Exploring religious tourist experiences in Jerusalem: The intersection of Abrahamic religions

Tahir Albayrak, Ram Herstein, Meltem Caber, Netanel Drori, Müjde Bideci, Ron Berger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

By considering the importance of religious tourism for travel and the tourism industry, this study aims to identify religious tourists' experiences in Jerusalem, as one of the most important holy cities. By a survey, 848 data were collected from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious tourists. Results showed that religious tourism experience was a multi-faceted construct, which consists of engaging mentally, discovering new things, interacting & belonging, connecting spiritually & emotionally, and relaxing & finding peace dimensions. By using these dimensions, perceived experience differences of tourists were examined depending on religion. Moreover, religious tourism experience was identified to significantly affect overall tourist satisfaction with Jerusalem. The study concluded with discussion of the findings and their implications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)285-296
Number of pages12
JournalTourism Management
Volume69
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Jerusalem
  • Overall satisfaction
  • Religious tourism
  • Religious tourist experience

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