Religious Tourism - Pilgrimage, Mecca the Hajj, the Wailing Wall, the Harmandir Sahib - Essay Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Title : Religious Tourism Date : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx @ 2010 Religious Tourism Introduction Religious tourism can also be referred to as a faith tourism that entails individuals or a group of believers traveling for missionary, pilgrimage and fellowship leisure purposes. One of the most common forms of religious tourism is the one that takes place in Saudi Arabia where millions of Muslims globally pay a visit to the Hajj pilgrimage annually to the Mecca. In North America, there is an estimation of about 10 billion U.S dollars in this industry (Clare, 2007). There are many facets of travel in the industry of religious tourism and these are such as missionary travel, faith-based cruising, retreats, conventions, religious tourist attractions, missionary travel among others Pilgrimage Pilgrimage can be defined as a very long journey that is taken by believers of different religions throughout the world and it is a very important journey to the faith and beliefs of an individual or a group of people all over the world. A person taking this long journey is referred to as a pilgrim. The main aim of a pilgrim is to ensure that he or she has made a significant development in his or her faith beliefs and has also added moral significance into their lives (Meri, 2005). Pilgrimage is practiced by members of different religions ranging from Islamic religion to Christianity and they all do it in accordance with their own beliefs and faith. As the journey begins for both Christians and Muslims, the focal point is the Holy land and pilgrimages for the Abrahamic religions like Islam, Judaism and Christianity all tend to take place in Israel. The visitation sites of such places in Israel were already built by 7th century BCH and this was at the time when worship had only been restricted to the YHWH and this used to take place in the temple of Jerusalem. Other pilgrimage sites also existed in the 4th century such as the shrine of Astarte which was destroyed by Constantine in Syria since he did not believe in it. Another notable forms of pilgrimage is the one that used to take place in Greece where individuals would make their way to the oracle of Dodona or Zeus and they did this once after every four years mainly during the Olympic Games in Greece and the temple of Olympia created space for swarms of people who came from each part of the Hellenic world. Alexander the great also participated in pilgrimage because when he reached in Egypt he decided to put all his vast on hold so that he could go and consult the oracle of Ammun and he did this into the Libyan Desert. He did this because he also believed so much in pilgrimage and he wanted to improve his faith and beliefs. Many people from Greece inscribed for the shrine of Isis which was in Palate and they did this on behalf of the kindred’s that were far away. Pilgrimage has turned out to be one of the most common experiences between people all around the world with different beliefs. This common belief between people from different parts of world is referred to as Jungian archetype. For religious people form all parts of the world, pilgrimage is a very important thing and they do anything that they can so as not to miss out. Muslims who want to pay a visit to the Mecca can do anything within their reach so as not to miss the event at the Mecca. Religions with the most common pilgrimage sites are such as Islam, Sikhism and Judaism (Hitrec, 1991). Islam Islam is one of the religions that remain outstanding as far as pilgrimage is concerned and this is because they believe that each member of the Islamic religion has to reach to the Mecca at one point in their life before meeting the creator. Mecca is also believed to be one of the five pillars that make up the Muslim religion both in the ancient years and in the modern world. The pilgrimage to the Hajj is the most important in the life of an able-bodied, dedicated or committed Muslim thus every Muslim is supposed reach there at least once ion their lifetime. Another place that is important in the Islamic religion is in Saudi Arabia the City of Medina. This is city in which Muhammad rests and this is also where the mosque of the prophet. In the Islamic religion, this is viewed as the second best or the holiest place just after the Mecca and the mosque where Muhammad rests is known as the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi. When the Muslims go to the Mecca, they are expected to wear white robes which signify how pure they are. The white robes are known as Ihram and it is a symbol of holy virtue and forgiveness from sins of the past. During this time there are things that they are not allowed to such as not quarreling, wearing shoes that cover their ankle, clipping their nails, killing any living creature, putting on perfumes and so on. If they are found doing some of the things that are forbidden, then their pilgrimage is considered to be uncompleted. Mecca the Hajj Judaism This pilgrimage took place in the city of Jerusalem since the temple here was the centre of the religion of the Jews. The temple had been the centre of the Jewish religion until when it was destroyed in 70 CE. After it was being destroyed, every male adult was required to come and pay it a visit while offering a sacrifice. After the second temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, the act of pilgrimage had been discontinued for a while and it was replaced by prayers and other rituals with hopes of returning to Zion and restoring the regular pilgrimages that they had initially. Pilgrimage had been one of the most difficult and tiresome adventures that people used to take until in the recent centuries where things have changed a bit. Periodic pilgrimages are made by Jews in their countries and in their religion’s holy sites. The Wailing Wall in the city of Jerusalem remains to be one of the most religious and most sacred sites in their country. Pilgrimage was off-limits in this area between the year 1948-1967 and this is the time when Jerusalem was under the control of Jordan. To this day there are many Jews who still enjoy paying Israel a visit even though the pilgrimage is not official. For people who are interested in viewing pilgrimage sites, there are many sites all over Israel and world wide such as Bethlehem, Egypt among others. They can visit these sites and learn more about pilgrimage from a personal perspective since they will have seen the sites by themselves. The Wailing Wall Sikhism This is one of the religions that do not have much interest in pilgrimage. This religion highly believes that God’s name should be referred to as the real pilgrimage since it consists of the word of God and a lot of cultivation for inner knowledge. However, the golden temple known as the Amritsar and Harmandir Saheb turned out to be the centre of the faith of Sikh since whenever they wanted to go for pilgrimage then this is the place where they would go to (Eleanor, 2005). On the other hand, the Zoroastrians take their pilgrimage trips to India in two places one in Yazd and the other to Atash Behrams. The Harmandir Sahib Secular Pilgrimage In the modern world there is a different kind of pilgrimage because the term pilgrimage has acquired a different form. Pilgrimage sites have been included for secular importance such as making them a place to be visited such as war memorial parks for business purposes. Even cultural centers can be referred to as a pilgrimage site in the modern world (Margry, 2008). Religious Travel This is not a new phenomenon because religion has been an integral motive for undertaking journeys and this is considered to be one of the oldest forms of non-economic travel for a very long time. Every year millions of people all over the world travel to major pilgrimage destinations world wide in both modern and ancient origins. It is estimated that around 240 million people go on pilgrimages per year and the majority of these people are Christians, Hindus and Muslims since they are the ones who had pilgrimage sites in the ancient world and those sites are still in existence in the modern world. In recent decades, pilgrimage visits have become one of the popular travels and it is widespread and this has occupied a very big and most important of international tourism and this has grown in both absolute and proportional terms in the modern world. This segment of the market is believed to be increasing with time because it is widespread and more people are getting introduced to it thus the future of religious tourism is bright. The growth of tourism in the modern world has also contributed a lot to increases in spiritually motivated travels even though everyone who participates in it may not be religious persons (Maree, 2004). In the modern world, religious institutions can be found in all the corners of the world thus religious tourism will continue to develop at a faster rate with increase in time. Religious tourism is one of the areas that have not had enough research since most people just focus on studying local tourism in local countries. This form of tourism is one of the most effective aspect of tourism but most studies on research does not focus on, they only associate their studies with tourism that is mentioned in the markets on business news. Religion has played a very big role on how people utilize their leisure time over the past decades and in the modern world thus patterns of modern travel may be hard to understand unless religion has been understood and considered. In the modern world it has come to the notice of governments, scholars and tourism agencies that there are increasing numbers of travelers who are religiously motivated or an increase in the number sacred sites being visited by tourists and this has been working in conjunction with the growth of both tourism heritage and cultural diversity in the modern world. The interest of the public has greatly increased due to the fact that there is growth and potential in religious tourism (Maree, 2004). This has resulted to venerated places to be viewed as resources for tourism that can be commodified for travelers who have interest in historic and cultural sites in the modern world. Churches, cathedrals and other sacred architecture are used in literature to promote tourism and this is evidenced in efforts that have been put by marketing that exists in the modern world and the growing interest in religious sites that are being frequented by tourists that are curious and those who are also interested in cultural sites in the world. There are many practical and theoretical concerns in the study of religious tourism and these concerns are such as defining the characteristics of religious travel, management and interpretations of sacred sites and how tour guides are trained. The study on religion and tourism has been done in three different approaches and these approaches are such as the spatial approach, the historical approach and the cultural approach. The spatial approach entails having tourists and pilgrims occupying the same space but with different spatial behaviors, the historical approach entails studying the relationship existing between tourism and religious forms of travel and the cultural approach mainly focuses on pilgrimage and modern practices of tourism. Much research has been done on religious tourism but more research needs to be done in the modern world since religious tourism seems to be one of the most significant forms of tourism in the modern world (Adele, 2002). Tourism in the Modern World Tourism and travel has been part of human beings experience since time in memorial and it can be described as a form of nomadism that Homo sapiens used to find pleasure in both in a normal and right conditions. Tourism and travel has always been part of human beings because they have always traveled from one place to another since traditional days to the present world. In the traditional days a person used to travel on foot but in the modernized world a lot has changed because people are able to travel over long distances within a short period of time and this is due to more advanced levels of technology (Bhatia, 2007). After clearly defining what tourism is then one can be able to tell issues associated with tourism and know how it is operated in the modern world. Tourism can be described as traveling for a business purpose, traveling for pleasure and taking a holiday or simply traveling away from one’s home for a whole day. At one point in life everyone tours and owing to the fact that you go through a different experience and meeting new people, it is evidence to say that we all go participate in tourism. Tourism has become one of the most effective types of business in the modern world because people are eager to learn what is beyond their environment and that people are more interested in becoming exposed to new things in the modern world. Issues that tourism is associated with are such as traveling for business, for a holiday or just being away from their home for 24 hours. The most important aspect of tourism that the modern world is more concerned with is traveling for business purposes. People who work in the tourism industry do not focus much on the cultural and spiritual diversity of people who are involved in religious tourism or any other form of tourism but they are more interested in the amount of money that they can make through tourists who visits their sites. The term tourism started changing in the 20th century because the modern world has given it a new meaning through introduction of different ways of participation in tourism (Aicken, 2005). Tourism is valued more in the modern world because traveling from one place to another has become very easy through introduction of new forms of transport such as aircrafts and more sophisticated vehicles. People in the modern world tend to be more interested in maximizing on how they utilize their leisure time, they are more of fun loving people and they can spend enough money just to enjoy themselves as compared to previous years when people were more interested in saving money to do more essential things other than pleasure (Brent, 2009). They add more value to the meaning of fun and taking holidays and paying visits to new places and societies in the modern world. The modern leisure society has adapted this ideology from western countries that are developed and this trend started in the 1990’s when people from the western countries became more interested in engaging themselves in holidays because they expanded their global tendency. As a result of major political, economic, social and cultural changes demand has escalated in countries that were not engaged in activities of international tourism especially in post-communist countries and in regions in the new world such as Indian, China and Asian subcontinents. Basic Concepts of Tourism Defining the term tourism becomes easy when someone knows and understands the basic concepts of tourism in the modern world because the term tourism is a wide term. Most people view tourism as a term used for people who travel from one place to another without looking at other aspects of tourism such as the hospitality of people who are involved in providing tourist services and its employment aspect. Tourism is way beyond its mere definition because it has a lot to offer to the society (Brent, 2009). One of the most effective aspects of tourism is its economic impact in the society because this is what most people focus on in the modern world. Tourism can also be viewed as a global phenomenon that has contributed to rapid growth in the modern world as far as business is concerned. Tourism can be viewed from some of the factors that have contributed to its growth and some of these factors are such as the improved level of technology, consumer preferences and available modes of travel among other factors. Looking at factors that affect the tourist is one of the best approaches towards understanding what tourism is and how it can be controlled. Knowing the demands of tourism is also very important in the modern world. Tourism expands the economy of a given society because through it many people are able to move from one of the world to another and through doing this people are bound to embrace more business ideas and practices. The basic concepts of tourism are such as knowing the importance of studying the topic since through knowing this then an individual is able to tell and explain its importance in the modern society. Understanding the different forms of tourism is also another factor to consider when looking at the basic concepts of tourism in the modern world. When an individual is able to explain the different forms of tourism and understand them, the he or she knows the basic concepts of tourism since this is also one of the basics. Differentiating between domestic and international tourism is also a very important factor to consider when looking at the basic concepts of tourism because through this one can tell and offer solutions to the changing nature of tourism globally (Brent, 2009). Conclusion Finally, religious tourism is one of the most proposing area of investment in tourism industry because very little research has been done it and most people are not aware of thus expanding it awareness will also expand the tourist industry. Tourism is a very important industry and understanding it requires one to know its basic concepts, understanding its different definitions and being able to understand it and also knowing the costs and benefits of tourism. With the increase in the level of technology in the modern world, the tourism industry has become one of the best business industries in the modern world. References Clare, G (2002).Tourism planning: basics, concepts, cases. New York, Routledge Adele, L (2002). Tourism employment: analysis and planning Volume 6 of Aspects of tourism. New York, Channel View Publications Brent, R (2009). Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies. New York, John Wiley and Sons Margry, P (2008). Shrines and pilgrimage in the modern world: new itineraries into the sacred. Amsterdam University Press Maree, T (2004).Hospitality, tourism, and lifestyle concepts: implications for quality management and customer satisfaction. New York, John Wiley and Sons Aicken, M (2005). Taking tourism to the limits: issues, concepts and managerial perspectives. Advances in tourism research series. Elsevier Publication Bhatia, K (2007). The Business of Tourism: Concepts and Strategies. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd Meri, Y (2005). Pilgrimage and Religious Travel: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide. New York, Oxford University Press Eleanor, M (2005). Sikhism: a very short introduction Very short introductions. Oxford University Press Hitrec, T (1991).Religious tourism: development-characteristic sperspectives Les Cahiers du tourisme. Paris, Centre des Hautes etudes touristiques Read More