Synopsis
For millennia people have travelled to religious sites for worship, initiatory and leisure purposes. Today there are hundreds, if not thousands, of religious pilgrimage routes and trails around the world that are used by pilgrims as well as tourists. Indeed, many religious pilgrimage routes and trails are today used as themes by tourism marketers in an effort to promote regional economic development. Providing a holistic approach to religious pilgrimage routes and trails, this book: - Addresses important conceptual themes such as sustainable local development, regional economic development, heritage identity and management, and promoting environmentally friendly practices; - Includes global case studies to help transfer theory into good practice; - Calls for further discussion of the importance of better planning, management, and maintenance of these routes and trails, so that the positive benefits of this type of tourism development can be fully realized. An important resource for those interested in religious tourism and pilgrimage, this book is also an invaluable collection for academics and policy-makers within heritage tourism and regional development.
About the Authors
Dr Daniel H. Olsen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA. His research interests revolve around religious and spiritual tourism, heritage tourism, and the management of sacred sites, with secondary research interests in tourism in peripheral areas and tourism and disabilities. He is co-editor of Religion, Tourism, and Spiritual Journeys (Routledge, 2006) and Religious Pilgrimage Routes and Trails (CABI, 2018), and has published over 40 journal articles and book chapters.
Darius Liutikas (PhD) is a Principal scientific researcher at the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (Vilnius). Research interests include: tourism, modern and traditional pilgrimage, sociology of tourism, religious tourism, anthropology of tourism, forms of mobility, sacred places and sacred spaces, geography of tourism and geography of religions. Darius Liutikas accomplished his PhD studies in 2008 at Vilnius University, his thesis being 'Traditional and modern pilgrimage as an expression of values and identity in Lithuanian society'. He has published around 70 articles and book chapters in Lithuanian and international academic journals. He has prepared and published 10 books (5 in the Lithuanian language and 5 in English). His recent edited books „Pilgrims: Values and Identities" (CABI, 2021), "Religious Tourism and Globalization: The Search for Identity and Transformative Experience" (together with Razaq Raj, CABI, 2024), „Creating the Sacred Landscape Pilgrimages and Ritual Practices" (Springer Nature, 2025) and "Geographies of Religious Spaces and Sacred Landscapes" (Edward Elgar, 2025). He has participated in more than 50 international scientific conferences as keynote speaker, guest speaker or speaker. He is Chairman of the Community of Lithuanian Pilgrims. He is the Series Editor for the Tourism and Society series (CAB International).
Dr Kiran Shinde teaches in the Planning program at La Trobe University, Australia. He does research in the field of religious tourism, and has published about 50 research articles relating to cultural heritage, religious tourism, policy analysis, and destination planning and management. His papers have appeared in high-ranking journals, including Urban Studies, Current Issues in Tourism, International Journal of Tourism Research, GeoForum, and Space and Culture. He has also contributed chapters in books published Elsevier, Routledge, SUNY Press, and CABI. He has presented research papers at conferences in Canada, Turkey, Australia, Portugal, Singapore, the UK, and the USA. He was invited by the UNWTO to contribute to the Bethlehem Charter on Religious Tourism. He is also on the editorial board of the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. Recently, he completed a UNWTO report on Buddhist tourism in Asia. He holds a PhD from Monash University, Australia, an MSc from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand), and an M.Tech from CEPT University, India
Kevin Griffin is the Senior Lecturer in Tourism in the School of Hospitality Management and Tourism at Technological University Dublin. Kevin Griffin is the chairperson of the Institute for Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage which organises an annual conferences and manages a number of publication projects. He is also Editor-in-Chief for the TU Dublin published International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage which is internationally recognised and ranked with SCOPUS and many other agencies. He is also Series Editor for the Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Book Series. In more recent times Kevin has established two other international Open Access Journals for which he is also Editor-in-Chief: The International Journal of Tour Guiding Research and the International Journal of Islands Research.
Dr Razaq Raj is Principal Lecturer for Research and Enterprise in Leeds Business School. He is an internationally renowned academic with extensive experience in teaching, research, leadership and Managements in the UK, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea. He is an Honorary Professor University of Vitez, Bosnia. He has published work on strategic management, economic and financial impacts, cultural festivals and sustainable tourism and religious tourism. He has both organised international conferences and delivered keynote speeches. He has published books on Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Management and Events Management. He is founding co-editor of the Journal Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage and Series Editor, CABI Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Book Series and Tourism and Society Book Series.
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