Religion and Recreation Part 2: Road Trip!

As we kick off the beginning of August, the summer season continues to roll on north of the Equator and much too quickly if you ask us. At Atla, we celebrate summer as a time to recharge, plan for the remainder of the year, and enjoy quality time with our loved ones. To commemorate summer, our blog is taking a closer look at titles in our database that examine the link between religion and recreation. In part one, we took a look at works covering the relationship between Religion and Sports.

Tourism is one of the world’s favorite ways to recreate. In 2023, over 1.3 billion people traveled internationally worldwide. Among this number, an estimated 330 million people travel for religious purposes each year. For those curious to learn more about how faith motivates us to see the world, we share the following titles within Alta’s research tools:

• International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, published by Technological University Dublin, is a high-quality, international, open access, online, double-blind reviewed publication which deals with all aspects of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. The journal takes an interdisciplinary international approach inclusive of all denominations, religions, faiths and spiritual practices. While the main emphasis is on primary research articles, it also welcomes suitably relevant discussion papers, research/review pieces, industry-focused case studies and evaluations, management guides and reports, economic evaluations, book reviews, and announcements of forthcoming meetings. Indexed in Atla Religion Database^®. Learn more about this journal.
• International Journal of Tourism, Culture and Spirituality (IJTCS), published by University of Science and Culture, is an open access journal which aims to be the leading international journal for the study of tourism within the dimension of spirituality. It aims to provide a critical understanding of spiritual perceptions and insights associated with any kind of tourism. It also seeks to provide an international forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas through the publication of critical, theoretically informed articles as well as relevant case studies from around the globe. Indexed in Atla Religion Database^®.  Learn more about this journal.
• Theologia Viatorum, published by AOSIS Publishing, seeks to delve into the theology of the pilgrim and/or traveler. The journal aims to explore aspects of theology and religion in order to deepen our understanding of God and to expand our views on religious traditions. Theologia Viatorum is interested in all African religious traditions in their various forms, in every part of Africa, and it is open to every methodology. Its contributors include scholars within various interdisciplinary fields working in history, anthropology, sociology, political science, missiology, literature, and related disciplines. Indexed in Atla Religion Database^®. Learn more about this journal.

In addition to these journals, we have several Essay Collections indexed in Atla Religion Database^® that cover subjects related to religion and tourism:

• Buddhist Tourism in Asia, published by the University of Hawaii Press, explores how Buddhists, government organizations, business corporations, and individuals in Asia participate in re-imaginings of Buddhism through tourism.
• Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond: Reconfiguring Gender, Religion, and Mobility, published by Routledge, investigates female Muslims pilgrimage practices and how these relate to women’s mobility, social relations, identities, and the power structures that shape women’s lives.
• Pilgrimage and Ambiguity: Sharing the Sacred, published by Sean Kingston Publishing, examines the phenomenon of “ambiguous sanctuaries”, defined as places in which the sacred is shared, in diverse parts of the world including Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Brazil.
• Religious Journeys in India: Pilgrims, Tourists, and Travelers, published by State University of New York Press, explores how religious travel in India is transforming religious identities and self-constructions.

Atla will continue to add titles in the future related to tourism, travel, and pilgrimage. Keep an eye on our blog for our monthly announcement of new titles.

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