MANAGING THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE ON ROMANIAN RELIGIOUS SITES: MONASTERIES ABBOTS’ PERCEPTIONS

For thousands of years, people have been travelling to places considered sacred to meet or to worship Divinity. Religion-motivated tourism is extremely important in many parts of the world. The aim of this paper is to investigate the issue of the religious tourism experience for a religion considered to be conservative and traditionalist in relation to other denominations. In order to achieve this end we distinguish the behavioural characteristics and motivations of the religious sites’ visitors through the abbots’ gaze. The research method of this study is a questionnaire based survey among more than one hundred monasteries’ superiors from different regions of Romania, places known as “holy or sacred” destinations for the Romanian religious people.visitor experience, religious tourism, religious site management, Romanian monasteries

Worship & sightseeing: building a partnership approach to a ministry of welcome

This paper explores diverse opportunities for partnerships between the sacred and secular at religious sites. It identifies ways in which tourism suppliers can work collaboratively with sacred sites to enable sites to meet the demands of contemporary secular and sacred stakeholders. In the review of contemporary literature we consider supply and demand issues, site management, key components of partnership, ecumenical co-creation resources, cost-benefit and marketing needs. The paper is predicated on the provision of information and interpretation services for guidance, and development of all of these services. Methodologically, a participant observation approach was employed to confirm that tourism fits the strategic intent of religious leaders. We consider that partnership at a national, diocesan and parish level is an important part in effective tourism development. Elements of community involvement; capacity building and in-community development through engaging stakeholders are discussed. The balance achieved between stakeholders is important, and in our context the balance between local government and the tourism industry, and between active partners and the passive policy community, reflects the aims of the sacred and the private sector key partners, and the wider social capacity building aspects of community development agendas and government

Culture and cultures in tourism

In this special issue of Anatolia, we explore a number of new trends and products related to cultural tourism, searching for a deeper understanding of how culture is becoming a central factor of attraction in tourism. Contributed papers deal with a number of on-going trends in cultural tourism, including the importance of heritage valuing for sustainability of destinations, the raising wave of religious travels in Arab countries recently opening to tourism, or the analysis of interactions between cultural visitors and local residentsThis work was supported by Groups of Excellence Program of Fundación Séneca, Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia [project number 19884/GERM/15

STUDY REGARDING COMMUNICATION AND DISTRIBUTION ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE ROMANIAN MONASTERIES

The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which Romanian monastic compounds promote their religious attraction and the degree of collaboration between monasteries and intermediaries in the religious tourism market. The study was carried on in more than 100 monasteries and showed the existence of significant differences regarding the promotion activities among monasteries because of the characteristics of the religious compounds. Moreover the results indicated there are opportunities to develop relationships and partnerships between monasteries and the other actors involved in organizing the travels with religious motivations.Communication tools, distribution activities, religious sites, religious travel.

Tourism in Iran: central control and indigeneity

Iran has a long history and tradition of accommodating visitors and travellers, as well as having a great number of minority cultures within its borders, reflecting its geographic location astride some of the major trade routes in the Middle East. Despite what could be seen as great advantages in the competition for tourism, the present powers in Iran have downplayed the potential role of indigenous groups in tourism, just as they have downplayed the role that tourism could have in the country at large. By exercising strong central and religious power and control and putting forward a strong national image, Iran has discouraged tourism development among its indigenous communities. The dominant centralised power structure of the country is in sharp contrast to that in Nepal for example, described in the previous section, and community-based tourism is hard to find, although there are examples of good individual operations, normally at a small scale. Iran symbolises, perhaps, the dominance of a central uniform control over tourism compared to a local indigenous variety of developments

Religious tourism: devotion or business opportunity?

Religious tourism can be understood as an activity in which people travel either for worshipping purposes or to participate in events of religious significance. It can be seen as an alternative to mass tourism activities, aiming for specific targets. Portugal has a significant and rich religious heritage which can help to revitalize traditionally neglected rural areas. The active participation of the Church is of utmost importance as far as the visitors are concerned. On one hand it should assure the maintenance of the places´ main functions and religious features. On the other it should prevent this type of activity to become related to mass tourism loosing therefore its essence. This case study focuses on the analysis of the individual’s profile who visits religious places, having in mind the national statistics. It is complemented by a practical study with individuals who participate in Nossa Senhora dos Remédios festivity, in Lamego on September 8th. 196 questionnaires were elaborated and completed in order to understand the motivations that lie behind religious tourism. This analysis can add some valuable information to the people or institutions in charge of religious policies, when it comes to develop the most suitable strategies to the local context, so that the modern approach of the monument coexists with its religious function in perfect harmony. Keywords: Devotion, Religious tourism, Sanctuary

Tourism to religious sites, case studies from Hungary and England: exploring paradoxical views on tourism, commodification and cost–benefits

The application of systems theory to tourism development has a pedigree that has largely been derived from econometrics and macro–economic theory (Baggio et al., 2010; Franch et al., 2010; Choi and Sirakaya, 2006; Schianetz and Kavanagh, 2007, 2008; Dwyer et al., 2010). This paper identifies opportunities and some barriers to developing sites of religious worship for tourism to maximise income and engage appropriate resources allocation strategies. The authors have investigated tourism development that is sympathetic to sacred purposes at these sites over several years. Religious sites are now acknowledging that homogeneous supply responses may no longer be appropriate. Each special site demands a heterogeneous response of site guardians to changeable demand and careful evaluation of how to maximise income generated from very limited resources. This necessitates improved skills in guardians to build appropriate point of sale products and services that fit with consumption expectations and are congruent with sacred purpose

“All roads lead to Fatima”: Religious tourism at the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary

In the centennial of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, this chapter analyzes the religious tourism at Cova da Iria: historical and anthropological contextualization of the religious phenomenon; the initial stages of the pilgrimage as spontaneous occurrences without organized touristic facilities; tourism development while the rural landscape was being transformed by the construction of buildings and structures to the religious cult and host facilities appropriating icons and symbols related to the apparitions; the consolidation of the cult with the papal devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, the seers beatifcation, and canonization and the centennial celebrations imposing a complex management of the sanctuary activities and spaces; as well as a challenging communication of its religious meanings. Conceived as a case study, this research is based on a qualitative methodology involving a bibliographic research towards a theoretical framework, as well as anthropological methods such as direct observation

INTERCULTURALITY – A FACTOR OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT (PART 1 - GASTRONOMY IN TOURISM, ATTRACTION OR IMPEDIMENT)

In order to transmit a culture without altering it, while creating tourism, cultural and religious products, a variety of details must be taken into account regarding the basic tourism services such as accommodations and food. (gastronomy)These servicestourism, gastronomy, tradition, interculturality, advertising, tourism product