Religious journeys to faith-based destinations.
Published in Chapter:
The Technological Power of Mysticism: A New Approach to Management of Religious Destinations
Eda Avci (Efes Vocational School, Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey) and Gizem Kayar (Computer Engineering Department, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Turkey)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-5792-1.ch005
Abstract
Technological advances have significantly influenced the tourism and the sector realities. Like other industries, in the past couple of years, the stakeholders witnessed a continuous upgrade in tourism. These technological upgrades vary from personal online travel planners to complicated immersive rooms. Tourism trend analyses, online agencies, mobile locator and interactive maps, AR/VR enhancements, virtual assistants and robots, IoT, big data, and blockchain are most popular fields that tourism industry integrate itself seamlessly. As the cities, destinations, and tourism become smarter every day, religious tourism must get its share from emerging technological benefits. Every year, millions visit various holy places. A significant amount of data can be collected from millions of pilgrims. If this data are analyzed accurately, destination management and experience enhancement can be performed much easier than today. The aim of this study is to discuss the motivation of religious tourists, and how to implement smart destination principles in religious sites.