Religious Tourism in Jordan: Current situation, future developments and prospects

The purpose of this research study is to analyse the state of the religious tourism product 

in Jordan from three main perspectives: To present the current state of religious tourism 

in Jordan through studying the tourism movement in the holy sites and analysing the potentials and future prospects. The relationship between the local community and these 

sites will be the second perspective from which the researcher will form the  study. A third perspective is studying the visitors†satisfaction about the services presented to them and the evaluation of the current state of the selected holy sites, whether they are Islamic or Christian. 

The study was carried out at the Islamic and Christian sites of Jordan: five Christian holy sites are included, namely the Baptism Site, Mount Nebo, Our Lady of the Mountain, and the shrines of Mar Elijah and Mukawir. The Vatican recognized these holy sites as pilgrimage places in 2000. Eight Islamic holy sites are included too, namely, the shrines of Jaâ€far bin Abi Taleb, Zaid ibn Harithah, Abdallah bin Rawahah, Abu Ubaydah Amir ibn al-Jarrah, Muâ€ath bin Jabal, Shurhabil bin Husnah, Amir bin Abi Waqqas, and Dirar bin al-Azwar. 

The selection of these  sites was based on their religious and tourist significance, both Islamic and Christian. In addition, these sites, according to statistics obtained from Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, are the most targeted by tourists and pilgrims for religious purposes and motives. The researcher obtained data by implementing different tools of study and research; most data depend on national and international statistics, indices of tourism and religious tour-

ism in particular. In addition, literature on religious tourism helped in formulating the structure of the research, although the shortage of Arabic and English references was remarkable. Therefore, the researcher hopes that this study will be a good addition and asset to the literature of religious tourism in Jordan. The researcherâ€s observations were a significant tool in this study and he made valuable observations that could play an important role in developing the religious tourism product in the kingdom if they are well implemented. The researcher conducted very fruitful qualitative research (interviews) with officials working in the field of tourism and, in particular, religious tourism, and he did a lot of interviews with visitors,tourists, and pilgrims at the holy sites, local communities around the holy sites, directors of the holy sites, directors of tourism directorates and religious men (Imams1 or priests). 211 self completed questionnaires were filled during the study period (from the beginning of May to the end of August 2009) to analyse religious tourism at the sites from many different perspectives. The questionnaires were analysed with the programme SPSS 17.0, and the interviews were analysed with the help of the programme MAXQDA 10. In other words, the researcher used both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. 

The main results of the research can be summarized as follows: The vast majority of those who responded to the questionnaire (83.3%) believe that understanding common religious heritage is a factor upon which dialogue and a better coexistence between religions can begin to take place in a part of our world which suffers a lot of problems based on religious conflicts. Less than 1% of the respondents gave a negative answer to this question, which indicates that there are strong feelings for understanding and building relationships based on common religious heritage. This is an important finding because it reiterates the role that common religious heritage has in the 

promotion of religious sites and the bringing together of people from different religious 

backgrounds. Christians were found among the Muslims in the Islamic holy sites and vice versa; this encourages the idea of the common religious heritage and its effect on the convergence and understanding between the people of different religions. However, there is one problem and this is related to visitors from Israel, but this is because of the well known political reasons and not due to religious beliefs of the people. The main purpose and also the main incentive for the tourists and  visitors to visit the holy sites are prayer and worship which are from religious motives. Holy sites in Jordan are places of prayer and worship which also provide some form of relaxation and entertainment. When asked with whom visitors usually go to the religious sites, it was reported that 58.8% usually go to the holy sites with their families. It could be concluded from this percentage that religious tourism is also connected to family tourism. For this reason, the government and officials should take care to provide for the needs and services that are suitable for families at the holy sites.

List of Contents 

Abstract  9   

Zusammenfassung  13   

Acknowledgements  16   

Dedication  18   

 

1.1   General Information on the Field of the Study: Jordan    19 

1.2   Aims of the Study  25 

1.3   Background of the Research  26 

1.4   Research Area  29 

1.5   Research problems and challenges  34 

1.6   Outline of the Research  35 

 

Chapter 2 â€" Conceptual Context  38 

2.1      Introduction  38 

2.2      Pаst Rеsеаrch  39 

2.3     DеfÑ-nÑ-ng RеlÑ-gÑ-ous Tourism  45 

2.4     MotÑ-vаtÑ-ons for Religious Travel  47 

2.4.1  RеlÑ-gÑ-ous MotÑ-vation  50 

2.4.2  Culturаl MotÑ-vation  51 

2.4.3  PÑ-lgrÑ-mаgе MotÑ-vation  52 

2.5      Pilgrimage  54 

2.5.1  Definitions of Pilgrimage  55 

2.5.2  Distinctions between Tourism and Pilgrimage  57 

2.6      Conclusion  58 

 

3.1   Introduction to the Methodology  60 

3.2   Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods  60 

3.3   Initial Background Reading   66 

3.4   Primary Data Collection  67 

3.5   Research Limitations  69 

3.5.1  Population and Gender  69 

3.5.2   Foreign and Official Perspectives  71 

4.1  Social, political and economic conditions as a framework  73 

4.1.1  Social Conditions  73 

4.1.2  Political Conditions  74 

4.1.3  Economic Conditions  77 

4.2  Tourism in Jordan  78 

4.2.1  Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA)  79 

4.2.2  Jordan Tourism Board (JTB)  80 

4.2.3  Jordan National Tourism Strategy 2004â€"2010  80 

4.2.4  National Tourism Strategy 2011-2015  81 

4.3  Religious Tourism (Faith Tourism)  83 

4.4  Religious Sites of Jordan  88 

4.4.1   Christian Holy Sites  89 

4.4.1.1  The Baptism Site  89 

4.4.1.2  Mount Nebo (The Memorial of Moses)  92 

4.4.1.3  Mukawir  94 

4.4.1.4  Our Lady of the Mount  96 

4.4.1.5  Tal Mar Elias (Shrine of the Prophet Elijah)  97 

4.4.2  Islamic Holy Sites   99 

4.4.2.1  The Shrine of Abu Ubaydah Amir ibin al-Jarrah   99 

4.4.2.2  The Shrine of Muâ€ath bin Jabal  100 

4.4.2.3  The Shrine of Shurhabil bin Husnah  101 

4.4.2.4  The Shrine of Amir bin Abi Waqqas  102 

4.4.2.5  The Shrine of  Dirar bin al-Azwar    103 

4.4.2.6  The Shrine of Jaâ€far bin abi Taleb  104 

4.4.2.7  The Shrine of Zaid bin al-Harithah   104 

4.4.2.8  The Shrine of Abdallah bin Rawahah  106 

4.5  Effects of Common Religious Heritage  106 

4.6  Papal Visits to Jordan  109 

4.7  Role of the Hashemite Family concerning the Holy Places in Jordan  111 

 

Chapter 5 â€" Religious Tourism in Jordan:  

       Present State, development and Prospects  113 

5.1  Introduction  113 

5.2  Results from the quantitative part of the analysis   114 

5.2.1  Tourists†Perception of Common Religious Heritage  115 

5.2.2   The Purpose of Visiting the Holy Sites  116 

5.