Impact of religion on Tourism

Impact of religion on tourism

Religion has over the years had great effects and impacts on tourism. This is due to the fact that religion has influenced the tourism scene in an outstanding manner. Notably, there are very many religious sites that also double as key tourist attraction sites. As such, it goes without saying that these two sectors are interrelated with each other as they are dependent of each other. One of the greatest things about religion is that it is very old. The history of religion dates back to   at least two thousand years ago. As such, the history of religion is quite important in that it constitutes a very important aspect of tourism; that of learning more about how religion has grown and developed over the years.

In tourism, there is a very exclusive sector referred to as religious tourism, one of the greatest pillars of tourism presently. Religious tourism can be best described as a unique type of tourism whereby people travel either individually or in groups to visit   different places for purposes such as missionary work or pilgrimage among other religious activities. For countries with deep roots in religion, this tourism edges out as the leading form of tourism. This is specifically the case in Jerusalem, one of the largest religious cities across the globe. This is a perfect example of the exceedingly great effects of religion on tourism.

The impacts of religion on tourism are quite diversified in that they affect tourism in so many ways. For starters, religious sites in countries like Italy and Rome are the main tourist attraction sites for the tourism sectors of these countries. These sites account for millions of tourists (both international and local tourists) through out the year. Some of the notable tourist religious sites in Italy are such as Torino, Pad ova and Pompeii among other sites. The   success of tourism and its subsequent growth is based on the existence of exclusive attraction sites that are bound to keep tourists coming back from time to time. Therefore, religion has gone a long way in the sustenance of tourism mainly due to the fact that it keeps the tourism sector active all year round.

Religious activities and festivities are yet other ways in which religion affects tourism. Visits by prominent religious people such as the pope opens a new and a very resourceful avenue of increasing tourism by a great margin. This is due to the reason that these people attract millions of people who go to see them and listen to them. As such, when the pope or any other prominent religious leader visits a specific location, it becomes quite easy for that place to enjoy increased tourism in both short and long terms. In countries that the pope has visited, the tourism sector in these countries increases by more than double fold as people travel from all over the world to see the pope.

Religious activities like the annual Muslim gathering in Mecca to stone Satan is also a clear indication of the massive effects of religion on tourism. The best thing about this annual event is that it brings together Muslims from allover the world to participate in the event. People from every corner of the world travel to Mecca thereby greatly boosting the city’s tourism by a great margin. The best thing about increase in tourism is that it tags along a wide range of other exclusive benefits that may include employment, increased revenue for the country and most importantly diversification of tourism activities.

Religion and tourism coexist mutually especially due to the fact that an increase in religious activities leads to a similar increase in tourism. This applies to both local and international tourism with the latter being the most favored. On an annual basis, it is estimated that the global religious tourism sector enjoys a flow of hundred millions of tourists from all across the globe. This is quite significant especially bearing in mind that the global tourism sector boasts of almost a billion tourists annually.

The impacts of religion on tourism are not overrated in any way. This is mainly due to the fact that the impacts have direct influences in the tourism sector. Therefore, religion constitutes a very important aspect about tourism; with the development of tourism been partially dependent on religion. This gets better due to the fact that the global tourism sector has been undergoing great changes recently; changes that aim at improving the tourism sector so as to provide top notch services. Religion cuts across Christianity, Islam and Hinduism among other forms of religion. Each of these sub-categories of religion has had great effects on tourism both individually and jointly with the other sub-categories.

Generally, religion has exceedingly great impacts on tourism with religion contributing greatly towards the growth and diversification of religion.