Religious Travel
The meaning of religious travel varies from pilgrim to pilgrim. The Web provides resources on each of the many ways that people undertake religious trips, including volunteer trips with religious organizations, religious spas and baths, pilgrimages such as the Muslim Hajj, and journeys to religious cities and sites around the world. This guide explores the various forms of religious travel and provides essential online tools to aid your travel planning.
Expand All Guide SectionsLearning about Religious Tourism
The international religious travel market now takes in a reported $18 billion every year. To learn what the industry entails and to read about the storied roots of religious travel, visit the Web sites in this section.
Dulcinea's Insight
- On the Web, you’ll see religious travel (or faith-based travel) packages and tours offered by companies that also offer general tour packages. Globus is one such company that has family, cruise and independent vacation packages to various destinations.
- The religious travel industry includes secular vacations. These types of trips are promoted by religious institutions and used as fundraisers for their organizations. If you’re interested in such vacations, ask around at local churches, ministries, and synagogues.
Dulcinea's Picks
For articles about religious tourism …
The New York Times
“Travel” section has an article on the religious travel trend, including the author’s experience visiting Dharamsala, a Tibetan exile community in India. Trends in religious travel such as cruises are discussed, but options are also given for travelers desiring a more authentic religious wander.
Pantagraph.com
published an article about religious and pilgrimage travel, especially among older Americans. It discusses reasons for the trend, as well as the types of trips many people are taking and where they’re heading, notably Istanbul, Greece, and Chicago.
For an introduction to pilgrimages …
The University of York
devotes a section of its Web site to “‘Pilgrimage’ as a universal practice,” outlining several different categories of pilgrimage like new age, secular, holy figures and relics. Read about the reasons for religious journeys and why pilgrimage is so widespread.
Types of Religious Vacations
Taking a religious vacation can be quite leisurely, such as a Christian cruise with musical ... read more »
Historic Religious Travel
Certain routes and cities carry great historical significance, whether immortalized in religious ... read more »
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