Literature Review #3



Citation:
Timothy, Dallen J., and Daniel H. Olsen. Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys. Routledge, 2006.

    The book focuses on the connection between religion and tourism, with the first part of the book handling more of the conceptual matters and implications, and the second part looks into the religion-tourism connection from the viewpoint of several different religions. However, the book also has an introductory chapter that introduces several key concepts which were more relevant to my research as it stands.
    Dallen J. Timothy is a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Community Resources and Development and has a B.Sc., M.A., and Ph.D. in geography. Daniel H. Olsen is an associate professor at the Department of Geography at Brigham Young University, and has a B.ES., M.Ed., and Ph.D. in Geography and other topics related to tourism. Their research in tourism includes focuses on heritage and culture, religious and spiritual tourism, and the economy of tourism.
    This book provided more insights into the economic reasons that towns and people invest in tourism, as well as introduced the notion to me that traveling to these locations could invoke curiosity in tourists into, in my cases, the unknown and paranormal, which would start to create a positive feedback loop for the “paranormal economy.”

Key Concepts:
  • People travel for a variety of reasons, but visiting some locations can change the motivation for travel in tourists.
  • More often than not, tourism to important locations is more economically beneficial than negatively impactful.
  1. “From this perspective, then, a ‘pilgrim’ is a tourist (religious tourist) who is motivated by spiritual or religious factors.” (Timothy 7)
  2. “Jackson and Hudman (1995), in discussing tourist visits at English cathedrals, note that while cultural heritage and architecture are the main motivations for visitation, visitors generally are touched by religious feelings when they are on site.” (Timothy 8)
  3. “...the economic impacts associated with religious tourism are greater than those associated with other market segments, because pilgrims and other religious travelers are avid buyers of religious souvenirs.” (Timothy 11)

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