Religious Needs in the Hospitality Industry

Abstract

. His research interests include tourism spatial planning, collaborative planning, spatial models and religious tourism.ABSTRACT KEYWORDS: marketing, religious needs, hotel room, religious tourismIn the current competitive environment, the tourism and hospitality industries are constantly searching for new customer segments and for ways of improving competitiveness. Thus, the provision of religious aspects in the hospitality product could prove a valuable and integral part of the customer's orientation. This paper highlights the importance of satisfying religious needs to increase the satisfaction of customers. This is the first time empirical findings concerning the religious needs of tourists have been examined, and the study is based on a sample of 179 Christian tourists in Israel. This research suggests that the tourists' religious needs constitute an independent area of research and that satisfying religious needs in the accommodation industry should be taken into consideration in the marketing process.

The Role of Destination Attributes in Islamic Tourism

“…For example, over the last decade the tourism industry has witnessed many firms in the industry catering to the needs of special groups such as elderly tourists, disabled tourists and gay tourists [1]. However, one relatively unexplored segment is the 'Religiously conscious' tourists.…”

Interpreting Sustainability through Co-Evolution: Evidence from Religious Accommodations in Rome

“…Moreover, star ratings were found to be inapplicable to evaluate religious accommodations as their distinctive features are not at the level of standardization of service quality but, first and foremost, in their religious origins. Lastly, the complexity of the phenomenon is also a result of the fragmented customer-base [49][50][51]. In fact, the demand for religious accommodations comes from individuals, families, and groups who make a journey to Rome for strictly religious reasons (i.e., pilgrims) or for spiritual, social, and cultural interests (i.e., religious tourists), or even from individuals, families, and groups without any religious affiliation.…”

“…The tradition of hosting travellers at religious houses has been on-going since early biblical times [46][47][48] Historically, hospitality at religious houses run by priests, monks, and nuns was designed to host pilgrims travelling on foot, horseback, and mule to reach the main destinations of Christianity (Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela) [49][50][51]. Indeed, the success of a pilgrim route was largely dependent on the presence on the way-especially in the most arduous places-of these religious houses.…”

“…To our knowledge, Shackley [58] is the only scholar of management who has analyzed the process of the creation and management of a specific type of religious accommodations (i.e., retreat houses). The other contributions around the topic mainly address: the religious needs of religious tourists in the hospitality industry (e.g., [51,[59][60][61][62]); the role played by religious tourism in the development of business activities, including accommodations [50,[63][64][65]; and, the tourist experience at a specific religious settlement turned into a tourism destination [66]. Moreover, only two of these contributions [50,66] highlight the importance of religious tourism and related hospitality activities in fostering the sustainable development of territories.…”

The Practice of Shariah-Compliant Hotel in Malaysia

“…For example, the hotel can put up sign on the direction of Mecca in the hotel room, offer prayer mat upon check-in, and provide Halal food and information on prayer time [13]. In the view of some experts, the analysis of religious needs is vital in providing hotel services and designing a marketing strategy [14]- [16]. Thus, it is worthwhile for hotel managers to understand how Muslim tourists should perform their religious routines to satisfy their needs while traveling.…”