Drivers of Spiritual Tourism: A Destination-Specific Approach

Abstract

With a rising number of visitors worldwide, spiritual tourism is becoming more relevant than ever before. Spiritual tourism is defined as travel to discover the goal and significance of one�s life, thus, self-experiences are crucial for the transition of a person�s mind, body, and soul. Because of this, both the destination chosen and the inspiration and intention of the tourists involved play central roles. However, existing research on spiritual tourism mainly focuses on classification and motivation and explicitly focuses on the demand side. Given the recent increase of participation in spiritually-focused tourism, it is important to accurately grasp the practical ramifications of the practice as a philosophical discourse on the shift from �religious� to �spiritual� tourism experiences must be discussed from the perspective of supply. Arguably, the current conceptualisations and classifications of spirituality and religiousness need a correction from an ontological perspective. This study, therefore, explores the primary drivers for spiritual tourism in India, where the existing theorisations of spiritual, religious, and secular�spiritual tourism have been challenged. To understand the primary drivers of spiritual tourism in India, a netnographic study has been deployed. This paper explores relevant findings, which suggest the need for contextualisation of destination characteristics for determining visitors� key motivations. The context here refers to a nation�s background, history, and cultural practices, which determine the boundaries of ideologies, spirituality, and religiosity.

Keywords

• spirituality
• gurus
• ashrams
• netnography