Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Socio-economic Development - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 245

one of the most important forms of heritage tourism in the world
today - heritage because it involves historic structures or other sacred spaces,
sustained religious rituals, ancient belief systems and pilgrim paths to
enlightenment. The largest tourist gatherings in the world are pilgrim assem-
blies (e.g. the Kumbh Mela and the Hajj); large-scale pilgrimages such as
these often involve the satisfaction of religious obligations. Smaller acts of
pilgrimage provide more intimate communions with a deity, opportunities
to gain forgiveness or to seek personal healing.
There are several interesting trends in the area of religious tourism, or
pilgrimage. Three of these are described here. The first began in the mid-
20th century and stresses the idea that religiousness and spirituality are not
synonymous. A person may be spiritual but not religious, or religious but
not necessarily spiritual. Olsen and Timothy (2006) noted that even athe-
ists can have 'spiritual' experiences or what some might see as cathartic
encounters with nature. The New Age movement is a noteworthy manifes-
tation of this phenomenon. New Agers are notorious travelers, who seek out
earth places they deem to exude power, or spiritual energy (Ivakhiv, 2003).
They often select their own belief systems based upon what they feel is
good for them from a whole range of religious traditions or none at all. Some
people adopt the animistic beliefs of indigenous peoples and travel to places
that are best associated with a general sense of sacredness rather than any
particular religion.
The second trend is the notion that traditional religious organizations
and their adherents are beginning to accept the idea that pilgrimage is a
form of tourism, or with trepidation, at least very close to it. The debate
stems from the mistaken belief that tourists are pleasure-seeking holiday-
makers, who behave irreverently and hedonistically at times. This, how-
ever, is not the case, as official definitions of tourists are essentially people
who travel away from home for at least one night but less than a year
regardless of motive and who are not remunerated from the destinations
they visit (UNWTO, 2013c). While the primary motive for undertaking a
pilgrimage is spiritual in nature, when away from holy sites, pilgrims usu-
ally behave like other tourists do and require hotels, restaurants, attractions
and transportation (Gupta, 1999). In some places pilgrims are the most
numerous type of tourist, and pilgrimage forms the most important tour-
ism economy.
The third trend is that pilgrimages are adapting to the demands of
modern societies. The Christian travel product in the broader Mediterranean
region is evolving. Whereas in the past Mediterranean Christian pilgrimages
focused on the Holy Land and perhaps other sites in Italy, France or Spain,
several additional countries have begun to promote themselves as Christian
destinations. Cyprus, Malta and Greece, for example, are getting into the
lucrative pilgrimage market. A new product is the biblical cruise, some of
which begin in Israel and end in Rome, and take in sites in Turkey, Cyprus,