Exploring the Strength of Shared Culture in Religious Tourism

Exploring the Strength of Shared Culture in Religious Tourism examines the dynamic intersections of culture, religion and tourism, showing how shared cultural practices and religious traditions shape destinations, mobilities, identities and community life. Bringing together multidisciplinary perspectives from tourism studies, sociology, religious studies, cultural studies and development research, this edited work considers how sacred places, pilgrimage routes, festivals, heritage sites and everyday cultural practices become meaningful tourism spaces. It positions shared culture and religion not simply as attractions, but as social forces that can generate belonging, intercultural understanding, economic opportunity and new forms of community resilience.

Relevant for researchers, postgraduate students, educators, policy makers and tourism practitioners, this volume responds to the growing need for scholarship that treats cultural and religious tourism as interconnected fields of inquiry and practice. Its international contributors explore the opportunities and tensions involved in developing tourism around sacred, cultural and community-based resources, including questions of authenticity, commodification, inclusion, governance, conservation and social impact.