GLOBAL trends and lifestyle have always influenced travel. Thomas Cook launched the first package tours in the late-19th century. This was mainly to visit the great historical sites, landmarks and monuments.
After World War II, people looked for vacations, holiday breaks and incentive travels. Then the travelers became younger and looked for more adventure trips, sports, physical and fitness centers. It is now more about caring, mental and relaxing. People want to stay forever young, so there are more spas, wellness and meditation centers, farm visits and healthy foods.
The next great cycle that is fast gaining ground and one that is most sustainable is spiritual, religious or faith-based tourism. And the most influential promoter of faith-based tourism is Pope Francis when he recently encouraged everyone to go on pilgrimages.
Religious/spiritual or faith-based tourism is travel to religious sites to experience religious forms or to learn and admire their related arts, architecture, food and other traditions.
And like some other tourism products, the different countries or tourism groups are still debating on what should be the appropriate name. Should it be religious tourism, spiritual or faith-based tourism? I tend to favor faith-based tourism, as more and more travelers are interested to experience and learn about other faiths other than their own religions.
Religious or faith-based tourism is one of the earliest forms of tourism. Since the dawn of humanity, human beings have traveled to holy sites.
In some cases, these holy sites have become not only centers of religion, but of the economy and culture of the area. Look at Jerusalem, Rome and Mecca, they continue to attract every year millions of visitors.
Religious or faith-based tourism has expanded in recent times to include a much larger segment of the market. Sometimes, pilgrimage may include travel to other cultural sites, or leisure travel may include travel to holy sites.
According to Pew Research Center, religious tourism comprises many facets of the travel industry: pilgrimages, missionary travel, leisure (fellowship) vacations, faith-based cruising, crusades, conventions and rallies, retreats, monastery visits and guest-stays, faith-based camps and religious tourist attractions.
The United Nations World Tourism Organizations (UNWTO) declared faith-based tourism has remained strong and growing steadily, despite economic ups and downs.
Religious travelers tend to be more committed travelers, saving and planning to visit religious sites of their choice, in spite of known upheavals or disasters.
Faith-based tourism is big business. According to the UNWTO, an estimated 300 million to 330 million pilgrims visit the world’s key religious sites every year. Religious travel is estimated at a value of $18 billion every year. In the US alone some 25 percent of the traveling public is interested in faith-based tourism.
Imtiaz Muqbil, executive director of Travel Impact Newswire, said another reason religious tourism is booming—prayer in its purest form is a search for safety and sanctuary from the unpredictable vagaries of life, such as disease, fires, floods, financial or political crises. When all else fails, people turn to greater power, they believe can save them from these perils.
Faith-based travelers travel for various reasons: to fulfill a religious obligation, to visit within their lifetime some of the world’s holy sites or for a particular cause.
Faith-based tourism can be found almost anywhere, it is important for the local government and its populace to consider developing their local faith-based tourism. This type of tourism can provide a steady flow of income to the local community. Most faith-based travelers travel in groups.
What are some of the challenges in the development of faith-based tourism:
n To put religious tourism in the service of the community, especially the poor. Religious tourism must not be about money, but to serve the needs of the poor, as Pope Francis observed during his three-country visit to South America.
n To gain media exposure of declared pilgrimage sites in order to spread the benefits of religious or spiritual tourism.
n To encourage the sharing of expertise among the more developed pilgrimage or holy site with the least-developed sites in handling visitor-traffic control, waste disposal, food and other amenities, and services.
n To create awareness of the many benefits and business opportunities related to religious or spiritual travels like outlets for halal or kosher food, faith-based music, religious books, souvenir items, spiritual or faith-based centers in local communities, etc.
n To train more qualified guides to handle spiritual and religious tours.
On a recent trip to Portugal, this writer was invited to speak on faith-based tourism on the occasion of the IV International Workshop on Religious Tourism. Some 500 delegates from around the world exchanged ideas and experiences that strengthened my belief that the next big thing in tourism is faith-based tourism.
This writer would like to thank Secretary of State for Tourism Ana Mendes Godinho; Mayor of Ourem Paulo Fonseca; Centro of Portugal Tourism Pedro Machado; Fatima Shrine rector Fr. Carlos Cabencinhas; and President of Aciso, Francisco Vieira for inviting me to this conference. Also, my gratitude to Ambassador Philippe J. Lhuillier and Consul General Bing Gallaga for all arrangements and support extended to me and my colleague, Ermavil Galvez, while in Portugal. Thank you, too, to Fernando Paquim, the coordinator of the conference.
Our host in Fatima was Alexandre Marto Pereira, whose family owns Fatima Hotel and most of the other hotels beside the Fatima Shrine. He was also the chairman of the conference. The hotel service, especially the food, was exceptional. One special gift I received was olive oil in can. Alexandre’s family owned a factory that extracts oil from olives that has been converted into a cooperative. In view of the limited land for olive production, most olive trees are found in the backyards of Portuguese homes. During harvest time, owners take off from work to bring the olives to the factory. The cooperative retains 10 percent of the extracted oil and the rest is given back to the owners of the trees. Food for thought.
Our best wishes to the Portuguese people on the occasion of the forthcoming centenary of the Fatima apparition starting May 2017.
Mabuhay!
Dr. Mina T. Gabor was the founder and president of the Center for International Trade Exhibitions and Missions Inc. of the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Secretary of the Department of Tourism from 1996 to 1998. She continues to work on her passion of promoting the Philippines through trade and tourism as the president of the International School of Sustainable Tourism, as founder and president of the Philippine Small and Medium Business Development Foundation Inc., and the president of the Automobile Association of the Philippines Travel Agency. For any feedback or assistance in developing your faith-based tourism, contact this writer at minagabor2010@gmail.com.