religious tourism

Religious tourism, also commonly referred to as faith tourism, is a form of tourism, whereby people of faith travel individually or in groups for pilgrimage, missionary, or leisure (fellowship) purposes. The world's largest form of mass religious tourism takes place at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. North American religious tourists comprise an estimated $10 billion of this industry^.

Modern religious tourists are more able to visit holy cities and holy sites around the world. The most famous holy cities are Jerusalem, Mecca, and Varanasi. The most famous holy sites are the Church of Nativity, The Western Wall, Brahma Temple at Pushkar, and the Kaaba. Religious tourism has existed since antiquity, and unlike commercial tourism, is not done for exclusively hedonistic purposes. A study in 2011 found that pilgrims visited Jerusalem for a few reasons: to understand and appreciate their religion through a tangible experience, to feel secure about their religious beliefs, and to connect personally to the

Although no definitive study has been completed on worldwide religious tourism, some segments of the industry have been measured:

• According to the World Tourism Organization, an estimated 300 to 330 million pilgrims visit the world's key religious sites every year.
• According to the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Americans traveling overseas for "religious or pilgrimage" purposes has increased from 491,000 travelers in 2002 to 633,000 travelers in 2005 (30% increase).
• According to the Religious Conference Management Association, in 2006 more than 14.7 million people attended religious meetings (RCMA members), an increase of more than 10 million from 1994 with 4.4 million attendees.
• The United Methodist Church experienced an increase of 455% in mission volunteers from 1992 with almost 20,000 volunteers compared to 110,000 volunteers in 2006.
• The Christian Camp and Conference Association states that more than eight million people are involved in CCCA member camps and conferences, including more than 120,000 churches.
• Religious attractions including Sight & Sound Theatre attracts 800,000 visitors a year while the Holy Land Experience and Focus on the Family Welcome Center each receives about 250,000 guests annually. 
• 50,000 churches in the United States with religious travel programs
• One-quarter (25%) of travelers said they were currently interested in taking a spiritual vacation

holy city.

creative tourism

Creative tourism has existed as a form of cultural tourism, since the early beginnings of tourism itself. Its European roots date back to the time of the Grand Tour, which saw the sons of aristocratic families traveling for the purpose of mostly interactive, educational experiences. More recently, creative tourism has been given its own name by Crispin Raymond and Greg Richards,who as members of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS), have directed a number of projects for the European Commission, including cultural and crafts tourism, known as sustainable tourism. They have defined "creative tourism" as tourism related to the active participation of travellers in the culture of the host community, through interactive workshops and informal learning experiences^.

Meanwhile, the concept of creative tourism has been picked up by high-profile organizations such as UNESCO, who through the Creative Cities Network, have endorsed creative tourism as an engaged,authentic experience that promotes an active understanding of the specific cultural features of a place.

More recently, creative tourism has gained popularity as a form of cultural tourism, drawing on active participation by travelers in the culture of the host communities they visit. Several countries offer examples of this type of tourism development, including the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Spain, Italy and New Zealand.

sustainable tourism

Sustainable tourism is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes,biological diversity and life support systems.

Sustainable development implies "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"

Sustainable tourism can be seen as having regard to ecological and sociocultural carrying capacities and includes involving the community of the destination in tourism development planning. It also involves integrating tourism to match current economic and growth policies so as to mitigate some of the negative economic and social impacts of 'mass tourism'. Murphy (1985) advocates the use of an 'ecological approach', to consider both 'plants' and 'people' when implementing the sustainable tourism development process. This is in contrast to the 'boosterism' and 'economic' approaches to tourism planning, neither of which consider the detrimental ecological or sociological impacts of tourism development to a destination.

However, Butler questions the exposition of the term 'sustainable' in the context of tourism, citing its ambiguity and stating that "the emerging sustainable development philosophy of the 1990s can be viewed as an extension of the broader realization that a preoccupation with economic growth without regard to it social and environmental consequences is self-defeating in the long term." Thus 'sustainable tourism development' is seldom considered as an autonomous function of economic regeneration as separate from general economic growth.

types of tourists

possibilities of tourism in nepal

Although Nepal is a small country, it is rich in natural beauty.The highest peak  in the world;Sagarmatha,moderate climate,geographical-diversity etc are the main attractions of Nepal.Many people of the world visit Nepal to view hills,mountains,terai,rivers,lakes,gorges,etc.There is a great possibility  of tourism  development if infrastructure for tourism   is developed in Nepal. In Nepal many tourists come to visit Nepal to view Mt. Everest.There are 14 mountain peaks in the world having the height above 8000 meters. among them 8 are in Nepal.the other reason that tourist come to visit Nepal is the adventurous journey.there are  many religious places for Hindus an Buddhists tourist .Nepal is recognize as the country of temples .Nepal is also rich in ancient art and culture.The structure if Nepalese society is of multiethic,multilingual, multicultural. Every ethnic group has their own distinct culture ,festivals and the way of life .

solutions to problems in tourism

In order to solve the problems in tourism following steps can be taken:
*the number and capacity of domestic and international air service should be increase.
*there should be good provision of transport an communication in tourism  areas.
*tourists should be provided with of the things they need like market,banks and security.
*provisions must be made to produce things necessary for the tourism industry in our own country.
*there should be provision of simple and easy access to fulfil the requirements of tourists.
*nepal shoul be introduced to the worldwide through the advertisement for its art,culture and natural beauty.
*cultural and religious places must be maintained and conserved for the development of religious tourism.
Overall development of tourism requires unity and cooperation.

problems of tourism industry

There is lot of possibility of tourism in Nepal .But it has not been able to flourish due to many problems .some major problems in tourism are:
*lack of transport and communication facilities.
*lack of conservation of cultural and religious places .
*lack of entertainment.
*lack of organized tourist centers.
*lack of tourism related goods.
*lack of publicity.
*lack of accommodation.
*lack of sanitation.
hence if such problems are solved then surely nepal will be able to flourished tourism all over the world in short period.

how to promote tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purpose.People love seeing new places and getting new experiences. They like to know how their home planet is.They always want to meet other people to know their way of life-their customs and tradition .So to get rid of everyday routine work they wanted to visit different places.so to attract the tourist many promotional activity must be done such as establishing recreational centers ,well facilitated lodges and communication centers .In case of Nepal proper advertisement should be done to attract tourist.if there is no proper security in the nation then tourist hesitates to visit the country . 

disadvantages of tourism

Although there are a lot of advantages of tourism,it has some disadvantages too.In Nepal many tourists come to visit Nepal, they not only come to Nepal  to visit but along with them their customs and tradition also visits nepal.
they may have the intentions of stealing,robbing,smuggling,kidnapping an Tourists also cause many problems for the local environment; in Alpine ski slopes, slopes have become barren and filled with litter from overuse.

Tourists also use cars or coaches to travel to these locations and within the area. This increases the amount of pollution in the air.Due to such activities global warming occurs and ozone layer depletes.So all of us must be very conscious about the nature and tourism.

advantages of tourism

There are a number of benefits of tourism for both the tourist and the host destination.  On a large scale it offers a good alternative to some more destructive industries for generating income both on nationally and economically.In many places the introduction and development of tourism allows local people an opportunity for economic and educational growth that would not otherwise be available.  In addition, it allows both the tourist and the local community  a chance to experience other cultures, which broadens understanding and co-operation. The tourism industry emphasis many different areas, so it also creates jobs in many different areas.  With the tourism comes hotels, restaurants,  tour companies, service stations, souvenir shops, sports equipment rentals, and much more.  All of this creates many different levels of employment for people in a given community.this helps in the development of peoples living standards and their life style.

There are a number of benefits of tourism for both the tourist and the host destination.  On a large scale it offers a good alternative to some more destructive industries for generating income both on nationally and privately.
The tourism industry encompasses many different areas, so it also creates jobs in many different areas.  With tourism comes hotels, resturants, car rental agencies, tour companies, service stations, souvenier shops, sports equipment rentals, and much more.  All of this creates many different levels of employment for people in a given community.
In many places the introduction and development of tourism allows local people an opportunity for economic and educational growth that would not otherwise be available.  In addition, it allows both the tourist and the local community  a chance to experience other cultures, which broadens understanding.
If properly used, tourism generated income can be tremendously beneficial to the host country and it's local communities.  Tourism generated income can be used on a national and local level to better education, improve infrastructure, to fund conservation efforts, and to promote more responsible tourism.

advantages of tourism

advantages of tourism

Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Today the world is changing rapidly. the main reason for this change is tourism.like other countries nepal is also developing due to tourism.tourism plays vital role in the context of nepal.tourism helps in the development of the country.in nepal there are many natural resources which helps to promote tourism in the world.here in nepal there are many peculiar animals, plants,and cultures.tourists are respected as a god with warmth and happily. now nepal is celebrating tourism year 2011. nepal is expecting to have 10 lakhs tourists to visit nepal.