Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Management: An International Perspective

Within the past 10 years ‘Religious Tourism’ has seen both economic and education-sector growth on a global scale. This book addresses the central role of religious tourism and interrelationships with other aspects of pilgrimage management. It provides practical applications, models and illustrations and looks at secular and sacred spaces on a global stage. The second edition sees the introduction of a new structure and the addition of new international case studies. It is an invaluable reference for academics, students and practitioners and is a timely text on the future of faith-based tourism and pilgrimage.

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.

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. Sílvia Aulet Serrallonga is a professor at the Faculty of Tourism of the University of Girona teaching in the Degree of Tourism and in the Master of Cultural Tourism. Her PhD dissertation was the first in Spain to address the subject of religious tourism. Her research line is cultural tourism, from its conceptualization to its management. In this field her focus is twofold: pilgrimage and religious tourism and gastronomy tourism. She is member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal on Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. She is also part of the Unitwin UNESCO Chair "Culture Tourism and Development. She has carried several research projects both in the university and as a consultant. She has recently participated in several national and European projects, notably in SPIRIT-Youth (related to the creation of a spiritual tourism proposal trough Europe for young people). Currently she cooperates with different institutions related to religious tourism, such as Montserrat Monastery, organizing courses and seminars to enhance the performance of tourism stakeholders in sacred spaces.

Dolors Vidal-Casellas, PhD, is Dean and a senior lecturer at the Tourism Faculty of the University of Girona. She is Founder of the Official Master in Cultural Tourism, a member of the Contemporary Culture and Art Chair and also member of the research groups 'Contemporary Art Theories' and 'Higher Institute of Tourism Studies' (INSETUR). She is director of the collection 'Turisme cultural' (cultural tourism) by Edicions Vitel·la (http://www.edicionsvitella.com). She joined different cooperation programmes with universities from Algeria, Sao Paolo, Piracicaba (Brazil) and San Martin de Porres (Peru). She is also a member of cultural tourism international networks: Ibertur, Atlas and Unitwin 'Culture, tourisme et developpement' (UNESCO). Her research interests include cultural tourism, religious tourism, history of tourism, heritage management, destination imagery and tourism planning and policies.

Alan Clarke currently works at the University of Pannonia, in Hungary and has had a significant role in establishing the English versions of the full undergraduate and Masters programmes. He has a wide range of research and consultancy experience in tourism planning, strategy and sustainable development. He has published widely in sustainable tourism, cultural heritage, community festivals and events, religious tourism and semiotic understandings of these developments. His current research focuses on aspects of governance and stakeholder involvement. He has adopted the Balaton and its cultures as a favourite place, warmed by the sun, refreshed by the waters and challenged to know more about the wines of the region.