Tourism Marketing mix applied for inclusive spiritual tourists in pakistan and australia

Authors

  • Canadian University of Dubai, United Arab Emirates Canadian University of Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • Professor at Central Queensland University, Australia Professor at Central Queensland University, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37435/nbr21010901

Keywords:

Product, Pricing, People, Spiritual tourism; Tourism, Spiritual tourism, Marketing mix, Qualitative

Abstract

Abstract
Purpose: The paper displays an exploratory research on marketing of
spiritual tourism in Australia and Pakistan. The main objective of this
research is to explain spiritual tourism and present elements of
marketing mix for attracting spiritual tourists with inclusive attitude. The
paper describes spiritual travellers with inclusivity going on journeys for
spiritual enhancement and veneration for divine places of other faiths
considered as holy sites.
Methodology: A qualitative study constructed on face-to-face interviews
with tourists qualified as spiritual travellers was managed in selected
Australian and Pakistani locations. The discussion notes were screened
through theme-based assessment searching for ideas and themes
surfacing from interviews aligned with elements of the marketing
strategy.
Results: This study resulted in acknowledging people, pricing and
products as vital elements of tourism marketing complementing the
spiritual tourism marketing strategy design and implementation.
Conclusions: This study concludes with an inclusive spiritual tourism
model indicating people, pricing and products to be embraced by
tourism providers to enhance their marketing outcomes. This paper
accomplishes by offering the recommendation for Pakistan’s tourism
administration to market holy and blessed places linked with different
faiths following the branding theme of “spiritual tourism”.
Future Direction: Tourism marketing mix based on people, pricing and
products, could be analysed by a quantitative research testing inclusivity
based behaviour of spiritual travellers.
Originality: The unique and primary study handled the threat of
disinclination of tourists expressing their personal religious opinions
through private meetings and face-to-face discussions.

References

Andriotis, K., 2009. Sacred site experience: A phenomenological study.

Annals of Tourism Research. 36(1), 64-84.

Bowler, B., 2014. How Spiritual Tourism Might Change the World. The

Huffinton Post, 2, p.13.

Buhalis, D., 2000. Marketing the competitive destination of the future.

Tourism Management, 21(1), pp.97-116.

Clingingsmith, D., Khwaja, A. I., and Kremer, M., 2009. Estimating the

impact of the Hajj: religion and tolerance in Islam's global gathering.

The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 124(3), 1133-1170.

Cohen, E., 1972. Towards a sociology of international tourism. Social

Research. 39(1), pp.164-82.

Dev, C. Zhou, K. Z., Brown, J. and Agarwal, S., 2009. Customer orientation

or competitor orientation, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 50(1),

pp.19-28.

Dolnicar, S. and Ring, A., 2014. Tourism marketing research: Past, present

and future. Annals of Tourism Research, 47(1), pp.31-47.

Egresi, I.O. and Kara, F., 2016. Residents’ attitudes to tourists visiting their

mosques: a case study from Istanbul, Turkey. Journal of Tourism and

Cultural Change, 16(1), pp.1-21.

Eid, R., 2012. Towards a high-quality religious tourism marketing: The case

of Hajj service in Saudi Arabia. Tourism Analysis, 17(4), pp.509-522.

Haq, F. and Medhekar, A., 2017. Is Spiritual Tourism an Innovation in

Tourism for India and Pakistan? In Leadership, Innovation and

Entrepreneurship as Driving Forces of the Global Economy (pp. 519-

. Springer International Publishing: New York.

Haq, F., 2014. The significance of partnership as a marketing strategy for

Islamic spiritual tourism. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 5(2), pp.258-

Haq, F. and Wong, H.Y., 2011. Exploring marketing strategies for Islamic

spiritual tourism. Handbook of Islamic Marketing, Edited by

Sandikci, O. & Rice, G. pp. 319-337 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.:

London.

Haq, F. and Jackson, J., 2009. Spiritual journey to Hajj: Australian and

Pakistani experience and expectations. Journal of Management,

Spirituality and Religion, 6(2), pp.141-156.

Jovicic, D., 2016. Cultural tourism in the context of relations between mass

and alternative tourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(6), pp.605-612.

Lee, S. and Bai, B., 2016. Influence of popular culture on special interest

tourists' destination image. Tourism Management, 52(1), pp.161-169.

NBR

,2

Page 45

Lincoln, Y.S., Lynham, S.A. and Guba, E.G., 2011. Paradigmatic

controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences, revisited.

The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, 4, pp.97-128, Sage

Publications: New York.

Matheson, C.M., Rimmer, R. and Tinsley, R., 2014. Spiritual attitudes and

visitor motivations at the Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh. Tourism

management, 44(1), pp.16-33.

McKercher, B. and Prideaux, B., 2014. Academic myths of tourism. Annals

of Tourism Research, 46(1), pp.16-28.

Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M., 2002. The qualitative researcher’s

companion. Sage Publications: California.

Mistilis, N., Buhalis, D. and Gretzel, U., 2014. Future eDestination

marketing: perspective of an Australian tourism stakeholder

network. Journal of Travel Research, 53(6), pp.778-790.

Moal–Ulvoas, G. and Taylor, V.A., 2014. The spiritual benefits of travel for

senior tourists. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 13(6), pp.453-462.

Morrison, A. M., 2002. Hospitality and Travel Marketing, 3rd ed. Delmar

Thomson Learning: New York.

Nicholson, R. A. (1978), The Tarjuman al-Ashwaq: A Collection of Mystical

Odes by Ibn Al-Arabi, translated from original, Theosophical

Publishing House: London.

Norman, A., 2014. The varieties of the spiritual tourist experience.

Literature & Aesthetics, 22(1), pp. 20-37.

Olsen, D. H., 2013. A scalar comparison of motivations and expectations of

experience within the religious tourism market. International Journal

of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 1(1), pp.41-56.

Pike, S. and Page, S.J., 2014. Destination Marketing Organizations and

destination marketing: A narrative analysis of the literature. Tourism

Management, 41(1), pp.202-227.

Riege, A. M. and Perry, C., 2000. National marketing strategies in

international travel and tourism. European Journal of Marketing,

(11/12), pp. 1290-1305.

Štefko, R., Kiráľová, A., & Mudrík, M., 2015. Strategic marketing

communication in pilgrimage tourism. Procedia-Social and

Behavioral Sciences, 175(12), pp.423-430.

Weidenfeld, A. 2018. Tourism diversification and its implications for smart

specialization, Sustainability, 10(2), pp. 319-343.

Yin, R.K., 2017. Case study research and applications: Design and methods.

Sage publications: California.

Zhu, H., Duncan, T., & Tucker, H. 2019. The issue of translation during

thematic analysis in a tourism research context. Current Issues in

Tourism, 22(4), 415-419.

Downloads

Published

2021-03-12

How to Cite

Farooq Haq, D. F. H., & Dr. John Jackson, D. J. J. (2021). Tourism Marketing mix applied for inclusive spiritual tourists in pakistan and australia. NUST Business Review, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.37435/nbr21010901