Most of us just watch pilgrims praying in Mecca, washing in the Ganges, or visiting the Vatican, or participating in a religious festival at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to understand that both religion and religious pilgrimages go hand in hand and are crucial for tourism. It has also been seen that people with “secular faith” make “pilgrimage” to cities like Washington, DC or even watch their favorite football team playing, like a religious icon. However, this kind of experience is doesn’t appear quite surprising though in the world of tourism.
Visiting a place based on faith is directly associated with the emotions and tourism is all about the “experience” of being at a particular place. Even though, we generally don’t link religion with business. In reality, religion is a major business in today’s world with a great deal of impact on the tourism industry. In fact, tourism professionals can learn a lot from the world of religion and how religion is connected to every soul of its adherents and speaks to it.
The faith based tourism is considered as one of the oldest forms of tourism in the world. If we look in the Bible, it speaks of ascending to Jerusalem thrice a year for each of the Biblical harvest festivals. Similarly, the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca is quite well-known in the Islamic world. Various cities across the globe have developed religious tourism. Places like Fatima in Portugal, and Lourdes in France are quite famous religious destinations in the world.
