This paper explores and examines the interesting and important phenomenon of Hajj from a marketing strategy and ethnographic perspective. There has been little academic qualitative research from a marketing strategy perspective on Hajj (once a year Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca), examining the perceptions of Muslims going on this significant spiritual journey. This paper also attempts to contribute to the theory on spiritual tourism and journeys and the marketing of spiritual tourism, by focusing on Hajj as both an outstanding spiritual journey and a product/service.This paper is part of a wider research project conducted to study marketing strategies in spiritual tourism, and focuses on the outbound markets of Australia and Pakistan. The paper presents a qualitative study of the perceptions and attitudes of Muslims towards their journey of Hajj; the investigation is carried out from the perspective of two different and parallel cultures, i.e. Muslim Australians and Muslim Pakistanis. In order to gain a comparative perspective, this study concentrates on the attitudes of Pakistani Muslims residing in Pakistan and in Australia. The social surrounds of the two populations are further described within the contexts of East/West, individualism/collectivism, and free criticism/authority acceptance. The findings of the research were further dissected and analysed to segment the customers of Hajj and to propose more effective marketing strategies for Hajj in Australia and Pakistan. It was found that the use of modern marketing concepts and tools was very helpful in giving a better perspective of the enormous business aspects of Hajj.

Purpose – Spiritual tourism has recently been accepted as a growing segment of tourism in business and research circles. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a new dimension in Islamic marketing and investigates spiritual tourism as a new strategy for marketing Islam as a religion. Design/methodology/approach – In this exploratory research, convenient sampling was employed to select Muslim spiritual tourists and Islamic organisations arranging spiritual tourism in Australia. A total of 34 face-to-face interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to identify factors relevant to the research themes regarding spiritual tourism and marketing Islam. Findings – Some religious organisations used religious gatherings and festivals as spiritual tourism products to market their religion – Islam. These organisations attracted Muslim and non-Muslim spiritual tourists to the Islamic places, gatherings, occasions, and festivals by promoting them as spiritual tourism products. Practical implications – The paper identifies spiritual tourism journeys and events that could be strategically used by religious organisations for marketing Islam. Social implications – This paper aims to build bridges for better understanding of Islam among the Australian public. The paper could be replicated to study the marketing of other religions in other geographical locations. Originality/value – The paper originates in recognising a genuinely new strategy of spiritual tourism that could be used more effectively for marketing Islam. A future quantitative study could be conducted to test the findings of this paper.

Purpose: – This paper aims to highlight the significance of partnership among stakeholders as a marketing strategy for Islamic spiritual tourism. Partnership as a marketing strategy is studied by interviewing stakeholders on the supply side of Islamic tourism. Only recently, Islamic spiritual tourism has been identified, not recognised yet, as a growing segment of Islamic tourism that needs to be effectively marketed.Design/methodology/approach: – Convenient sampling was used in this exploratory research to select and interview tourism operators selling in-bound and out-bound Islamic spiritual tourism in Australia and Pakistan. Cross-case content analysis was used to identify critical themes related to marketing Islamic spiritual tourism.Findings: – Three issues emerged from the content analysis in this study: political, commercial and religious. The management of these three issues is found necessary to effectively build and implement horizontal partnerships among stakeholders on the supply side in Islamic spiritual tourism.Research limitations/implications: – The selected sample is not the representation of the population based in the two countries. Only few potential participants agreed to be interviewed due to the perceived threat of manipulation of their views. Findings of this research contribute to the theory of marketing Islamic tourism specifically, and tourism in general.Practical implications: – The three issues found in this study provide a guideline for crafting strategies to market Islamic spiritual tourism based on local and global partnerships.Social implications: – The three issues found in this study provide a platform for cultural understanding and coherence.Originality/value: – This original study advocates partnerships among tourism operators, government bodies, destination managers and religious organisations involved in Islamic spiritual tourism. The structure and implementation of partnerships should critically consider the political, commercial and religious issues.

This exploratory study investigates the challenges for the heritage tourism industries in the UAE by focusing on the strategies and policies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify the business strategies, analyze the contextual challenges for service providers, and explore how providers managed these challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. A multi-case study approach is adopted with 12 renowned and leading heritage tourism providers (CEOc, managers, and relationship managers) Additionally, four tourism academics interviewed through qualitative semi-structured interviews. The data were obtained during the post-COVID-19 economic recovery period from January 2022 to November 2022. The protocols of the Delphi technique and the Template Analysis (TA) approach were combined to develop richer insights. Initially, the challenges discovered were thematically categorized under two levels, which were (i) Inconsistencies for Heritage Tourism and (ii) Appreciation for Heritage Tourism. As a result, subsequently, four multi-tiered themes (macro, meso, and micro level) emerged as a response to the current challenges: (i) Repackaging heritage tourism, (ii) Long-term safety measures for tourists, (iii) Organizational adaptation and innovation, and (iv) Creative recommendations. The novelty of this study is inherent in its contextualization of an under-explored area, concurrent analysis of a dynamic and lucrative sector, and methodological advancement through the embellishment of techniques. Based on the findings of this research, a contextualized framework is proposed that complements tourism theory and delivers credible implications for researchers, government planners, and tourism providers.

In the 21st century, there is an utmost need for peace, economic progress, and prosperity around the world, especially since the September 11 tragedy, the two Gulf wars, Arab Spring, and the fear of terrorism in the name of religion spread across the globe. Countries have to learn from past mistakes and avoid conflicts and war, which impact common people, destroy lives and ancient heritage, spiritual sites, and civilizations. Spiritual tourism development and education can be used as a vehicle to campaign and market peace between nations, cultures, and people from diverse racial and spiritual orientations. Countries with populations belonging to various religious minorities in particular should include spiritual tourism education at school and university to promote peace and unity in diversity.

This chapter appreciates the growing significance of heritage tourism, even in a place well-known as a fun-based modern destination. This study is based on an exploratory research which used qualitative research to study issues related to the promotion of heritage tourism in the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of this chapter was to identify challenges faced by the public and private tourism organizers for heritage tourism in the country. This original research employed the Delphi techniques and interviewed renowned heritage and cultural experts. Critical realism ontology was applied to analyze the qualitative data where themes emerged as the key challenges. Five themes emerged from the research that could be replicated to study heritage tourism challenges in other countries. A subsequent study to identify and assess solutions and strategies for these challenges is the suggested future study for this chapter.