The Impact of Religious Tourism on Mecca Economy in Saudi Arabia

The Impact of Religious Tourism on Mecca Economy in Saudi Arabia
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Introduction
Mecca, a holy land for the Muslims in Saudi Arabia is believed to be home to Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Mohammed’s place of birth is believed to be in Mecca. This is the same place where Muslims allege he was also descended upon by the Holy Quran in the propagation of Islam. In the dogmas of the Muslim, this land is believed to be the holiest and today has become a historical monument. The economic status of this city greatly depends on the influx of large numbers of pilgrims visiting the site every year, with hotels accommodating, feeding and transporting guests (Berkey, 2003). Muslims from all walks of life travel to Mecca to visit this monument to perform Umrah and Hajj each year.
As the centre of the Islamic world, Mecca only accommodates the Muslim's faithful. Non-Muslims are always forbidden from entering Mecca anytime of the year since such travels are only meant for the Muslims. Millions of Muslim guests come to Mecca from all over the globe thus making it the largest pilgrimage in the world.
The rationale for the research paper is to understand the prospects of religious tourism in the advancement of the economy (Berkey, 2003). An analysis on the importance of religious tourism, and its impact to the economy of Mecca and its constituents will lead us into appropriate measures that the government of Saudi Arabia can employ in improving religious tourism in Mecca.
The purpose of this study revolves around understanding the dynamics of religious tourism and discovers analytical approaches of broadening the aspects of religious tourism in Mecca as a revenue earner. To achieve these results, it is important that an appraisal is conducted in order to establish how Muslims view religious tourism and the principal destinations for this type of tourism.
In addition to this, it is also imperative that an understanding is created in finding out how much interest is there for religious tourism, the destinations that attract tourists and the reasons behind religious tourism. In achieving this, a questionnaire was formulated and distributed across different Mosques. The questionnaire comprised of a set of structured questions and two open-ended questions (Berkey, 2003). The results were later calculated and evaluated using a quantitative approach.
Objectives and Aims of this Research
Generally, this study intends to ascertain the impact of religious tourism on the economy of Saudi Arabia, including its influences to the local community. The research paper also seeks to find out the government of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives of improving religious tourism in Mecca. In doing this, the research paper will seek to also create a platform for understanding religious tourism.
Benefits
Through this research, we seek to create an understanding of the importance of religious tourism to a country and how it holistically affects the society. The findings of this paper will help analyze approaches that can enhance the cause of religious tourism by seeking for other strategies that can boost the growth of tourism and increase the revenue process of the Muslim Nation (Henderson, 2011). When the findings of this research are deployed, Saudi Arabia is most likely to experience an increase in the quantity of tourists who visit Mecca for religious and touristic reasons.
Literature review
In this section, the research paper will address and introduce religious tourism and carry a short background study on Islam and how they view Mecca. The religious lives of Muslims will be analyzed, in a nutshell, to discover some basic information about this faith and its place in the society and the lives of people.
The characteristics of religious tourism will give an in-depth understanding to show the importance of religious tourism as a revenue earner in the tourism sector. We will determine through the section the different types of religious tourism, the destinations, which the tourists of religion are, and their motives (Henderson, 2011). Finally, the section will determine the impact of religious tourism on the economy of Saudi Arabia and how it influences the people, and the approaches the government has to put in place to secure this sector.
1.1. Religion in General
Before defining religious tourism, it is imperative that an understanding of religion is initiated. Religion, as described by Duebel, is a system comprising of beliefs of a higher being that are held with faith and commitment. All religions including Christianity have a universal belief in a superior being. Religions are broadly divided into Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Taoism, Neopaganism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Western Esoteric (Duebel, 2014).
Religious tourism, therefore, can be defined as a branch of sector that deals with people traveling to sacred or holy places for religious purposes to participate in events and festivals during seasons. These visits are not only based on religious functions but also as opportunities to visit scenes and have leisure time away.
In this current age, religious tourism is becoming a popular revenue earner among countries. The sector is growing with many people seeking for opportunities to visit these sites. It is also essential to differentiate this form of tourism from those who visit such monuments for leisure. Pilgrimage tourism is a form of tourism borrows a leave from religious tourism (Duebel, 2014). In this form, people travel to various sites for religious functions and purposes meant to show loyalty to a proclaimed faith. Tourists of this kind visit certain things that are related to their religious beliefs.
1.2. Islam in a Nutshell
Islam, a monotheistic religion forms one of the biggest religions with close to 1.5 billion faithful. This religion originated from the 7th century Arabian Peninsula that was founded on the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. The Arabian Peninsula was a battlefield where the nomadic tribes fought due to the cruel conditions in life. The Peninsula was a desert where animals were kept, and people practiced other forms of trade (Chittick, 2007). Due to this, a trade route was formed on the Western side of the Peninsula which helped in trading. Goods were shipped to other countries through this route, and the tribes that lived along these routes soon became wealthy as a result of trade.
These tribes believed in polytheism as a form of faith, and they participated in the worship of different objects. As a result of the trade connections, the traditions and social systems of these people begun to change.
1.3. Prophet Muhammad
Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 A.D in Mecca. Facts reveal that after the death of his parents he was raised by a paternal uncle. Sources also support that he had a difficult childhood and in the midst of this, he learned how to read and write. Muhammad became a merchant and transverse different region where he married a widow from a rich merchant. In the year 610 A.D Muhammad experienced a revelation from God that marked the foundation of the development of the Islamic faith (Chittick, 2007). With the rejection from other merchants, Muhammad had to travel from region to region winning followers. He built mosques in the cities he visited and started a mission to draft the Constitution of Medina. This marked the initiation of the Islamic religion.
1.4. Characteristics of Religious Tourism
This paper dwells on religious tourism as the driver for most of the travels made in Mecca, and not cultural. Religious tourism is segmented separately under the domain of cultural tourism. Tourism is broadly divided into two main segments; mass tourism and niche tourism. Mass tourism weaves a large scale prospect where tour industries put together and sell standard leisure services to a mass base of client (Zamani-Farahani, & Henderson, 2010). Second to this, Niche tourism only focuses on a definite group of clients who are recognized and defined by a same need or interests.
In understanding religious tourism, it is important to understand that this element is characterized by visits that are made to religious sites but the sole purpose of the visit is not purely religious. These trips have a cultural inclination since people visit such scenes as part of their schedule. Most cultural visits are known to also include visits to religious places. In our case, Muslims make pilgrimage to Mecca for the sole purposes of spirituality where they seek the intercessions of Allah (Zamani-Farahani, & Henderson, 2010).
1.5. Categories of Religious Tourism
There are variable categories of religious tourism. These include;
1. Pilgrimages and Tours
2. Religious events and functions
3. Fellowship travels
Pilgrimages form the biggest form of religious tourism in the world that earns countries revenues. Islamic pilgrimages are mainly directed towards exploring the roots of the Islamic faith, discovering the contributions of Islam to other civilizations, seeking inspiration from the founders of the faith, the search for spiritual and emotional healing, or rather it can combine a physical holiday with a pilgrimage (Rivlin, 2009). The main purpose of religious travel among Muslims is purely for the purposes of performing Umrah and Hajji each year.
Muslims from all walks of life and countries visit this pilgrimage for the sole purposes of interacting with Allah. Festivals are always organized for the faithful each and every year where they interact. The pilgrimage at Mecca, as one of the five pillars of Islam, gives the financially capable Muslims the mandate to visit Mecca for the purposes of Hajji once in a lifetime. Hajj is significant in the Muslim faith since it embarks on the journey to a total submission to God (Youngblood Coleman, 2014). When one performs the religious rites, they believe rewards are received from the supernatural, their transgressions are forgiven, and Allah accepts their supplications.
1.5. Destinations of Religious Tourism
Sacred places are sites where pilgrims find access to God. Traditionally, sacred places are considered places where rituals are performed to appease God. These places can be on natural landscapes, mountains, and where individuals can have a religious connection. These sites are considered as magnets that draw tourists and the cultures of the local people help create an attractive nature to tourists.
For Muslim's, religious tourism involves visits made to Mecca as the place where Islam originated. He most popular sites in Saudi Arabia include Masjid al –Haram that is a sacred Mosque surrounding the Kabah and is known to be the largest in the world. The pilgrims are also required to drink some water from Zamzam, which is located in the mosque. They are then taken to perform some rites on the hills of Safa and Marwah. On the eighth day, pilgrims are expected to travel to Mina for a three-day stay then the next morning they leave for Mount Arafat where the Prophet preached his last sermon (Henderson, 2011).. They are then taken to Madinah where another mosque is situated. Madinah has graveyards where the daughters of Muhammad were buried and attracts huge numbers of pilgrims. All these sites form a tourist destination in Mecca.
1.6. The Influence of religious tourism on the economy of Mecca and the local community ...