Religious Tourism as a Sociocultural Phenomenon of the Present “The Unique Sense Today is a Universal Value Tomorrow. This is the Way Religions are Created and Values are Made.”

The Role of Ontology in Religious Tourism Education—Exploring the Application of the Postmodern Cultural Paradigm in European Religious Sites

“…In this context, it is important for the research to shift the attention to stakeholders and to understand how religion as an institution envisages the future of religious and heritage sites, the preservation of their identities, and the public discourse over religion, either as a system of belief or a cultural tradition. As Kurmanaliyeva et al stated, churches as a common cultural landscape, shared between religion and tourism, call for a mutually beneficial dialogue (Kurmanaliyeva et al 2014). In this line of thought, this article calls for a new interpretational paradigm which will acknowledge the power of stakeholders to shape the spiritual and cultural profile of religious sites while it promulgates religious tourism education to be informative, relevant and engaging to heterogenous groups.…”

“…In this regard, Cohen coined the term 'educational pilgrimage' to denote a growing phenomenon in which visitors seek knowledge and spirituality which cannot be found at home, either as cultural education for the 'exotic other' or 'for one's own religious roots' (Cohen 2006, p. 80). Thus, the notion of secular needs at religious sites, which was seen initially as 'unbecoming and obtrusive', has been replaced by an extrovert policy approaching religious sites as places of cultural and educational regeneration (Kurmanaliyeva et al 2014;Curtis 2016). In this context, interpretation has taken on an important role in communicating the meanings of the place, building connections between visitors' prior knowledge and the new information being presented (Hughes et al 2013).…”

“…The hybrid (sacred and secular) identity of religious sites today raises various tensions between stakeholders over the management of religious sites (see Shackley 2002Shackley , 2005. Religious sites are contested over access and usage between visitors and host communities that unbalance the 'religious ecosystems' challenging the symbolism of the place (Shackley 2002;Digance 2003;Collins-Kreiner and Gatrell 2006;Rivera et al 2009;Kurmanaliyeva et al 2014). The multiplicity of voices exerting control over the meanings of churches and their cosmological understandings is the focus of this article (see Di Giovine and Garcia-Fuentes 2016).…”

Impact of Religious Tourism on the Development of Smokeless Industry in Pakistan

“…The increased interaction can play a vital role in boosting foreign exchange earnings by the country (Hanif, 2019). Kurmanaliyeva(2014) states that the faith of pilgrims prompts them to shop around and purchase religious souvenirs. In fact, they spend more money when they are on a pilgrimage.…”

“…It has also been documented by a World Bank study that Sikh and Buddhist religious tourism in Pakistan can produce PKR 20 billion per annum and generate 40,000 employment opportunities annually(UNESCO,2018).Hence the government needs to organize tours whereby the pilgrims are not only confined to religious places but are also exposed to manifold vistas of sightseeing to enrich their knowledge of the historical, social, and artistic legacy of different parts of the country (Kurmanaliyeva et al 2014).…”