiences. It follows that tourists’ sensory experiences should be a key component of any comprehensive tourist satisfaction assessment. In an empirical case study in cities of Southern Italy we explored the phenomenon of religious bands. This is part of an ongoing study that employs music, religion and tourism as a platform, situating music as a basis for advocating engagement with spirituality and religion tourism