Religious and Pilgrimage Tourism - International


February 1, 2012
55 Pages - SKU: GN3799927
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Countries covered: Global

Religious tourism is a significant and rapidly growing segment within the tourism industry. It is sometimes referred to as faith tourism, faith-based travel, Christian travel, Muslim travel, or any other religious denomination linked with the words ‘travel’ or ‘tourism’. However, regardless of the name, the inference is that this is a form of tourism that is driven by a given faith.

As a sector, religious tourism is not well researched and documented. Few reliable statistics are available regarding its size and value within the tourism sector as a whole, mainly because only a few countries measure tourist arrivals using a classification that refers to ‘religion’ or ‘pilgrimage’. Consequently, most religious tourists are combined with ‘other leisure’ visitors, with most European countries classifying international inbound tourists into three purpose-of-visit groups: leisure/holiday; other leisure; and business/conference.

There are some exceptions to this, mainly in destinations where religious tourism is highly popular such as Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Saudi Arabia, religious tourism is the most significant type of tourism, and consequently the authorities measure it as a clearly defined activity.

Another common problem with the measurement of religious tourism relates to the inconsistent definition of the segment. Many statistics quoted by destinations and appearing in publications do not clearly identify whether they include only international religious tourists (ie those travelling from one country to another) or domestic religious tourists (ie those travelling to destinations within the same country in which they live) also. This probably generates the greatest misunderstandings when attempting to measure the volume and value of the sector.


INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS

A GROWTH SEGMENT

THE WORLD’S MAJOR RELIGIONS

Figure 1: World’s major religious groups, 2011

 

DATA SOURCES

 

HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS TOURISM

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS

Christianity

Figure 2: Number of adherents to the Christian faith, by country, 2010

Islam

Figure 3: Number of adherents to the Muslim faith, by country, 2010

Judaism

INDIAN RELIGIONS

Hinduism

Buddhism

Sikhism

 

SIZE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MARKET

Figure 4: International religious tourism trips, 2010

MIDDLE EAST

Saudi Arabia

Overall market size

Figure 5: Religious tourism trips to Saudi Arabia, 2006-10

Seasonality

Figure 6: Religious tourism trips to Saudi Arabia, 2010

Key markets

Figure 7: Top five religious tourist-generating countries to Saudi Arabia, 2010

Expenditure

Umrah Plus

Israel and Palestine

EUROPE

France

Italy

Figure 8: Religious tourist arrivals in Italy, 2005-10

Spain

Figure 9: Religious tourist arrivals in Spain, 2005-11

Portugal

UK

Figure 10: Visitor numbers to UK cathedrals, 2010

Ireland

REST OF THE WORLD

Mexico

Other countries

 

DESTINATIONS WORLDWIDE BY RELIGION

CHRISTIANITY

Figure 11: Visitor numbers to Christian religious destinations annually, to 2011

Biblical sites in Israel and Palestine

Leading Catholic sites

Italy

France

Portugal

Ireland

Mexico

Christian pilgrimage routes

Camino de Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Via Francigena, Italy

Pilgrim routes in Britain

Other Christian pilgrimages

Religious theme parks

Key religious events and festivals in the Christian calendar

Christmas in Bethlehem

Holy Week: Easter at St Peters

Infrastructure for Christian tourism

ISLAM

Holy Islamic sites

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Medina, Saudi Arabia

Jerusalem, Palestine

Kairouan, Tunisia

Najaf, Iraq

Key religious events and festivals in the Islamic calendar

The Hajj

Umrah

Infrastructure for Islamic tourism

HINDUISM

Hindu religious sites

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Tirumala and Tirupati, Andra Pradesh, India

Amarnath, Jammu & Kashmir, India

Other Hindu temples

Key religious events and festivals in the Hindu calendar

Kumbh Mela

Sabarimala, Kerala, India

Char Dham, India

Infrastructure for Hindu tourism

BUDDHISM

Buddhist pilgrimage sites

Birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha

Key religious events and festivals in the Buddhist calendar

Vesak, worldwide

SIKHISM

Sikh temples

Punjab, India

Key religious events and festivals in the Sikh calendar

JUDAISM

Jewish religious sites

Jerusalem, Israel

Other sites

 

RELIGIOUS TOURISM OPERATORS

CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE TOUR OPERATORS

Follow the Camino

Globus

ITS Travel

Tangney Tours

HAJ AND UMRAH TOUR OPERATORS

Al Hamar Hajj & Umra Services

Al-Hidaayah Travel Limited

OTHER PILGRIMAGE TOUR OPERATORS

Ulltimate Travels.com

Kerala Travels

 

WHAT NEXT?

DESTINATION AWARENESS

SPIRITUAL REJUVENATION

EFFECTS OF MIGRATION AND POLITICAL CHANGE

SHIFT TOWARDS HIGHER-SPENDING TOURISTS

BOOM IN RELIGIOUS TOURIST ARRIVALS BY 2015


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