Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Ayoub Pazhouhan ¹
• Moslem Fallahi ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

² Master of Business Administration, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Religious tourism, a branch of cultural tourism, can stimulate development, especially in rural areas. This research was conducted to conceptualize a religious tourism development model emphasizing the holy sites of Kermanshah province. The research approach was of qualitative and Grounded Theory type; the research sample comprised experts in the field of religious tourism. Accordingly, 16 semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants using the purposeful sampling method. The four criteria of Lincoln and Guba, including credibility, transferability, reliability, and verifiability, were used to measure the validity and comply with the qualitative research features, validation, accuracy, and robustness of the data. The reliability of the research was also assessed using the test-retest reliability method, with 77% reliability. Strauss and Corbin’s systematic approach analyzed data. Through three open, central, and selective coding procedures, the content analysis results yielded 71 concepts, 14 sub-categories, and six main categories. Finally, the paradigmatic religious tourism development model was presented, in which the development of religious tourism was chosen as the central phenomenon affected by the causal conditions of the research. Contextual and intervening conditions and the central phenomenon formed religious tourism development strategies, and economic, cultural, and social development outcomes were obtained. In the end, practical suggestions were presented for developing religious tourism in Kermanshah province.
Introduction
"Religious tourism" is one of the oldest forms of tourism and plays an important role in the history of tourism development. Religious tourism includes people who travel for religious or spiritual purposes and visit religious places or participate in religious activities and festivals. In other words, religious tourism refers to all types of trips made with voluntary religious motivation, without pay, and for a limited period.
Kermanshah province, with 16,550 sacred places and monuments, is one of the provinces with the potential to attract religious tourists. Despite the potential and attractions that Kermanshah province has in the field of tourism in general and religious tourism in particular, the category of religious tourism in this province should be addressed more. This matter has been neglected from the point of view of the trustees and planners of the matter.
This research aims to develop a religious tourism development model with an emphasis on blessed and religious places and locations in Kermanshah province to creat employment and reduce the unemployment rate. So, the current study seeks to answer this question, what kind of model does Kermanshah province has for the development of religious tourism with an emphasis on blessed and religious places?
Materials and Methods
The current research is qualitative in terms of paradigm, developmental-applicative in terms of purpose, and exploratory and ground-theoretical in terms of method. The studied community of the research was made up of experts in the field of religious tourism. Based on this, 16 semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants using the purposeful sampling method. The data were analyzed using the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin. In order to analyze the data, three types of coding were used, which include open coding (creating concepts and categories), axial coding (identifying the core category, causal conditions, contextual and environmental conditions, intervening conditions, strategies, and consequences) and selective coding (creation of theory). In order to measure the validity and comply with the qualitative features of the research, validation, accuracy, and robustness of the data, the four criteria of Lincoln and Goba, such as reliability, transferability and appropriateness, reliability and stability, and verifiability, were used. The reliability of the research was also calculated using the test-retest reliability method, and 77% was obtained.
ResultsConclusions
The resulting Paradigm Model identified welfare and religious attractions as "causal conditions." The mentioned factors are the factors that make the development of religious tourism necessary and inevitable. Religious tourism development strategies include promotional strategies, infrastructural strategies, collaborative strategies, and human resource strategies that are affected by factors such as advertising management and integrated tourism management as "intervening conditions" And "background conditions" such as residents' attitude about the consequences of tourism and residents' attitude towards religious and cultural responsibilities towards pilgrims and tourists. Finally, the development of religious tourism leads to the emergence of "consequences of the development of religious tourism," such as "economic development," such as an increase in rial and foreign exchange income and the prosperity of the tax system, creating job opportunities for the local people of the province, expanding commercial and welfare centers around religious attractions. The province, the prosperity of local industries and products of the province, the employment of women and students on a part-time basis, and the attraction of domestic and foreign capital to the province; and "cultural and social development" such as cultural interaction and expansion of cultural exchanges of the province, strengthening of religious thinking among the local community of the province, awareness of the local community of cultural-religious assets, sense of pride of the local community in cultural-religious assets, strengthening of cultural character and increasing respect pilgrims are given the opportunity to strengthen religious and Islamic culture and rites between guilds and trades, and to revive local-religious traditions and manners. Based on the research findings, some
practical suggestions are presented to develop religious tourism in Kermanshah province

Keywords

• Religious tourism
• holy places
• development model
• tourism development
• Kermanshah province

Main Subjects

• tourism management