Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes

Worldwide Hospitalityand Tourism ThemesHow can the visitor experiencebe enhanced for spiritual andcultural tourism in India?Theme Editor: Dr Vinnie Jauhari

Volume 2 Number 5 2010ISSN 1755-4217

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Access this journal online __________________________ 463

Editorial advisory board ___________________________ 464

Editorial __________________________________________ 465

Managing customer experience for spiritualand cultural tourism: an overviewVinnie Jauhari and Gunjan M. Sanjeev _____________________________ 467

Enhancing Buddhist tourism in India:an exploratory studyMadhu Agrawal, Himanshu Choudhary and Gaurav Tripathi ___________ 477

What do the tourists want? The case of theGolden Temple, AmritsarGaurav Tripathi, Himanshu Choudhary and Madhu Agrawal ___________ 494

Internet deployment in the spiritual tourism industry:the case of Vaishno Devi ShrineKanika Gupta and Anju Gulla ____________________________________ 507

Does self service technology impact destinationimage and customer delight?R. Lakshmi and P. Ganesan ______________________________________ 520

Worldwide Hospitalityand Tourism Themes

How can the visitor experience be enhanced forspiritual and cultural tourism in India?

Theme EditorDr Vinnie Jauhari

ISSN 1755-4217

Volume 2Number 52010

CONTENTS

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Confluence of technology and commercial factors atISKCON temple: reflections on customer experienceMeghna Rishi, Anjana Singh and Rati Shukla _______________________ 539

Exploring the relationship between socio-culturalfactors and tourist satisfaction: a study of LotusTemple, New Delhi, IndiaShachi Yadav, Rumki Bandyopadhyay, Gulam Rasul andAnudeep Rawal ________________________________________________ 554

How can the visitor experience be enhancedfor spiritual and cultural tourism in India?Vinnie Jauhari _________________________________________________ 559

CONTENTScontinued

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Worldwide Hospitality and TourismThemesVol. 2 No. 5, 2010p. 464#Emerald Group Publishing Limited1755-4217

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

John T. BowenUniversity of Houston, USA

Jorge CostaIPDT – Instituto de Turismo, Portugal

Samer HassanJohnson and Wales University, USA

Hadyn IngramCH Solutions, UK

Chandana JayawardenaGeorge Brown College, Canada

Fevzi OkumusThe University of Central Florida, USA

Joanne TaylorSalford Business School, UK

Rhodri ThomasLeeds Metropolitan University, UK

Trevor WardW Hospitality Group, Nigeria

2010 WHATT THEME EDITORS

Anthony ClaytonUniversity of the West Indies, Jamaica

Jorge CostaIPDT – Instituto de Turismo, Portugal

Duncan DicksonUniversity of Central Florida, USA

Robin DiPietroUniversity of South Carolina, USA

Carolyn HayleUniversity of the West Indies, Jamaica

Chandi JayawardenaGeorge Brown College, Canada

Ady MilmanUniversity of Central Florida, USA

Fevzi OkumusUniversity of Central Florida, USA

Donald SinclairAmazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Brazil

Youcheng ‘‘Raymond’’ WangUniversity of Central Florida, USA

Editorial

IntroductionWelcome toWorldwide Hospitality andTourismThemes (WHATT) Vol. 2, No. 5. Our aimis to make a practical and theoretical contribution to the sustainable development of theworldwide hospitality and tourism industry. Each theme issue addresses a significantindustry challenge – starting from a strategic question and leading to outcomes that arepractical and implementable. To accomplish this task, theme editors assemble a team ofacademicswho collaboratewith industry practitioners in the analysis and development ofpossible solutions. I should like to thank Vinnie Jauhari and her team of contributors fortheir fascinating study of spiritual and cultural tourism in India.

If you have an idea for a theme issue that will yield new insights on a key issue forthe industry, do please contact me.

Richard TeareManaging Editor, WHATT

How can the visitor experience be enhanced for spiritual and culturaltourism in India?It is a great pleasure to put together this special theme issue on India which addressesthe following research question.

How can the visitor experience be enhanced for spiritual and cultural tourism inIndia?

India has a very rich culture and history which spans for more than 3,500 years. Thisevident from the richness of ancient monuments and sites of cultural and spiritualinterest. A birthplace of four religions, there is a lot of history attached to various cities inIndia. The special issue focuses on some very prominent places of spiritual and culturalinterest such as the temple at Tirupathi which is the world’s largest pilgrimagedestination and is visited on an average by a million tourists everyday. The other siteschosen are the Buddhist tourism circuit, the Golden Temple at Amritsar which is thegreat spiritual center for the Sikhs from all across the globe. The special issue alsofeatures work on the Vaishno Devi shrine in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Two veryfamous temples atDelhi-LotusTemple and ISKON temple are also featured in the specialissue. There are very interesting common threads running across at each of thesedestinations. There are lots of suggestions for the policymakers, civic authorities aswellas the management boards of these places. The next step would be to compare theseexperiences with some of the most famous cultural sites across the globe. The bestpractices could be benchmarked and would have very interesting lessons.

Vinnie JauhariTheme Editor

About the Theme EditorVinnie Jauhari is a Director, Institute for International Management and Technology,Gurgaon, Haryana, India. Prior to her current role, she was the Region Lead for HP Labs OpenInnovation Office for India. Her responsibility included facilitating research collaboration with

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leading researchers and entrepreneurs in academia, government and business around the world.She has also been involved in capacity building efforts in higher education and is a member ofthe advisory and governing boards of several universities. Jauhari is the founding editor of theJournal of Services Research and the Journal of Technology Management for Growing Economies.Vinnie Jauhari has authored more than 100 publications in national and international journalsand eight books on aspects of business strategy, services management, readings in servicesmanagement, hospitality industry case studies, services marketing operations and managementand technological innovation. Jauhari is a member of the editorial board, International Journal ofContemporary Hospitality Management and a reviewer for numerous international journals.

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Managing customer experiencefor spiritual and cultural tourism:

an overviewVinnie Jauhari

Institute for International Management and Technology,Gurgaon, India, and

Gunjan M. SanjeevUmak Business School,

Institute for International Management and Technology,Gurgaon, India

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a background on developments in hospitality andtourism in India and its contribution to economic growth.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the importance of customer experience andprovides insights on destination management approaches. It reviews the factors beyond the control of aspecific service provider which impact the consumer experience. The paper also discusses the tourismpotential for selected spiritual and cultural sites and gives an overview of the approach followed toassess consumer experience at each of these locations.

Findings – The paper focuses on elements that contribute to consumer experience at selected spiritualand cultural places. It also focuses on technology and its impact on creating a superior experience.Further, aspects of infrastructure and hygiene are also reviewed.

Originality/value – The paper explores spiritual and cultural tourism in the context of India wherethere is very little formal research in this area.

Keywords Tourism, Culture, Religion, Tourism development, Customer satisfaction, India

Paper type General review

This theme issue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes addresses the followingquestion: how can the visitor experience be enhanced for spiritual and cultural tourism inIndia? This question is being addressed so that initiatives can be taken to enhance thevisitor experience. It will also have an impact on the revenues of the state as well as theplaces being visited. Furthermore, the question has implications for entrepreneurship andlivelihoods too.

Significance of the studyThere is a significant business opportunity in terms of sensitizing domestic and foreigntourists to the culture and heritage of India. This can be accomplished by deploying acombination of technology and human interfaces. In such a scenario it is important thatthe local administration, entrepreneurs, civil society, the management of tourism sites,NGOs, international, state and central government should partner to create anoutstanding experience at each of these destinations.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1755-4217.htm

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Vol. 2 No. 5, 2010pp. 467-476


DOI 10.1108/17554211011090094

BackgroundTourism is a growing global leisure industry and international tourist arrivals have beengrowing over the past five decades – from 25 million in 1950, to 277 million in 1980, to438 million in 1990, to 684 million in 2000, and reaching 922 million in 2008 (UNWTO,2008). As per the UNWTO’s Tourism 2020 vision projections, international arrivalsare expected to reach nearly 1.6 billion by the year 2020. As compared to the worldaverage of 4.1 per cent, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East and Africaare forecast to grow at over 5 per cent per year. Tourism from developed nations, notablyEurope and the Americas – is expected to grow at lower than average rates:

The total tourist arrivals by region shows that, by 2020, 1.2 billion will be intraregional and0.4 billion will be long haul travelers. By 2020, the top three receiving regions will be Europe(717 million tourists), East Asia (397 million) and the Americas (282 million), followed byAfrica, the Middle East and South Asia (UNWTO, 2009).

The tourism industry is seen as a significant contributor in achievement of national goalsby the developing industries as it creates good employment opportunities, stimulatingsmall business and curtailing poverty (Conrad and Barreto, 2005). The interest inspirituality has become an important area of research (Hill, 2002; Pesut, 2003). It has alsoimpacted the tourism industry (Cohen, 2006; Timothy and Iverson, 2006) in addition toother industries. Haq et al. (2008) undertook research to develop strategies for the effectivemarketing of spiritual tourism. He observed that by focusing on market penetration andproduct development strategies, the high involvement spiritual tourists could be furtherinfluenced. For other medium to low intensity tourists, the market development andproduct development strategies may work better and the least interested customers couldbecome involved by operators applying some highly targeted diversification strategies.

Tourism is the largest service industry in India, with a contribution of 6.23 per cent tothe national GDP and 8.78 per cent of the total employment in India. Religious tourismhas proved to be resilient to the pressures of global recession (Selja, 2010) and as religioustourism is seen as travel with a purpose and not a luxury it is fairly resistant to thecurrent economic slowdown. If the motivations for visiting religious places can beidentified, it will have significant implications for marketing of religious tourism. In arecent study carried out by Chand (2010), on religious motivations among NRI visitingsacred sites in India, no significant differences were found in motivations among NRItourists across countries studied, whereas significant differences were found betweendomestic and NRI tourists. However, for both the groups, it was found out that culturalimmersion, novelty and religious attraction were some of the key motivational factors fortourists visiting sacred sites in India and that tourists paid little heed to seekingcamaraderie and family togetherness.

“There is a continuum of spirituality inherent in tourism, though this related to tourist’sexperience rather than initial motivation (Sharpley and Sundaram, 2005). According to the11th five year plan (2007-2012), Report of the Working Group on Tourism, Government ofIndia, there should be a substantial development of tourist facilities at places of importantreligious pilgrimage.” The report places emphasis not only on developing new attractionsbut on reviewing activities and plans to increase length of stay, money expended andsatisfaction levels. As a start, the destinations that need immediate focus on touristfacilities are, namely, four dhams of Uttaranchal, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri andGangotri; Sabrimala in Kerala, Kamakhya Temple in Gauhati (Assam); Dwarkadhish in

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Gujarat, Puri in Orissa; Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh; Kanchi Kamkioti and Rameshwaramin Tamil Nadu.

To enhance tourism, it is important to understand the destination managementperspective as well. A sustainable and integrated view of destination management includessome of the following (Canadian Universities Consortium, Training and TechnologyTransfer Program, 2010):

. blends the interests of the tourists with the economic needs of the region;

. mitigates the side effects of the tourism in that region; and

. protects the local environment, heritage and culture of that region.

The same document covers various aspects linked with destination management in thecontext of tourism. These factors are:

. Product and marketing development. These include elements of marketing,product development and training.

. Destination planning. These include elements of destination planning, land use,transportation, carrying capacity, urban environment management.

. Organisational and management structures. These include elements ofenvironmental management, disaster planning, security, training, etc.

An outstanding consumer experience is a pre-requisite for building a positive dispositiontowards a tourist destination. Tourism could be undertaken for a variety of reasons.These could range from, adventure, socializing, nature, spiritual and cultural reasonsamong others. The history of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization,more precisely known as Harappan Civilization. The civilization flourished during2500 BC When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5,000 years ago,Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)(Ministry of Finance, Government of India, 2010).

It is also a birthplace of four religions – Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism.“The four religions born in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, arefollowed by 25 per cent of the world’s population. Jainism and Buddhism were founded inIndia in 600 and 500 BC, respectively. Islam is India’s and the world’s second largestreligion. There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country,including the Muslim world. Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called “the AncientCity” when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 BC, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited cityin the world today” (Ministry of Finance, Government of India, 2010).

A rich history and cultural roots has led to architectural monuments and sites whichoffer a unique journey back to ancient times. The Indian culture embeds spirituality andpilgrimage which is a part of all religions. The journeys to some of the very well knownshrines or holy places in India may have elements of a long journey, bath in the water anda circular clockwise locomotion (in India referred as “parikrama”) (Singh, 2004).The journeys undertaken with a spiritual intent may have some unique attributes whichmay not be present in other tourist destinations. These would include rituals to beconducted at the holy place of visit, focus on prayers, bonding and chanting with fellowtravelers, a long walking journey may be on top of a hill, dip in the holy water, donations,a deep reverence, simple vegetarian food, patience with long queues and inconvenienceas well. Spiritual travel in India has deep religious roots and may be linked with pleasing


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a deity or asking for something that one deeply desires, thanks giving or a belief that itwill wash away the sins or bonding with the Supreme Power.

There are many places in India which evoke lot of spiritual travel. Some of these are:Amarnath, Badrinath, Kedarnath. Pilgrimage in India was strengthened in India whenAdi Shankaracharya set up four institutions and a visit to these is considered by Hindus assacrosanct – Badrinath in north, Dwarka in west, Jaganath Puri in East, Rameshwaram inSouth (Singh, 2004).

About this theme issueThe articles featured in this theme issue address aspects of the customer experience atsome of the most visited destinations in India. The objective is to identify ways inwhich larger numbers of tourists might be encouraged to visit these sites and in sodoing, increase revenues.

The destinations that have been reviewed for this theme issue:. Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir (Hinduism).. Golden Temple at Amritsar (Sikhism).. Tirupati Temple at Chitoor (Hinduism).. Buddhist Circuit in India (Buddhism).. Lotus Temple at Delhi (Bahai).. Iskon Temple (Lord Krishna with global following).

As noted above, spiritual tourism has certain differences as compared with conventionaltourism and there are certain distinct cultural underpinnings which are unique inspiritual and cultural tourism. There is a wide array of research on the managementof spiritual and cultural tourism sites and many factors that play a role in influencing thetourist experience. These include infrastructure, accommodation, transport, variety offood, management of queues and other engagement options for the children and tourists.Technology also play a role in managing travel and access to the various spiritualdestinations and a discuss of prior research on destination management gives an insightinto alternate approaches such as systems thinking, yield management and dynamicmodeling.

Approach to the studies featured in this theme issueTeams of researchers each chose different destinations which are revered in Indianculture and attract large number of tourists every year. The economics of thesedestinations are profiled below.

Tirupati temple at Chitoor in Andhra Pradesh“The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the tenth century, is the world’slargest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an averageof 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday” (Ministry of Finance,Government of India, 2010).

“Tirumala Tirupati Darshan is a temple of Lord Venkateshwara which is situated inthe Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh. It is a very well known and famous Hindupilgrimage in India. According to the Tamil literature the site of Tirupati wasestablished during the fifth century AD and mostly the Bhakti movement saints named

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as Alvars were Vaishnava saints used to sing hymns in praise of Lord Venkateshwara(www.ttdonlinebooking.com/history/). It is also a highly visited place wherein about1 million devotees visit the place every day. Owing to the high number of pilgrimsvisiting the place every day Tirumala Tirupati is always crowded with people whichraises a lot of problem for the pilgrims in terms of accommodation facilities and Darshan(seeing the idol of the deity) facility” (www.ttdonlinebooking.com, 2010). Despite having5,000 rest houses there is a still an accommodation shortages.

Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu and KashmirThis is an ancient shrine and is revered by a significant proportion of the population ofIndia and by many in other countries. There were 8 million tourists who visited VaishnoDevi in 2009 (Kumar, 2010).The nearby regions of Patnitop, Bhaderwah, Poonch-Rajourihave been taken up for development on priority by creation of separate TourismDevelopment Authorities.

The Golden Temple at AmritsarGuru Arjan Sahib got its foundation laid by a Muslim saint Hazrat Mian Mir ji of Lahoreon December, 1588). The construction work was directly supervised by Guru Arjan Sahibhimself and he was assisted by many other devoted Sikhs. The temple is 400 years old andwas conceived by Guru Anjan Singh. It was completed in the year 1601 AD (ShiromaniGurdwara Parbandhak Committee, 2010). It is one of the most important spiritual centresfor Sikhs across the globe. The number of pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple is 20,000 ona normal day and as high as 200,000 on festivals and special days (cited in Tripathi et al.,2010). Roughly 400-500 foreign nationals visit this place daily. Most of the foreign visitorscome from Canada the UK, Israel, Norway and Japan (Kaur, 2008).

The Buddhist circuitBuddhism has its origins in India. It is from India that Buddhism spread to different partsof Asia. India is home to the Mahabodhi temple complex in Gaya (where Buddha attainedenlightenment), Sarnath (where he delivered his first sermon) and Kushinagar where heachieved salvation in addition to 75-80 Buddhist sites spread across the country (Agrawalet al., 2010). Since the places on Buddhism circuit have a huge historical and culturalsignificance, there is an opportunity to contribute to a superior customer experience. Mostforeigners visit adjoining countries such as Thailand as well as Japan which has some ofthe most important Buddhist sites. If India builds specific Buddhism related campaignsand highlight the historical significance of some of these sights, there is a tremendousopportunity for the tourism.

The Lotus Temple“The Baha’ı Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, better known as the “Lotus Temple,” is open to all faithsand is a marvel of modern architecture. Shaped like a lotus, this temple’s design ofethereal beauty and apparent simplicity belies the complex geometry underlying itsexecution in concrete form” (Isango.com, 2010). “Open to all faiths, the stunning lotusshape architecture of marble, cement, dolomite and sand sets the scene for meditation,peace and tranquility. The Lotus Temple is the main temple in India to represent theyoungest of all the independent religions in the world. Its founder father, Baha’u’llah(1817-1892), is regarded as the most recent in the line of Messengers of God,


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which includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad”(Circumference.org, 2010). There is an embodiment of light and water in the design.Lotus is a symbol of purity in Indian culture. “In the epic poem Mahabharata, the CreatorBrahma is described as having sprung from the lotus that grew out of Lord Vishnu’snavel when that deity lay absorbed in meditation. There is a deep and universalreverence for the lotus, which is regarded as a sacred flower associated with worshipthroughout many centuries. In Buddhist folklore the Boddhisatva Avalokiteswara isrepresented as born from a lotus, and is usually depicted as standing or sitting on a lotuspedestal and holding a lotus bloom in his hand. Buddhists glorify him in their prayers,“Om Mani Padme Hum.” “Yea, 0 Jewel in the Lotus!” Lord Buddha says “you have to belike a lotus which, although living in dirty water, still remains beautiful and undefiled byits surroundings” (Bahaiindia.org, 2010).

The ISKON temple at Delhi“The ISKCON temple constructed by the International Society for Krishna Consciousnessis a beautiful temple dedicated to the Hindu God Krishna” (Isango.com, 2010). It is famousfor three hi-tech robots of Krishna, Arjuna and Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON.

It was built as recently as 1998 and is one of the most lavish and grand temples ofthe city. It is an example of architectural excellence. The fine art paintings by Russianartists here depict lives and events related to Hindu mythological characters, likeRadha-Krishna, Sita-Ram, Laxman, Hanuman and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Dedicatedmainly to Lord Krishna, the elegant temple was built by the followers of “Hare-RamaHare-Krishna” cult. One of the largest temple complexes in India, it also boasts of aRobot, which was built especially to enact and preach “Gita” (Exploredelhi.com, 2010).

Each of these places are very crowded. The journey is long and on account of thecrowding there are access challenges to public facilities. A lot of improvements couldbe made in terms of managing long queues and managing the accommodation andfood at these locations. The logistics and access also require more attention speciallyduring the peak seasons.

Each team of researchers collected data from the guests/tourists who have actuallyvisited these sites and had first hand experience. Some of the groups also met with themanagement boards of these sites to get their perspective. The empirical nature ofwork in each case yields rich insight into tourists’ feelings and their experiences at allthese destinations and there are many lessons to be drawn from each study featured.There are also implications for marketers, entrepreneurs, members of the boardsmanaging these locations and for civil authorities and state level governments.

Management of tourism destinations: insights from earlier researchAs enumerated above, spiritual tourism has certain differences as compared to conventionaltourism. There are distinct cultural underpinnings which are unique to spiritual and culturaltourism.

Crotts and Pan (2007) have justified and highlighted an actionable destinationappraisal method proposed by Pritchard and Havitz. They have adopted open endedresponses to the visitors likes and dislikes and then subsequently coded and analyzedthem by category. These provide inputs for actions by various stakeholders. Some of theaspects covered in the likes category are: food, history, heritage attractions, shopping

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architecture, safety, weather, parks, lodging, variety of things to do, entertainment,affordability, music, festivals and events.

Some of the variables in the dislikes category are: weather, parking, disappointingservice encounters, public transport, too crowded, construction, power, lack of publicfacilities, travel distance, park facilities, lack of variety, late night noise, too commercial.

It is clear that the consumer experience is influenced by numerous factors which maybe beyond any single service provider. A unique confluence of different stakeholders canthough provide a unique experience to the consumer. Carlsen (1999) has elaborated onthe systems approach to tourism destination management. He suggests a soft systemsapproach which enables tourism planners, researchers and destination managers tounderstand the relationships between stakeholders more closely. He deploys thecriteria referred to as the CATWOE test by Flood and Jackson (1991) and asserts thatcustomers (tourists), actors (activities undertakers such as private sector developers),transformation process (that converse inputs into outputs), owners, world view andenvironmental constraints are the key constituents of a system.

Laws (1995) deployed the systems thinking approach in the context of a touristdestination model. The inputs comprise of:

. tourist expectations- access, promotion, and forms of visit;

. entrepreneurial creativity;

. employee skills; and

. investors capital.

The destination system comprises infrastructure, services such as transport,accommodation, shopping avenues, entertainment, etc. The outcomes are measured interms of stakeholders outcomes – tourists, investors, entrepreneurs. Other outputs includethe impact on the national and local economies, community, environment and ecology.

There is yet another approach to destination management. Scott and Breakey (2007)applied the yield management principles as a performance indicator for destinationmanagement. They (p. 441) quote Butler (1980), “Unmanaged growth in a destinationhas been suggested to follow a pattern of growth and decline.” It is a method to managethe demand and supply and also is an surrogate indicator of profitability for the serviceas well. They have concluded that yield could be deployed as an indicator of economicperformance and revenue as an appropriate measure of yield. There could be othermeasures used which measure the social and environmental carrying capacity whichcould be balanced scorecard approach (Kaplan and Norton, 1996).

Scenario planning is another tool that could be deployed in destination management.Schwartz (1991) has discussed the deployment of this approach. Alternate scenarios canbe built up by changing various factors affecting the growth in that particular region(Formica and Kothari, 2008). The changing characteristics of various stakeholders couldbe used to build up alternate scenarios and determine the actions required.

Pechlaner (2000) has highlighted the challenges for destination management in thecontext of the cultural tourist. His work focuses on cultural heritage and destinationmanagement in the Mediterranean region. He reviews the problems faced in themanagement of traditional destinations which span from lack of integration betweenvarious service suppliers to suboptimal offerings, insufficient positioning (Bieger, 1998 inPechlaner, 2009).


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Sainaghi (2006) has proposed a dynamic model of destination management. The modelsuggests two main areas of intervention for destination management – primary processesand support processes. “The primary processes play an important role in new productdevelopment, communication and marketing of the district. The support processes are inthe realms of internal marketing, training and research.”

Singh (2004) provides an insight into pilgrimage and tourism in India in the contextof the Indian Himalayas. He has pointed out that pilgrimage in India is almost as old asIndian civilization. Singh (2004) postulates the definition of pilgrimage as “religioustravel that is institutionalised and helps in the maintenance of those relations betweenhumans and nature that are concerned with the geographical basis/bounds of societyand culture. It is a celebration of living heritage revolving around what is sacrosanct innature and symbolically links the natural with the supernatural.”

SummaryTo sum up, there are lot of lessons to be drawn from the literature on destinationmanagement. Though the spiritual and cultural tourism have components have deepreverence and rituals as well, the issues of hygiene and customer experience need to bebetter managed. A dynamic approach needs to be adopted where different stakeholderscome together to offer various linkage points for the tourist to encourage return visits.Unlike the other places of tourist interest, spiritual sites are revisited by tourists againand again. A good experience helps to increase the frequency and hence generate moreopportunities for entrepreneurship at these places. It is important that a single solutionpoint is offered to visitors so as to address the various challenges and obstacles.Whether it is accommodation, logistics, darshan (visit to the shrine/diety), it should beseamless by using technology and multiple customer service points. The objectivebeing to adopt a common philosophy of convenience and hygiene at each of theselocations. The articles included in the issue will discuss these aspects in detail.

References

Agrawal, M., Chaudhary, H. and Gaurav, T. (2010), “Enhancing Buddhist tourism in India: anexploratory study”, Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 2 No. 5 (special issue).

Bahaiindia.org (2010), “Extracts from interview with the architect”, available at: www.bahaindia.org/temple/interview.html (accessed July 5).

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Sharpley, R. and Sundaram, P. (2005), “Tourism: a sacred journey? The case of Ashram tourism,India”, The International Journal of Tourism research, Vol. 7 No. 3, p. 161.

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Further reading

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (2007-2012), Report of the Working Group onTourism, 11th Five Year Plan, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, New Delhi.

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (2009), Annual Report, Ministry of Tourism,Government of India, New Delhi.

Corresponding authorVinnie Jauhari can be contacted at: [email protected]

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Enhancing Buddhist tourismin India: an exploratory study

Madhu Agrawal, Himanshu Choudhary and Gaurav TripathiInstitute for International Management and Technology,

Gurgaon, India

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the key reasons of lack of promotion of Buddhisttourist sites in India and compare the awareness of foreign and Indian tourists towards India as adestination for Buddhist sites vis-a-vis other countries such as Japan, Thailand and China.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses an exploratory research design. Data werecollected using structured questionnaires administered to Indian and foreign tourists, interviews ofofficials in the tourism department and through internet sources.

Findings – Findings show a low level of awareness among both Indian and foreign tourists aboutIndia as a destination for Buddhist sites as compared to countries such as Japan, Thailand and China.Further, the findings to show a low level of engagement in promoting India as a destination forBuddhist tourism on part of tourist officials.

Practical implications – The paper develops insights into better promotion of Buddhist touristsites in India.

Originality/value – The paper serves as a stepping stone towards future research on overlookedreligious sites and their promotion.

Keywords Tourism, Religion, Tourism development, India

Paper type Research paper

Glossary

Bodhi leaves One of the souvenirs, which reminds us of Buddha. These arepeepal leaves and are heart shaped.

Brahmaputra A major river flowing from China to India and falling into Bay ofBengal. Also known as Tsang Po in China.

Hindu A person who follows the religious beliefs of Hinduism.

Kailash Mansarovar A fresh water lake in Tibet, which is understood to be a key religioussite for the Hindus with a strong connection with Lord Shiva (a verykey Hindu God). The lake has few Buddhist monasteries by its side.

NCR Abbreviation for national capital region and comprises major citiesadjoining New Delhi.

Patna Capital of Bihar, the state where the MahaBodhi temple is situated.

Peepal A tree which is also called the sacred fig by those with strong Hindureligious beliefs. Gautam Buddha is understood to be sitting under thepeepal tree when he received the enlightenment.

Stupas A semi-spherical dome like structure often connected with Buddhism.The Sanchi Stupa (located in central India) built by Asoka the Great isone of the most famous among such monuments.



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Vol. 2 No. 5, 2010pp. 477-493


DOI 10.1108/17554211011090102

UP Abbreviation for Uttar Pradesh, a state in the North central region ofIndia. Sarnath lies in its eastern part.

IntroductionIn the global tourism industry, India has often been referred to as a “sleeping giant” or asleeping elephant. The country’s many assets have been glowingly presented at everyinternational trade platform and its prospects and potential are discussed at every globaltourism meeting. However, India’s performance in global tourism has been far fromimpressive. India’s share of world tourist traffic is only about 0.58 per cent. It is very lowas compared to China which accounted for 5.75 per cent of international tourist arrivalsin 2008 (Incredible India, 2009). India ranks 41 in international tourist arrivals and itsshare of international tourist receipts is a mere 1.24 per cent. Its share of internationaltourist arrivals in the Asia and Pacific Region is just 2.92 per cent (Incredible India, 2009).The size of the tourism industry world wide is US$4.6 trillion whereas the softwareindustry globally is a mere US$500 billion. The tourism industry globally generates over250 million jobs whereas the software industry generates only 20 million jobs (Kant,2009). The gap between potential and performance for Indian tourism is increasing everyday. For India, the vast potential of tourism as an employment creator and wealthdistributor still remains untapped (Kant, 2009).

The following research objectives aim to uncover the reasons for the limitedpromotion of Buddhist tourist sites in India. The article aims:

. To explore and compare the level of awareness and interest of foreign and Indiantourists towards India as a destination for Buddhist sites vis-a-vis other countriessuch as Japan, Thailand and China.

. To see the effect of demographic variables on the level of awareness of foreignand Indian tourists.

Tourism in IndiaThe image of IndiaThe tourist’s choice of a destination depends largely on its image (Buhalis, 2000). India’sportrayed image to foreigners includes “mysticism, political instability, grindingpoverty, illiteracy, terrorism, unemployment, communal discord, lack of social services,and corruption” (Sarkar, 1997; cited by Chaudhary, 2000, p. 1).

Moreover, India has been found to be lagging behind other Asian countries in luringmore tourists because of lack of “tourism entrepreneurship, policy confusion, socialunrest, an unsettled business climate and unpleasant tourist experiences” (Ahmed, 1991),while Chaudhary (2000) concluded that India lacks a positive image on infrastructure andsafety issues for which proper planning and promotions have to be deployed.

Chaudhary (2000) found through survey methods that foreign tourists displayedpositive disconfirmation (it means satisfaction is greater than the expectation) aboutIndian’s image pertaining to the variety of goods art and rich cultural heritage and theyalso perceived India as country of cheaters, having unsafe domestic airlines, havingunhygienic conditions including unsafe drinking water, having nuisance caused bybeggars and following unethical practices in the travel industry in the context of thisnegatively branded factors their experience was found to be poorer than what they hadexpected.

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Religious tourism in IndiaIndian tourism is largely associated with cultural, spiritual and religious aspects. In themodern era there is a major deviation from the traditional system. The major causesinclude the volume of the tourists and the changes in quality dimensions are also visible.Also, the focus of tourists towards rituals has been shifting with the rise of commercialpackages and marketing efforts (Shinde, 2007; cited by Raj and Morpeth, 2007).

Buddhist tourismSince the 1960s, international tourism has been promoted as a major component ofeconomic development and “modernization” strategies for many countries (OECD, 1967)and seen as a “passport to development” (de Kadt, 1979). One such case is that of Tibet.According to the Tibetan Tourism Bureau, their country received over 4 million touristsoverall (domestic and overseas) in the year 2007 with an increase of 60 per cent everyyear. The total revenue was in excess of 4.8 billion Yuan[1]. More than 30,000 ruralTibetans contributed in the catering for these tourists and also increased their income by20 per cent (Tibet China Information Centre, 2010). On the other side, it is China whoexpects to increase the number of tourists visiting Tibet to 20 million by 2020 with anexpected revenue of 20 billion Yuan. The key destinations will also include MountEverest, Brahmaputra Grand Canyon, Kailash Mansarovar and Potala Palace[2], etc.

According to the Chinese Tourism Bureau, Tibet has attracted over 4 millionoverseas tourists in just first eight months of 2009. In August 2009 alone they receivedover one million tourists, thereby generating over 3 billion Yuan. Most of the foreignerswere from the USA, Japan and Germany (Chinadaily, 2010).

Buddhism is mostly associated with Tibet due to the Dalai Lama. It is also knownas Tibetean. Buddhism is over 1,000 years old and originated in India and has featuresof both Indian and Tibetan culture. The tourist inflow is very high in Tibet due to itsscenic Himalayan beauty and its religious importance (Mu et al., 2007 in Razak andMorpeth, 2007).

It is not just Tibet that is attracting foreign tourists to the Buddhist pilgrimage sites.Many South and South-East Asian nations attract a lot of foreigners. Despite decades ofunrest in Sri Lanka a freedom movement has led to a reclaiming of the ancient sites byBuddhists thereby expanding their religious and cultural heritages (Berkwitz, 2003).In Thailand, the Constitution appoints the local government as an institution with theobjective to conserve the cultural heritage by allowing them power – as it is in the case ofKuang in Chiang Mai (Samadhi and Tantayanusorn, 2006). Also, Thailand is famous forits adventure tourism and people from the west especially appreciate the opportunity toexperience authentic tribal culture as it is so different from the modern world (Cohen,1983; cited by Rittichainuwat, 2008).

The Dalai Lama is the most popular Buddhism leader in the world. China is trying toexploit his celebrity status to the fullest by promoting Tibet as a Buddhist destination.Although Buddhism originated in India and spread to other countries from India, wehave not taken advantage of the sacred centuries old Buddhist sites commemoratingimportant events in Buddha’s life. Both in India as well as abroad, promotion of thesehistoric Buddhist sites in various states in India is very low.

This study attempts to explore and compare awareness with other countries suchas Japan, Thailand and China. A secondary objective is to explore the steps that


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government officials can take to improve tourist awareness and interest in visitingBuddhist sites in India.

Buddhist tourism in IndiaBuddhism is one of the most important philosophies to have influenced Indianphilosophy and its way of life. Some believe it as a branch of Hinduism. Buddhism wasborn in India and spread world wide, particularly in Asia. Buddhists all over the worldlook towards India with great respect and admiration. They consider Buddhist sites as asignificant attraction to visit.

India’s Buddhist sites received prime attention during the period of British rule. Mostof the Buddhist sites in India were in fact, discovered and studied by Britisharcheologists. Thereafter, the Indian Government viewed these sites as a helpful way ofbuilding strong political tie ups with East and South-East Asian countries. Thesecountries contributed to the construction of Buddhist monasteries, “stupas” and otherbeautiful structures in Buddhist sites in India (Kumar, 2006 in Bhardwaj et al., 2006).

Numerous task forces have been set up since then by the Government of India and theDepartment of Tourism to look into the development and enhancement of the Buddhistsites in India. India is home to the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya (where Buddhaattained supreme and perfect insight), Sarnath (where he gave his first sermon) andKushinagar (where he achieved salvation), in addition to 75-80 Buddhist sites spreadacross the country. India has the potential to be the Mecca for Buddhist touristsespecially for those coming from neighboring Southeast Asian countries (Kant, 2009).

An “International Conclave on Buddhism and Spiritual Tourism” was held inNew Delhi in 2004. It was inaugurated by the President of India and attended by theDalai Lama. The conclave concluded its deliberations by adopting a resolution urging theGovernment of India to appoint a high-level commission to look into the situation ofthe ancient places of Buddhist interest in India and to recommend measures to rehabilitateand restore them to their former glory (Geary, 2008). Despite all these advantages, “India isnot taking sufficient advantage of its treasure of holy sites relating to the life and times ofLord Buddha” (Kant, 2009, p. 116).

Not only is Bihar home to some of the oldest and most widely known centres ofeducation in the subcontinent, it is also the birthplace of numerous religions, includingBuddhism and Jainism. Thus, Bihar’s ancient glory provides a stark contrast with itsdilapidated state today, but may also contain enormous potential in terms of India’slarger resurgence on the global stage. Nowhere is the concentration of world Buddhismmore apparent than in the town of Bodhgaya in southern Bihar. Regarded as the “navelof the earth” it was here that Siddhartha Gautam took refuge under the canopy of a largepeepal tree and became enlightened about 2,550 years ago.

In Bodh Gaya, for example, the number of Buddhist institutions has exploded in the lastfew decades. There are now monasteries and temples in Sri Lanka, Burma, Japan, Bhutan,Mongolia, Vietnam, Nepal, Thailand and many more. With the gradual increase ofpilgrims over the last 50 years many locals have also begun to profit from this culturalcapital by supporting the spiritual market through the production and sale of Buddhistsouvenirs such as Bodhi leaves, postcards, Mahabodhi miniatures and various sculptures.Some locals have actively learned the languages of foreign pilgrims to capitalize onspecific pilgrimage flows. During the 1980s economic boom in Japan, for example, some ofBodhgaya’s residents saw an unprecedented amount of foreign currency in their pockets.

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This financial boon was in stark contrast to the impoverished agricultural economy onwhich Bodhgaya’s residents are largely dependent.

In 2002, Bodhgaya witnessed two landmark events that would have far-reachingrepercussions for the growing internationalization of the site and the development ofreligious-based tourism. The first was the completion of Gaya International airport,bringing pilgrims directly from Bangkok, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma and Bhutan. This hasbeen a major catalyst for increasing the number of pilgrims, who no longer have to bravethe treacherous road from Patna or camp out at Gaya railway station until morning whenthe streets are free of bandits. The other major event occurred on 27 June, 2002 whenUNESCO declared the Mahabodhi Temple a World Heritage monument, after a five-yearsurvey on the religious and historical importance of the site.

So while Bodhgaya and Bihar appear to be experiencing a renewal under India’snew global economic recovery, it implies that the tourism authorities should capitalizeon its greatest religious tourism opportunities both at the state and central levels.

Foreign tourists’ interest in BuddhismBuddhism was born in India and spread world wide, particularly in Asia. The Buddhistsof any part of the world look towards India with great respect and admiration. Buddhismis predominant in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, China andSouth Korea. Tourist arrivals in India for visiting the Buddhist religious sites has beencommon place. Yet the potential is for visitor growth is much higher because of thehistorical connection of Buddhism with India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Malaysia and Singaporeare among the top 15 home countries of tourists visiting India. A large proportion ofthese tourists travel around the Buddhist circuit. The centres with the maximum numberof foreign visitors are Bodh Gaya and Sarnath. Sarnath is the most popular Buddhisttourist site among domestic travellers. The state of Bihar witnessed 79,000 tourists fromabroad in the year 2000, a rise of about 3,000 over the last year. The majority of touristswere visiting the Buddhist circuit. Other Buddhist destinations frequented by touristsinclude the Ajanta and Ellora caves, Sanchi stupa, as well as monasteries in Leh, Sikkimand Dharamshala (UN ESCAP, 2003). According to a study (Incredible India, n.d.)conducted by the government of Bihar, a majority of the foreign tourists visited places inBihar with the objective of pilgrimage. Only 10 per cent of all domestic tourists in Biharvisited Buddhist sites whereas 70 per cent of all foreign tourists in Bihar went toBuddhist sites:

In addition a substantial proportion of the foreign tourists stayed for more than ten days.Countries with a sizeable Buddhist population accounted for almost 75 per cent of the foreigntourists who visited Bihar last year. Almost 20 per cent of them came from Japan. Almost80 per cent of the tourists are of the opinion that Buddhist destinations are famous in India.A significant proportion also agreed that they have great historical significance, rich culturalheritage and are major tourist attractions. However, very few tourists stated that the Buddhistdestinations are easily accessible.

Buddhist sites in India can categorized as follows (Kumar, 2006 in Bhardwaj et al.,2006):

. Places directly related to the birth and enlightenment of Buddha located in UP andBihar. These are sacred and have great religious significance. Most of the foreignersfrom East and South East Asia visit these sites. These places are Bodhgaya, Rajgir,


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Nalanda, Vaishali, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Kapilvastu (Nepal), Shrawasti, Sankasiaand Kaushambi.

. Cave architecture of Maharashtra – The Ajanta and Ellora caves in Aurangabadare World Heritage sites and have beautiful frescoes, sculptures and otherBuddhist structures.

. Other monuments of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh – These are secondaryattractions as they are not as religiously important or architecturally beautiful asthe ones above.

Research methodologyThis paper has used an exploratory research design. Primary data were collected usingstructured questionnaires administered to numerous Indians and foreigners/expatriates.Some 216 questionnaires were fully completed, out of which 112 were Indians while 104were foreigners or expatriates. Both open and close-ended questions were used.Foreigners in the sample included expatriates working in New Delhi and the nationalcapital region (NCR). Respondents from foreign countries came mostly from South andSouth-East Asian countries and responded through questionnaires administered viathe internet. The responses from Indians were gathered via field survey and throughonline questionnaires. The type of sample population is significant because theforeigners are not just ordinary tourists but are typically well educated professionalsliving and working in India and most had travelled extensively both in India and in othercountries. Therefore, their level of awareness and knowledge are already higher than theaverage foreign tourist. The Indian sample consisted of educated professionals workingfor a major multi-national corporation mainly in the NCR region in India. Secondary datawere collected through internet sources pertaining to the statistical data. To compare thelevel of awareness, percentages have been calculated and to gauge the effect ofdemographic variables on level of awareness, x 2 test has been applied.

Findings and discussionThe findings based on analysis assist in achieving the aforementioned objectives –especially comparison between the Indian and foreign tourists. This includes: countryassociation, personality association, combined association of personality and place, levelof awareness, combination of level of awareness with association of place and personality,effect of demographic variables on level of awareness, important Buddhist sites visitedby foreigners and Indians in India and Nepal, Buddhist temples/monasteries visited inIndia, Buddhist temples/monasteries visited in other countries, places visited in India,places foreigners and Indians would “like to visit” in India and recommendations by therespondents.

Country associationThe objective was to explore the perception towards selected countries with respect totheir image as Buddhist destinations. The countries were selected based on a literaturereview using internet and other sources. This was done to assess the image of India as aBuddhist destination relative to other Buddhist destinations. Respondents were asked toselect one or more countries listed that they associated most in their minds with“Buddhism.” Six countries were listed, namely Japan, China, Thailand, India, Nepal,Tibet, together with other options. The foreigners associated with Tibet the most

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(49 per cent), followed by Thailand (20 per cent) and India (17 per cent) whereas, Indiansassociate Tibet (45 per cent) the most with Buddhism, followed by India (21 per cent) andJapan (12 per cent). This result is interesting because both foreigners and Indiansassociate Tibet the most with “Buddhism.” This is also despite the fact that major eventsin Buddha’s life took place in India and Buddhism originated in India, Indians do notassociate their own country with this religion.

Personality associationRespondents were asked to indicate among a list of persons provided, those they felt theycould associate the most with Buddhism. The persons listed were the Dalai Lama,Gautam Buddha, Jigme Wangchuk, Aung San Suu Kyi and others. The personalitieswere selected based on their actions and achievements in promoting Buddhism (GautamBuddha and Dalai Lama) or famous personalities who are the followers of Buddhism(Jigme Wangchuk and Aung San Suu Kyi). About 62 per cent of foreigners picked theDalai Lama as the personality they felt most associated with Buddhism. Gautam Buddhawas ranked with 41 per cent of the foreigners picking him. Interestingly, the founder ofBuddhism was ranked second to the followers of Buddhism. As explained above, theDalai Lama enjoys massive popularity in the west and is almost considered by many asthe “living Buddha.” About 80 per cent of Indians picked Gautam Buddha as the personmost associated with Buddhism. Dalai Lama was the second choice with only 18 per centof Indians. One can see that there is a significant difference in perceptions of foreignersand Indians regarding which person they associate the most with Buddhism. The resultimplies the strong need for a contemporary Indian Buddhist monk or leader like theDalai Lama in order to promote tourism to Buddhist sites in India.

Combined association of personality and placeAbout 12.5 per cent of foreigners selected both Gautam Buddha and India as the personand place most associated with Buddhism whereas 39 per cent selected both Dalai Lamaand Tibet as the person and place they associate with Buddhism. Also, 41 per cent offoreigners selected Gautam Buddha as the person most associated with Buddhism butonly 17 per cent selected India as mentioned above. This shows that despite Buddha’sorigins in India, India as a country is not highly associated with “Buddhism.” Greaterpromotion (which includes improving infrastructure, cleanliness, etc.) is needed onthe part of tourist officials to promote India as a Buddhist destination in order to attractmore pilgrims.

On the other side, 19 per cent of Indians selected both Gautam Buddha and India as theperson and country most associated with Buddhism whereas only 9.8 per cent selectedboth Dalai Lama and Tibet as the person and country they associate with Buddhism.Although only 21 per cent of Indians selected India as the country most associated withBuddhism, 80 per cent selected Buddha as the person most associated with Buddhism, asmentioned above. This shows that not only foreigners but also Indians do not stronglyassociate India with Buddhism. Hence, the Indian Government needs to promote thevarious Buddhist sites in India to both domestic and foreign tourists. The results againillustrate the popularity of the Dalai Lama among westerners and his native country Tibet.Therefore, it is reiterated that a high profile person such as the Dalai Lama should be usedby the Indian Government to promote India as a popular Buddhist tourist destination.


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Level of awarenessThis was a test of knowledge pertaining to the location of major events in GautamBuddha’s life. A major objective of this study was to explore the level of awarenessamong both foreigners and Indians regarding the location of important events inGautam Buddha’s life. It is to be expected that India being a country with a majority ofHindus along with the under promotion of Buddhist sites, that both foreigners andIndians would show a low level of awareness in general regarding major events inGautam Buddha’s life. Four true/false questions deployed in the questionnaire to assessthe level of awareness regarding:

India as the birthplace of Gautam Buddha;India as the place where Buddha gained enlightenment;India as the place where Buddha gave his first sermon andIndia as the place where Gautam Buddha died.

Based on the number of questions answered correctly the respondents were dividedinto three groups: high awareness (three or more correct), moderate awareness (twocorrect) and low awareness (one or zero correct).

As expected, Indians had a higher level of awareness compared to the foreignersregarding knowledge of India as the place where major events took place in Buddha’s life.Greater percentage of Indians fell into the high (72 per cent) and moderate (23 per cent)awareness group as compared to foreigners (58 and 14 per cent, respectively).

Combination of level of awareness with association of place and personalityThe researchers wanted to explore the relationship between level of awareness andassociation of place and person with Buddhism. The Indian respondents in the highawareness group associated Tibet and Gautam Buddha the most with Buddhism whereasforeigner respondents in the high awareness group associated Tibet and Dalai Lama themost with Buddhism. For both foreigners and Indians in the high awareness group, Indiacame second among the countries associated with Buddhism. The results are significant inmany respects. The higher association of Dalai Lama over Gautam Buddha withBuddhism especially among highly knowledgeable westerners points to the power thatcelebrities and media can have over religion and culture. The association of Tibet withBuddhism among highly knowledgeable Indians over other countries such as China,Thailand, Japan, Nepal and even India also points to the cross over association of the DalaiLama with Tibet as a Buddhist country. Tibet seems to be overwhelmingly associated as aBuddhist destination among both groups.

Effect of demographic variables on level of awarenessAge, education, gender and religion were the demographic variables used to assess theirimpact on level of awareness of location of major events in Buddha’s life. For the Indianand foreigners taken together, level of awareness did not vary significantly with age,education and gender. The effect of religion was significant. Two distinct groups –Hindus and Christians were compared. Level of awareness regarding location of majorevents in Buddha’s life (not surprisingly) was higher among Hindus. The effect of theabove demographic variables was also examined for the two groups separately. For theIndian sample, none of the demographic variables had any significant effect onawareness whereas for the foreigner group, age had a significant effect on level of

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awareness. Older respondents had a higher score on awareness regarding location ofmajor events in Buddha’s life.

Important Buddhist sites visited by foreigners and Indians in India and NepalTo assess the level of awareness and interest among the foreigners and Indians inBuddhist sites, the respondents were asked to indicate among four places listed whetherthey have visited or would like to visit those places. The places listed were: Lumbini –birth place of Buddha now in Nepal, Bodh Gaya – in Bihar where Buddha gainedenlightenment, Kushi Nagar – also in Bihar where Buddha breathed his last andSarnath – near Varanasi where Buddha gave his first sermon. Interestingly, a higherpercentage of foreigners than Indians have visited Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath. Thisis extremely significant because Lumbini in Nepal and Bodh Gaya and Sarnath in Indiaare not very popular tourist destinations for Indians as compared to the other locations andone would conclude that the same would be true for foreigners. This implies that there isgreater interest in foreigners in visiting Buddhist sites in India than among Indians.Among Indians, Bodh Gaya has been visited the most whereas among the foreigners,Sarnath has been visited the most. Another interesting finding was that only onerespondent (an foreigner) indicated having visited all four Buddhist sites despite theavailability of specialized Buddhist packaged tours which cover all four destinations.These include tour operators namely, Indian Horizons (2010) which has toll free numbersfrom the UK and the USA, Services International (2010), and special trains namely theMahaparinirvan express which is having all the amenities of Rajdhani expressIndiatravelnews (2010) and Mahabodhi express Indiarailinfo (2010) both of which travelto Bodh Gaya.

The results point to the lack of promotion of Buddhist packaged tours to domesticas well as foreign tourists on part of the Indian Government or private tour operators.The results also pointed towards the need for greater promotion to foreigners of therich Buddhist sites that India has to offer. Respondents were also asked which of thefour sites they would “like to visit.” A higher percentage of Indians indicated interest invisiting the sites as compared to foreigners.

Buddhist temples/monasteries visited in IndiaRespondents were asked to mention any Buddhist temples/monasteries they may havevisited in India. This question was used to compare and assess the level of interest invisiting such sites in India. For the foreigner group, two places were mentioned mostfrequently. Dharamshala and Ladakh were the most popular places in India among theforeigners for visiting Buddhist temples/monasteries. The Ajanta/Ellora caves andSikkim were the next most frequently mentioned Buddhist sites in India. Only threerespondents had been to Sarnath and none indicated visiting the most sacred sites forBuddhism in India, namely Bodhgaya, Kushinagar and Lumbini (now in Nepal).The interest in Dharamshala could be attributed to the popularity of the place asthe Dalai Lama’s residence and Ladakh as a destination for Buddhist tourism isprobably because of its geographic proximity to New Delhi and its weather and scenicbeauty. Spiritual tourism is probably not the main reason for the foreigners visitingLadakh.

The Indian respondents mentioned a far greater number of places that they havevisited for Buddhist temples and monasteries as compared to the foreigner group.


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Dharamshala is the most popular followed by Sikkim and Ladakh. Sarnath, Kushinagarand Bodhgaya are also mentioned. Significantly, unlike the foreigner group, the Indianrespondents do not count Ajanta/Ellora as a Buddhist destination. Table I depicts the same.

Buddhist temples/monasteries visited in other countriesFor the foreigners, a number of countries were mentioned of which Thailand wasmentioned by a large majority, followed by Nepal, China, Japan and Cambodia. TheTable below shows the major countries where the foreigners visited Buddhist temples/monasteries. The results clearly show that Buddhist tourism is more popular in ourneighboring South East Asian countries such as Thailand, Nepal and China. India wasnot a significant Buddhist destination for the foreigners. The foreigners also visited agreater number of Buddhist countries as compared to Indians who only mentioned a few.

Thailand was the most popular Buddhist destination for Indians followed by Nepal,Hong Kong, China and Bhutan. However, not many Indians had travelled abroad forthe purpose of visiting Buddhist sites or Buddhist countries as compared to theforeigners/expatriates. It can be concluded that the level of interest in Buddhist tourismis greater among foreigners than among Indians (Table II).

%

ForeignersDharamshala and Ladakh 22Ajanta/Ellora 6Sikkim 5Sarnath 3IndiansDharamshala 13Sikkim 11Ladakh 6Sarnath, Bodhgaya and Kushinagar 13

Note: The percentages will not total to 100 per cent, as the places with very few numbers were ignored

Table I.Places in India whereBuddhisttemples/monasterieswere visited

%

ForeignersThailand 33Nepal 13China 13Japan 10Cambodia 7Myanmar, Srilanka, Laos 14Korea, Singapore, Indonesia 11IndiansThailand 11Nepal 6Hong Kong, China and Bhutan 8

Table II.Buddhisttemples/monasteriesvisited in other countries

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Places visited in IndiaThe researchers were interested in exploring if places of Buddhist interest featured inall of the places that expatriates and foreigners have visited in India. Rajasthan was themost popular place for tourism among the expatriates/foreigners, followed by Goa,Kerala and Agra. Other places which are also popular include Mumbai, Rishikesh,Varanasi, Leh and Delhi. Clearly, the non-Buddhist destinations are more popular asindicated by the numbers shown in Table III.

Most of the Indian respondents mentioned the major metro cities such as Mumbai,Chennai, Kolkata, etc. Most Indian respondents unlike the foreigners mentioned the Indianstates rather than cities or towns. The states most often mentioned were Uttaranchal,Himachal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Goa, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmirand Eastern States. Some of the frequently mentioned cities in addition to the majormetros were Agra, Jaipur, Simla, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Kashmir and Ooty.However, taken together Rajasthan and Kerala were the most popular states visited and“hill stations” such as Mussoorie, Simla and Ooty were popular among the Indianpopulation.

Results show that Rajasthan and Kerala are the places common to both foreignersand Indians as popular tourist destinations. The tourist officials should explore thereasons behind this and try to replicate the measures that these states have taken inorder to increase popularity of states with the Buddhist sites in India.

Places foreigners and Indians would “like to visit” in IndiaRespondents were asked to list the places they would “like to visit” in the near futurein India. The researchers were interested in exploring if places of Buddhist interestfeatured in this wish list. Kerala was the most popular destination on the wish list forforeigners, followed by Ladakh, Darjeeling, Kolkata, Goa, Amritsar, Shimla and Varanasi.Although Ladakh has many Buddhist monasteries, it is probable that its popularity ismainly due to the scenic beauty and its proximity to Delhi. Kerala is the most wished forfuture tourist destination which is quite notable proving that the efforts of the Keralatourism Department are bearing fruit. Kerala is also the third most visited destination for

%

ForeignersRajasthan 52Goa 30Kerala 26Agra 25Mumbai 20Rishikesh 17Varanasi 13IndiansRajasthan 72Kerala 47Hill stations all over India 75

Note: The percentages will not total to 100 per cent, as most of the respondents mentioned more thanone place

Table III.Places visited in India


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foreigners/expatriates in India according to the results of this study. Again, the resultsshow the absence of Buddhist religious sites as destinations for foreigners in the future.

Northeast, Kerala and Ladakh were the places most often mentioned by the Indianrespondents as places they would like to visit in future. South India excluding Keralaand Andaman/Nicobar islands were also mentioned by a large number of respondentsas places on their wish list. Other popular places on the wish list were Goa, Kashmirand “hill stations” (Table IV).

The results again show the absence of places of Buddhist interest featuring on thewish list of both the foreigners and the Indians as future destinations for travellingin India.

Recommendations by the respondentsThe respondents were asked the above open ended question. Most respondents gavehighly detailed responses which are summarized below. The recommendations arediscussed under separate headings for the two groups.

Foreigners/expatriates. Cleanliness, infrastructure and sanitation were the areas forimprovement most frequently mentioned by the foreigners/expatriates. Beggars andhawkers being a nuisance was also a frequently mentioned factor. Interestingly, theIndian respondents did not mention this factor as much. The need and availability formid range affordable hotels was also a step foreigners/expatriates felt the governmentneeds to focus on.

Respondents felt that there was too much litter and garbage at the tourist sites,roads and train services needed to be improved, clean toilets were lacking, and thattouts and beggars were too aggressive and spoiled the experience at the tourist sites.The respondents also felt that more English speaking people and signs in English atthe sites would be helpful.

They felt that the government needs to preserve the sites better, have moretourist guide books, greater number of information boards at the tourist sites,provide special internet sites for foreigners to purchase train tickets, get rid of visas

%

ForeignersKerala 16Ladakh 12Darjeeling 8Kolkata 7Simla, Amritsar and Goa 17Varanasi and Ajanta/Ellora 10IndiansNorth East 25Kerala 18Ladakh 18South India excluding Kerala 15Andaman and Nicobar 13Kashmir 12

Note: The percentages will not total to 100 per cent, as most of the respondents mentioned more thanone place

Table IV.Places tourists wouldlike to visit in India

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or lower visa restrictions. In addition, they expected to have more helpful and friendlyairport assistance, provision for better rest stops on highways, more government guesthouses, reduction in pollution levels. Moreover, they also expected improvement inwork ethics of the service sector, provision of better safety and security for foreignwomen, more accessible clinics and hospitals of international standards, andimprovement in law and order situation especially regarding traffic in Indian cities.

A female expatriate from the USA responded to the above question as follows:

India is a very difficult country for women to comfortably travel in – both groups of womenand single women. This is a BIG tourism problem as public transport, walking areas, etc. arenot comfortable for women. Indian cities overall continue to be very dirty with trash all about,not attractive to tourists. Trash also attracts monkeys and stray dogs, again not attractive totourists; these animals are sometimes aggressive. Sanitation continues to be problematicthrough out India [. . .] a problem for all travelers due to poor hygiene/health conditions.

An expatriate from Australia wrote as follows:

Clean up the streets so you can walk down the road. Stop the touts surrounding your car assoon as you enter the car park at a tourist site. Remove the children touts.

An expatriate from Japan who has been in India for more than five years wrote:

Government needs to work very very hard on strengthening of work moral/service moraleducation of those who are in the service sector, railways, airlines and tourist spots. Conceptof “service” is lacking in India, despite the fact that many Indian people are very hospitable atpersonal level.

These expatriates have seen India more closely then the occasional foreign visitors.Though these suggestion sound very general for the whole country but will affect theBuddhist sites greatly because the popularity Tibet as the most popular site for Buddhistpilgrimage which is a neighboring country. But if Buddhist pilgrimage is taken up moreseriously in India there is a possibility of luring tourists from the most populardestination. Therefore, the above mentioned suggestion should be incorporated withmore sincerity.

IndiansThe main areas suggested for improvement by Indian respondents were Infrastructure,security, transportation and cleanliness. These were also areas identified by theforeigners in their responses. With respect to infrastructure most respondentsmentioned need for more tourist help/information centers, more government guesthouses, health centers, budget hotels, cleaner public toilets and more city museums.A significant number of Indian respondents also mentioned need for better and moreinformation, better preservation of historic and cultural sites and greater promotion oftourist sites in the country. Several Indian respondents also expressed the need for thegovernment to pay special attention to needs of foreign tourists. The need to updatewebsites and provide better online information and booking services was expressed by alarge number of respondents. They also felt the government should provide betterpackage deals and conducted tours and more government approved guides at the sites.A striking difference between the foreigners and Indian response to the above questionwas the emphasis of the Indian respondents on the Indian Government’s need to providebetter and more promotion of tourism in India. The foreigner population feels the need


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for better tourist related information whereas the Indian population feels a greaterneed for more government promotion and advertisement of tourist sites.

When asked regarding the Buddhist sites/monasteries, that the respondents havevisited in India. Interestingly a higher percentage of foreigners than Indians have visitedLumbini, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath. This is significant because Lumbini in Nepal andBodh Gaya and Sarnath in India are not very popular tourist destinations for Indiansand one would conclude that the same would be true for foreigners. Respondents werealso asked which of the four sites they would “like to visit.” A higher percentage ofIndians indicated interest in visiting the sites as compared to foreigners. Anotherinteresting finding was that only one respondent (an expatriate) indicated having visitedall four Buddhist sites despite the availability of specialized Buddhist package tourswhich cover all four destinations. The results point to the lack of promotion of Buddhistpackage tours to domestic as well as foreign tourists on part of the Indian Government orprivate tour operators. The results also point to the need for greater promotion toforeigners of the rich Buddhist sites that India has to offer.

The results also showed that Buddhist tourism is more popular in our neighboringSouth East Asian countries such as Thailand, Nepal and China. India was not asignificant Buddhist destination for foreigners. They also visited a greater number ofBuddhist countries as compared to Indians who only mentioned a few.

Non-Buddhist destinations within India are more popular. Results show thatRajasthan and Kerala are the places common to both foreigners and Indians as populartourist destinations. The tourist officials need to explore the reasons behind this andtry to copy the measures that these states have taken in order to increase popularity ofstates with the Buddhist sites in India.

Respondents were asked to list the places they would “like to visit” in the near future inIndia. The researchers were interested in exploring if places of Buddhist interest featuredin this wish list. Kerala was the most popular destination on the wish list for foreigners,followed by Ladakh, Darjeeling, Kolkata, Goa, Amritsar, Shimla and Varanasi. Theresults again show the absence of places of Buddhist interest featuring on the wish list ofboth the foreigners and Indians as future destinations for visiting in India. Northeast,Kerala and Ladakh were the places most often mentioned by the Indian respondents asplaces they would like to visit in future.

The astounding popularity of Kerala among both the foreigners and Indians as theplace they would most like to visit or have visited is not surprising. Recently, Keralais the most admired tourist destination in India, it has picked up the most awards in thetourism sector in India. According to Kant (2009, p. 58),”from being a non-entity inthe mid-1980s, Kerala today has evolved into Indian tourism’s super brand and thecountry’s most premium holiday destination.” The branding of Kerala as “God’s OwnCountry” has been a phenomenal success. Such efforts need to be duplicated by thestate governments where the Buddhist sites in India are located.

Cleanliness, infrastructure and sanitation were the areas for improvement mostfrequently mentioned by the foreign respondents. Beggars and hawkers being anuisance was also a frequently mentioned factor. Interestingly, the Indian respondentsdid not mention this factor as much. The need and availability for mid range affordablehotels was also a step foreigner respondents felt the government needs to focus on. Themain areas suggested for improvement by Indian respondents were infrastructure,security, transportation and cleanliness. A striking difference between the foreigners

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and Indian response to the above question was the emphasis of the Indian respondentson the Indian Government’s need to provide better and more promotion of tourism inIndia. The foreigners feel the need for better tourist related information whereasthe Indian population feels a greater need for more government promotion andadvertisement of tourist sites.

ConclusionsOverall, the study results show that both the foreigners and Indians do not considerIndia as a “Buddhist tourist destination” country. In addition, both the foreigners andIndians associate Tibet the most with “Buddhism.” This is also despite the fact thatmajor events in Buddha’s life took place in India and Buddhism originated in India,Indians do not associate their own country with this religion. The Dalai Lama isidentified by a majority of foreigners as the person they associate most with“Buddhism.” The Dalai Lama was the second choice with only 18 per cent of Indians.One can see there is significant difference in perceptions of foreigners and Indiansregarding which person they associate the most with Buddhism. The result implies thestrong need for a contemporary Indian Buddhist monk or leader like the Dalai Lama inorder to promote tourism to Buddhist sites in India. Since the Dalai Lama lives in India,the Indian Government could use his celebrity image or as an ambassador to promoteimportant Buddhist sites in India. It would be wise to include a personal message fromthe Dalai Lama in promotional material. Second, the loans provided by Japan in 2004should, now or in near future, reap benefits if they have been used wisely especially incase of the development of Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit which includes Kushinagarand Shravasti (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2009; cited by Varma, 2009).

In the description of his trip to Tibet in 2005, a Western tourist, named Grete Howardcaptures the fascination of the Western world with this place and the culture. He writes:

Mystical, magical, incomprehensible Tibet offers an overload on the senses: the gaspinglythin air; the overwhelming beauty of the world’s highest mountains; the haunting images ofBuddhas, deities and demons; the intricate patterns of the colourful Tibetan art; the poignantdevotion of the pilgrims circumambulating sacred images; the improbability of the ancientarchitectural wonders clinging to perilous hillsides; the tumultuous history of inaccessibility,mystery, struggles, determination and resilience (Tibettravelplanner, 2010).

Such a response for India, pertaining to the Buddhist pilgrimage, is possible ifinfrastructure, safety and image issues are taken up seriously and planning with properexecution in done.

Notes

1. USD equals about Yuan 7.28 as indicated in the original article which is referred.

2. Potala Palace is the designated residence of Dalai Lama.

References

Ahmed, Z.U. (1991), “Indian tourism: a victim of mismanagement”, Cornell Hotel & RestaurantAdministration Quarterly, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 75-83.

Berkwitz, S.C. (2003), “Recent trends in Sri Lankan Buddhism”, Religion, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 57-71.

Buhalis, D. (2000), “Marketing the competitive destination of the future”, Tourism Management,Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 97-116.


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Chaudhary, M. (2000), “India’s image as a tourist destination – a perspective of foreign tourists”,Tourism Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 293-7.

China Daily (2010), “Tibet tourism sets records in August, attracting 1.37 million”, available at:www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-09/12/content_8685889.htm (accessed 19 May 2010).

Cohen, E. (1983), “Hill tribe tourism”, cited in Rittichainuwat, B.N., Qu, H. and Mongkhonvanit, C.(2008) “Understanding the motivation of travelers on repeat visits to Thailand”, Journal ofVacation Marketing, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 5-21.

de Kadt, E.J. (1979), Tourism, Passport to Development?, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Geary, D. (2008), “Destination enlightenment: branding Buddhism and spiritual tourism inBodhgaya, Bihar”, Anthropology Today, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 11-14.

Incredible India (n.d.), Bihar’s Annual Tourist Statistics Report January, 2005 to December, 2005,A Market Pulse Research Report, Market Research Division, Department of Tourism,Government of India, New Delhi.

Incredible India (2009), Tourism Statistics at a Glance 2008, Market Research Division, Ministryof Tourism, Government of India, New Delhi.

Indian Horizons (2010), available at: www.buddhisttoursindia.com/four-scared-buddhist-sites-india.html (accessed 19 May 2010).

Indiarailinfo (2010), “Mahabodhi express”, available at: indiarailinfo.com/train/1029 (accessed19 May 2010).

Indiatravelnews (2010), “Mahaparinirvan express”, available at: www.indiatravelnews.com/travel_info/railways/buddhist.asp (accessed 19 May 2010)

Kant, A. (2009), Branding India: An Incredible Story, Harper Collins, Noida.

Kumar, R.B. (2006), “Buddhist tourism in India: a conceptualization”, in Bhardwaj, D.S.,Kamra, K.K., Chaudhary, M., Kumar, R.B., Boora, S.S., Chand, M. and Taxak, R.H. (Eds),International Tourism: Issues and Challenges, Kanishka, New Delhi, pp. 214-23.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009), List of Exchange of Notes, cited in Varma, L. (2009) “Japan’sofficial development assistance to India: a critical appraisal”, India Quarterly: A Journal ofInternational Affairs, Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 237-251.

Mu, Z., Li, H., Jian-Hong, W., Ji, L., Yan-Geng, J. and Xiting, L. (2007), “Religious tourism andcultural pilgrimage: a Chinese perspective”, in Raj, R. and Morpeth, N.D. (Eds), ReligiousTourism and Pilgrimage Festivals Management: An International Perspective,CAB International, Oxfordshire, pp. 98-112.

OECD (1967), Tourism Development and Economic Growth, Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development, Paris.

Samadhi, T.N. and Tantayanusorn, N. (2006), “Reinventing religious land as urban open space:the case of kuang in Chiang Mai (Thailand)”, Habitat International, Vol. 30 No. 4,pp. 886-901.

Sarkar, C. (1997), “India’s image poor”, The Tribune, 3 August 1997, in Chaudhary, M. (2000),“India’s image as a tourist destination a perspective of foreign tourists”, TourismManagement, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 293-7.

Services International (2010), available at: www.buddhist-packages.com/ (accessed 19 May 2010).

Shinde, K. (2007), “Visiting sacred sites of India: religious tourism of pilgrimage?”, in Raj, R. andMorpeth, N.D. (Eds), Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Festivals Management:An International Perspective, CAB International, Oxfordshire, pp. 184-97.

Tibet China Information Centre (2010), “Tourism industry brings fortune to Tibetans”, availableat: www.tibet.cn/en/news/tin/t20080102_292511.htm (accessed 20 April 2010).

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Tibet Travel Planner (2010), “Tibet impression – why travel to Tibet?”, available at:www.tibettravelplanner.com/why_travel.htm (accessed 28 May 2010).

UN ESCAP (2003), Promotion of Buddhist Tourism Circuits in Selected Asian Countries, EscapaTourism Review No. 24, United Nations, New York, NY.

Further reading

Dalailama (2010), “A brief biography: the office of his holiness Dalai Lama”, available at: www.dalailama.com/biography/a-brief-biography (accessed 28 May 2010).


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What do the tourists want?The case of the Golden Temple,

AmritsarGaurav Tripathi, Himanshu Choudhary and Madhu AgrawalInstitute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, India

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that could contribute towards theenhancement of the tourist experience at the Golden Temple site in Amritsar. The paper also seeks toexplore if there is any difference in the above mentioned factors based on the religion and thenationality of the respondents.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses an exploratory research design. Data werecollected using structured questionnaires with open-ended and close-ended questions administered tothe various tourist groups visiting the Golden Temple.

Findings – Significant differences between the factors contributing to the enhancement of theexperience of the various tourist groups are expected.

Practical implications – The research findings will help the tourism industry to identify the factorsthat are important for various groups of tourists. This will help to improve the customer experienceand thereby attract more tourists.

Originality/value – The study will add to better understanding of the factors contributing toenhancement of the tourist experience at religious sites.

Keywords Tourism, Religion, India


Glossary

Amrit Kund Also known as the Amrit Saras Kund is the pond, which surrounds theGolden temple site. The pilgrims first take a dip in this holy pond andthen enter the Golden temple.

Bani Also known as Gurbani. It refers to compositions by the Sikh Gurus.

Dhaba A restaurant on an Indian highway (generally with open-air seatingarrangement) and serving typical Punjabi (traditional food of the state ofPunjab) food.

Dharamshalas An economic place for tourist’s stay.

Diwali A major Hindu festival, which is celebrated in the month ofOctober/November.

Grand Trunk road A major Indian highway connecting India from the East to the West, builtby Sher Shah Suri in the sixteeth century.

Gurudwara The place where Sikhs go for worship.

NRIs Non-resident Indians.



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Worldwide Hospitality and TourismThemesVol. 2 No. 5, 2010pp. 494-506q Emerald Group Publishing Limited1755-4217DOI 10.1108/17554211011090111

Punjab A state in India on the North-west side. Most people in this state are Sikhsand the Golden temple at Amritsar lies in Punjab.

Sarais An economic place for tourist’s stay.

Sikh Gurus The ten key Sikh saints whose teachings are understood as divineguidance to mankind. The term Guru refers to a teacher.

Vaishno Devi temple A key shrine for the Hindus in the Himalayas.

Wagha border A border connecting India and Pakistan by road.

IntroductionThere has been a long debate about religious tourism and the recreational attachmentsto it in the past. Bassett (1987) has pondered on leisure-related religious travel; Puczkoand Ratz (2007) have highlighted the role of culture in tourism development as related tosmaller investments, spatial and temporal characteristics. Lord (1999) observes thatcultural tourism pertains to foreign visitors or non-community visitors who haveinterests in the heritage offerings of a particular sect, or a group while heritage tourism isrelated to specific cultural interests. Gupta (1999) argues that pilgrimage is an older formof tourism and has many other connotations which is different from the core aspects ofdevotion and spirituality, which are sightseeing, travel excursions, buying culturalpieces of art, long journeys, adapting to the cultural food, clothing, accommodation.From this discussion, it is now obvious that the aforementioned terms are very muchintertwined with each other. Hence, for the purpose of our discussion we will be usingthe terms heritage tourism, cultural tourism, religious tourism and pilgrimageinterchangeably. In this paper, we attempt to link the cultural and heritage experiencesof the tourists in and around the Golden Temple site with a view of exploring the factors,which provides motivation for their visit, contributing to their experience of the site andthe possible ways of enhancing the same.

Religious tourism in IndiaThe distinction between aforementioned synonyms is not that important as is theservice aspect in the offering of religious tourism which is largely dependent uponthe heritage, history and a cultural aspect at any site. However, the importance of theservice encounter has not been highlighted (Millar in Leask and Yeoman, 1999).Tourism also attracts foreign currency and contributes towards the image building ofthe site as well as that of the nation. India is rich in its cultural heritage with varioussites still reflecting a famous past where stories of ruling dynasty, war and religion arehighlighted. There has been a major influence of people from various cultures andtraditions, who have gradually mixed with the Indian culture and have become theintegral part of the Indian’s rich and diverse culture. Various religions includingHinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Christianity enjoy a significantfoothold in the country (Dhar, 2008, p. 43). Religious festivals are celebrated acrossvarious communities in the country and national holidays are announced by thegovernment pertaining to all the above mentioned religions. Moreover, it is not just thefollower of a particular religion who feel like visiting the own religion’s religious site,but there is a significant proportion of people from other religion who visit the sites.

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In addition, they pray for visitors at the sites from various religious heritages. TheGolden Temple at Amritsar, the apex site for Sikhism, evokes a strong sense ofuniversalism, which is laid down by the great Sikh Gurus. Moreover, Jutla (2001) hassaid that it also important to understand the importance of pilgrimage in Hinduism inorder to determine the role of pilgrimage in Sikhism. He further added that Sikhismemerged out of Hinduism and Islam with a motive to utilize pilgrimage for spiritualenhancement through inner journey by having “a pure mind and leading a truthful life”( Jutla, 2001, p. 68). The “Bani” and the lifestyle guided by the Gurus also support theuniversalism and call for inter-religious co-operation, which is understood to be vital forspirituality (Singh, 1994).

The reason for focusing on travel-related aspects of religious tourism has to beunderstood from the point of view of tourist’s motivation to visit and re-visit. If themotivations are not understood from this angle then the destination could lose potentialvisitors (McCain and Ray, 2003) Though religious shrines are sacrosanct for thepilgrimage, the frequency of visits may drop. Hence, enhancing the tourist’s experiencethrough better and augmented services is the solution. These augmented services mayinclude tour packages, car rentals/taxi services, hotel services, food services, touristguides, currency exchange facilities, sanitation facilities, medical facilities, healthfacilities, etc. With so many changes in the past the relationships between the hosts andthe religious tourists have also undergone transformation – the traditional style nolonger fulfills the comfort/luxury-driven needs of the pilgrims of the new millennium(Shinde, 2006).

When a tourist or a group plans a trip to the Golden temple, it is likely that such adistant trip will also involve visits to other nearby sites. These may include JallianwalaBagh, Wagha border and other places of cultural importance. Moreover, there are touroperators who also combine the visit of the Golden Temple with that of the Goldentriangle (New Delhi, Jaipur and Agra) and also with Vaishno Devi temple, Dharamshala,Shimla, Chandigarh and other key nearby places. This is mainly focusing on the foreigntourists (Garhwal Himalayan Expedition, 2010; Jaipurudaipur, 2010). But apart from thetour packages there are other service aspects that are controlled by governmentagencies as well as the local people. These include the sanitation, hygiene, cleanlinessand traffic control.

Amritsar and the Golden Temple: tourists experiences and spiritualimportanceAmritsar was founded by Sikh Guru Ram Das Sahib, who was the fourth Sikh Guru,and the name of city is derived from the sacred pond at the Golden Temple site.Amritsar can be translated in English as the pool of nectar. It was a small sacred villagewhich became the most important spiritual center for Sikhs across the globe. The city is24 kilometers away from the Wagha border which leads into Pakistan. Amritsar is alandlocked city which experiences extreme weather conditions. The time periodbetween October to March is the most suitable for a visit (Krishan, 2005, p. 7). Most ofthe Sikh festivals fall during this period and as noted earlier, it is the most importantreligious site for Sikhs across the globe. The temple is over 400 years old and wasconceived by Guru Arjan Singh. It was completed in the year 1601 AD (ShiromaniGurdwara Parbandhak Committee, 2010). The temple complex has a water body knownas the Amrit Kund which connotes a strong spiritual vibrancy. The Amrit Kund is

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supposed to be the place where saint Valmiki wrote the great Hindu epic Ramayana.The marble work is a blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture. The four entry gatesimply that the Golden Temple is open for all without any discrimination (Cultural andHeritage India, 2010). This again suggests the concept of universalism, which has beendiscussed earlier in this paper.

Tourism is a one of the key sectors in the service industry and the spiritual/religiousheritage contributes to visitor attraction largely in India. The experiences of the touristare important as re-visits are important from an economic perspective, above all due tothe foreign currency that is generated. In addition, it contributes to the image of thenation as a whole from the angle of tourism. The main issues which downgrade thetourists’ experiences are poor infrastructure, pollution (noise, air and water),congestion, traffic, vandalism, etc. (Woodward, 2004). Moreover, tourist destinationsare also affected by issues, which could be categorized into social, environmental,personal security, and proper governance. Amritsar should also be considered in thisway so that some of the potential pitfalls in the facilitating of pilgrimage can beavoided. In this context, Sandhu (2009) has considered certain key points which includethe proportion of the population living in slums, crime records, sanitation, governmentinitiatives and pollution levels.

The Golden temple is a located in a walled city along with the historical JallianwalaBagh. This walled city is the historical centre which is 2 kilometers from the railwaystation located at the Grand Trunk road while the airport is located 11 kilometers away.However, the walled city is rich in major tourist spots but lacks wide roads foraccommodating the movement of coaches and other tourism vehicles suitable for grouptravel (Singh and Singh, 2007). The airport is international and allows a good inflow ofthe non-resident Indians (NRIs)/foreigners. The accommodation facilities encompass awide range of options to cater to all types of pilgrims. There are sarais within theGolden Temple complex while outside the wall there are three-star and four-star hotelsas well. The number of pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple averages 20,000 on anormal day and as high as 200,000 on festivals and other important days (GuinnessBook of Records, 2000 cited by Jutla, 2001). The monthly inflow of the tourists inOctober and November is the peak period and totaled around 0.8 million inOctober/November 2004 (Singh and Singh, 2007). This ensures full hotel occupancy.The demand is rising and hence is a major issue for tourists. The walled cityenvironment is magnificent but is missed by many tourists due to their movement inclosed vehicles (Singh and Singh, 2007). In addition, the limited parking space makesthe situation even more difficult. Many tourists miss out on visiting the GurudwaraSaheedan and Gurudwara Bibek Sar within the walled city. They also, miss seeing theDurgiana temple, Ram Bagh and Gobind Garh Fort outside the walled city. These arealso of strong spiritual and historical importance. The main reason why these sites areless frequently visited is because these attractions are much less visible and there islimited information about these locations in a city that is struggling to cope with everrising congestion – especially in the walled city area.

The most attractive experience for tourists aside from the spiritual sites is theshopping and eating out. The rich Dhaba food is very popular and many tourists relishthis food. Apart from this, blankets are very popular. There are many narrow-lanemarkets within the walled city, which provide medieval experiences to tourists.


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However, the lack of information and congestion restricts tourist movements to thesemarkets.

Slums are a major problem for the city – spanning just 5 per cent of the population(in the year 1981) rising to about 30 per cent by 2001 and about the same proportion in2009 (Muncipal Corporation Records cited by Sandhu, 2009). This hinders the planneddevelopment of the city and undermines the tourist experience, especially as thenumber of slums and unauthorized colonies is so significant. The slums cover an area ofabout 15 per cent of the city and they lack access to safe drinking water. In addition,more than half of the households in the city lack adequate sanitation facilities (Censusof India, 2001 cited by Sandhu, 2009). The environmental degradation is another factorwhich is affecting the tourists’ experience in the city. The number of vehicles have beenconstantly increasing and dust is a key problem due to many unpaved locations.Furthermore, industrial and municipal waste is another threat. This leads to watercontamination Sandhu (2009).

According to the National Bureau of Crime Records (2008) the percentage share ofviolent crimes in the Punjab is 1.6 per cent but reported cases included 769 murdersand 956 significant criminal offences such as rape, kidnapping and counterfeiting. Thisshare is less than most of the states with populations greater than the Punjab, whichis perceived to be a comparatively safe tourist location. Sandhu (2009) connects criminaloffences with socio-economic issues and notes that slum dwellers and the poorer classesengage in crime to address their economic needs. Though the government had launchedbeneficiary schemes for these classes, these groups are either unaware of these schemes orthe government is unable to channels these schemes so as to combine the crime. This is akey threat for tourists which is linked to governance. Various projects related to sanitationand cleanliness has been initiated – especially in the walled city. It is important that thebasic services are available to all so that the city becomes more attractive to tourists.Nevertheless, the level of corruption is considered to be a significant hindrance in the pathof good governance (Sandhu, 2009).

Review of literatureMotivational factors for tourism have a strong psychological need associated with themwhich creates the desire for travel (Kim et al., 2000 cited by Kim and Prideaux, 2005).The tourist’s motivation is a blend of needs and desires, which have a strong influenceon the proclivity to visit the tourist destination (O’Leary and Deegan, 2005). Pearce(1993) cites five levels of motivation for travelers beginning with relaxation followedby stimulation, relationship, self-esteem and development and finally fulfillment.Poria et al. (2006), through a review of various studies found that the motivations forpilgrimage focus on learning for self, involvement in recreational activity and familytogetherness.

Crompton (2004) in Williams (2004) identified nine key motivations for the tourist totravel: escapism, exploration, relaxation, socialization with relatives, and educationwere among the key ones. Mayo and Jarvis (1981) cited by Chand (2010) categorized thetravel motives into four groups namely, cultural, physical, interpersonal and finallystatus and prestige. Bogarin et al. (2003) cited by Chand (2010) also identifiedmotivating push type factors: Relaxation, social, economic, family togetherness,cultural, and convenient facilities as well as pull type factors: activity, nature, historical,religious conviction and leisure.

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Learning, interest in heritage, culture and excursion to other location in the area werediscussed as motivating factors for religious tourists (Kerstetter et al., 2001), whileMoscardo (1996) cited by Garrod and Fyall (2000) regarded education, entertainmentand socialization as the reason for pilgrimage. Learning and relaxation were regardedby Jansen-Verbeke and van Rekom (1996) cited by Mcintosh (2004) as the key motives.Personal meaning is a strong reason for visiting sites with historical backgrounds(Poria et al., 2006). Furthermore, Lowenthal (1985) found that war-related sites can be astrong motivation for visit especially for those who belong to the same community. TheJallianwala Bagh is situated very close to the Golden Temple site and has very stronghistorical memories of massacre during the India’s freedom struggle. These sites havebecome places for short leisure trips (Lowenthal, 1985). Murray and Graham (1997)cited by Owen et al. (2004) claimed that the religious/non-religious meaning attached toany site is very much personal to the visitor. Graham et al. (2000) cited by Smith (2003)discusses the importance of personal significance as it relates to heritage sites andsuggests that these sites are viewed as an economic resource where the purchase ofmemorabilia from the religious site is linked to the tourist’s personal attachment withthe site Michael (2002).

Swarbrooke and Horner (1999, p. 54) offer a typology of motivations in tourismembracing “physical, cultural, status, personal development, personal and emotional”.Swarbrooke and Horner (1999, p. 244) also point out eight sources of stress for touristswhich can constitute barriers to tourism. They are: “transport delays, difficulties overmoney, problems with foreign languages, unfamiliar customs and food, worries overpersonal safety and health in the destination, the performance and attitude of servicedelivery staff, failure of accommodation to provide services needed or promised anddifficult relationship with fellow tourists”. Swarbrooke and Horner (1999, p. 245) alsopoint out uncontrollable factors as influencers of tourist satisfaction with thesite/destination visited. They include weather, strikes of transportation services(including airlines), beggars, poor/narrow roads, hygiene and sanitation. Hotel andLodging facilities were considered by Meng et al. (2008). Convenience is the key basisfor most Sikhs (45 per cent) to visit the Golden temple ( Jutla, 2001).

Kaul and Gupta (2009) have pointed out the key problems faced by the Indiantourism industry. These include inadequate facilitation services, lack of qualityinfrastructure, lack of hygiene which are also strongly associated with the pilgrimagesites in India. Lately, Chand (2010) extracted five key motivations namely culturalimmersion, religious attractions, seeking camaraderie, novelty and family togethernessin an attempt to bring out the difference in the motivational factors between thedomestic and non-Indian tourists. The result showed the only significant difference incase of religious attractions.

Mathieson and Wall (1982) cited by Swarbrooke and Horner (1999, p. 77) proposed atravel buying behavior model which starts with travel desire and ends with travelsatisfaction outcome and evaluation. This paper focuses on what tourists want not onlyat the Golden Temple complex but in order to enhance their spiritual journey as itrelates to the other facilities available at Amritsar. There are various sources ofmotivations for tourists, which are considered below.

OECD (2009) suggests culture is the top motivating factor in religious tourismespecially when one intends to experience the tradition of the culture followed by interestin that particular religion (religious/cultural). These are followed by self-reflection


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(personal) and interest in religion (religious). In fact there are arrangements at theGolden Temple complex and the other Gurudwaras within the walled city for theaccommodation of pilgrims. These are at times free of cost at the Sarias and the Goldentemple complex can accommodate up to 1,800 pilgrims (Singh and Singh, 2007). Kim andPrideaux (2005) considered cultural experience as the most important factor for overseasvisits. This can be seen at the Golden temple site where many foreigners/NRIs arrivethrough the international airport at Amritsar. Jutla (2001) found that 20 per cent ofoverseas Sikhs prefer to visit places of historical importance to Sikhs. Wilson andMcIntosh (2007) cited by Hughes and Carlsen (2010) found that tourists who are fond ofvisiting the cultural heritage sites found cultural heritage tourists are strongly inclinedtowards the personal relevance as compared to the historical essence of the site.

Also, tourists often feel nostalgia when they visit sites which are strongly associatedwith their culture and hence there is a motivation for revisit (Hughes and Carlsen, 2010).McCain and Ray (2003) further say that apart from visiting their personal historic placesthey also get a chance to visit their friends and relatives and this too is a key motivation.This is highly applicable for the Sikh community visiting the Golden Temple especiallyfor those who reside abroad. Jutla (2001) found that 35 per cent of Sikhs prefer to visit theGolden temple for festival purposes especially the celebration of Diwali.

“Recreation is activity in leisure time, which relaxes tensions and refreshes body andspirit” Bassett (1987, p. 551). Kozak (2002) found pleasure seeking and fantasy as thekey motives for travel among British tourists. Many tourists arrive from Britain forpilgrimage and recreation purposes at the Golden Temple. Fun and enjoyment,relaxation were considered as motivation factors by Meng et al. (2008). Interest in leisureactivities was considered as the key motive by Poria et al. (2006). Jutla (2001, p. 71)concluded that Sikhs not only travel to Amritsar for spiritual reasons but also for“traditional pleasure-based activities on the same trip”.

Research methodsWe divided all the collected records based on nationality and religion. The nationalityoptions were Indian, NRIs and foreigners. For purpose of cross-tabulation, weconsidered the nationality into two groups combining the foreigners and NRIs into onegroups. The religion was dichotomous, i.e. either Sikhism or non-Sikhism. Hence, wehad the following table.

Our objective was to compare tourists’ experiences based on the categoriesmentioned in Table I. These factors are the main reasons why tourists in visit/revisitthe Golden Temple site.

Research instruments and measurementsQuestionnaires in English were administered to the respondents who had visited theGolden Temple. Data were collected by contacting the respondents personally or online.The responses related to their personal experiences and their main reasons for visiting

Indians Foreigners Total

Sikhs 28 18 46Non-Sikhs 24 14 38Total 52 32 84

Table I.Categories and numberof the respondents

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the Golden Temple. A total of 31 scales were developed based on the literature reviewfeatured in this paper, and these provided the sub-questions for seven key factors. In factthese scales converged to seven factors. Some of the scales overlapped between theseven factors and hence were considered all such scales in all those factors to which itwere contributing. The scales were five pointers ranging from strongly disagree (1) tostrongly agree (5). In addition, the respondents were asked to notify the causes ofinconvenience and an open-ended question asked the respondents for their suggestionsabout improving the facilities around the Golden Temple site.

RespondentsThe total number of respondents was 84. Most of the foreigners responded online, whilemost of the Indians responded through the field survey. The distribution of therespondents is shown in Table I. The respondents were people who had visitedthe Golden Temple at least once and had a sound understanding of basic English as thequestionnaire was only available in English.

Results and discussionThe respondents were asked to record the difficulties they had faced during their visitto the Golden Temple. Traffic jams, sanitation and beggars were the top threechallenges which the tourists faced. Hygienic food, lack of travel information languagebarriers and service of taxi drivers were also the other notable barriers.

Language barriers were the most commonly faced by the “Non-Sikh-Indians”followed by the non-Sikh-foreigners. Most of the non-Sikhs do not understand the locallanguage very well. Though the sign boards are provided in English and Hindi apartfrom Punjabi (the local language), a need for English/Hindi speaking guides is expected.Interestingly, the Suggestion came from one of the respondent who was among theSikh-Indians who had suggested the need for more guides or volunteers who can speakEnglish, based on his own observations. This is also discussed later in the paper.

Flight reservations were a minor barrier mainly for the “non-Sikh-Indians” while thenon-Sikh-foreigners did not felt it to be a problem at all. Tipping was hardly a problemfor almost all the tourists. Aggressive traders was a minor problem experienced equallyby all groups. Currency exchange was a minor problem too but only for foreigners.

The availability of hygenic food as noted above was a notable problem faced by thetourists. Sikh-foreigners found it to be a major problem and while the non-Sikh-Indiansand the non-Sikh-foreigners found it to be somewhat a problem issue.

Beggars were a major problem. All the groups equally identified this as a key issue.Traffic jams were the biggest problem among all the issues and was also equallyidentified by all the groups as the major challenge.

The service provided by taxi drivers was found to be a notable problem mainly bythe Sikh-foreigners and the non-Sikh-Indians. Interestingly, the non-Sikh-foreigners didnot mentioned trouble regarding this issue. It could be concluded that the focus is onproviding better facilities to this particular group, which are comparatively few innumber.

Sanitation facilities were also among the highest problems just like the jams but withunequal responses. non-Sikh-foreigners and the Sikh-foreigners were the groups, whichwere the most troubled followed by the non-Sikh-Indians. The Sikh-Indians also foundit to be a minor problem.


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Non-availability of travel information was also a prominent issue for many of thetourists especially for the Sikh-foreigners followed by the non-Sikh-Indians and theSikh-Indians. The non-Sikh-foreigners did not find this to be a barrier possibly due totheir occasional visits. In addition, most of the foreigners who come to India do so on apackaged-tour, which is well guided.

Taking an overview of the barriers it was found that out of the twelve listed, everySikh-Indians notified nearly one barrier on average while, each of the non-Sikh-Indiansnotified an average of two barriers. Each of the foreigners experienced about 2.7 barrierson an average. This is significantly larger than that of the Indians. A non-Sikh-foreignersuggested that the Golden Temple should also be promoted as strongly as the Taj Mahal.Some of the barriers were discussed were put along side their respective suggestions inthe response to the open-ended question.

SuggestionsThe last question in the questionnaire was open ended. The following category-wisediscussion is based on it. The discussion is based on the suggestions given bythe respondents and is focused on improving the facilities around the GoldenTemple site.

Sikh-Indians. When asked about steps that government officials can take to make thecity of the Golden Temple more attractive for tourists, the Sikh-Indians recommendedbetter access to the city in terms of more flights, less traffic jams and improved travelinformation. Cleanliness was also a factor mentioned by them. Better dharamshalas(an economical place for the pilgrim tourists to stay) was also a recommendation. Theyalso felt that there was lack of proper parking facilities and gardens/parks. TheSikh-Indians also felt that more English speaking guides or volunteers were needed toguide tourists from other countries to explain the protocols for entering the GoldenTemple such as covering their heads and removing footwear.

Sikh-foreigners. The Sikh-foreigners had almost identical suggestions as theSikh-Indians mostly recommended better transportation facilities, better trafficmanagement, more hygiene maintenance, more printed literature for educating peopleabout the historical and cultural significance of the temple and surrounding areas.A Sikh-foreigner also suggested that there was need for more organized tours for thehistorical sites in the Golden Temple area. A comment made by one Sikh-foreigner:

The process of entering the actual shrine is terribly long and unstructured. I think thereshould be a number system in place that allows 50-75 people at a time with a limit of 15 minper visit. This would allow people to spend time around the Gurudwara visiting the otherattractions like the library/museum on the grounds that ordinarily would be missed becauseyou spend so much time waiting for your turn to get into the actual shrine.

Non-Sikh-Indians. The non-Sikh-Indians also had similar recommendations ascompared to Sikh-Indians. They felt that traffic needed to be reduced, betteravailability of information such as maps, guides, tourist information centers, bettertransportation options, 24/7 convenience stores, etc. Non-Sikh-Indians also felt that thetouts outside should not be allowed anywhere. Greater hygiene and greenery was also awish expressed by many.

Non-Sikh-foreigners. An interesting comment made by a non-Sikh-foreigners wasthat the Golden Temple should be promoted as the Taj Mahal. Similar to Sikh-Indiansand non-Sikh-Indians, the foreigners felt that more tourist information need to be

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provided at all major government information centres. Parking lots should be providedfor visitors. This is to reduce traffic congestion around the area since there is a marketright outside the Temple and cars are usually parked on the side of the streets.Foreigners also felt the need to improve the sanitation facilities. One foreignercommented, “When we visited the place it was cold and we were bare feet. They shouldprovide plastic shoes/slippers and better private toilets.” Another significant commentfrom a foreigner was, “Maybe the people could be friendlier to foreigners who havenever been here.”

ConclusionsLooking at the increasing number of tourist arrivals, it is clear that the basic facilitiesthat support tourism need serious attention. The reasons are many-fold, the majority ofwhich are linked to economic development and tourism to the Golden Temple certainlyoffers significant potential from both domestic and foreign tourists for longer stays,increased frequency of visits and overall, a greater contribution to the local economy.Amritsar has strong historical and cultural connotations and has easy accessibility tosome of key tourist locations – including the Himalayas. This makes its position strongnot only as a destination for spiritual tourism but also as a corridor for leisure tourism.

According to Singh and Singh (2007), tourism at the city should be developedholistically and not just limited to a few major spots including the Golden Temple,Jallianwala Bagh and the Wagha border. Other places can attract more tourists byincreasing their enjoyment of the sites and by facilitating their visits to otherGurudwaras and other important religious locations. Tourist information centres canalso greatly assist in this regard. As discussed earlier, these and other additions andimprovements to the tourist experience will enhance the tourism product and in turn,facilitate on-going development via higher frequency of return visits.

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Bogarin, B., Crowther, G. and Marr, N. (2003), “Motivation for domestic tourism: a case studyof the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, Tourism Analysis, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 137-41, cited inChand M. (2010), “A cross-national study of motivational determinants amongnon-resident Indian visitors to religious centers in India” International Journal ofHospitality & Tourism Administration, Vol.11 No.1, pp. 22-38.

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Chand, M. (2010), “A cross-national study of motivational determinants among non-residentIndian visitors to religious centers in India”, International Journal of Hospitality &Tourism Administration, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 22-38.

Crompton, J. (2004), “Motivations for pleasure vacations”, in Willaims, S. (Ed.), Tourism: CriticalConcepts in the Social Sciences, Routledge, London, pp. 84-101.

Cultural and Heritage India (2010), available at: http://cultural-heritage-india.com/pilgrimage/golden-temple.html (accessed 1 May 2010).

Dhar, P.N. (2008), Cultural and Heritage Tourism: An Overview, Kanishka, New Delhi.


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Gupta, V. (1999), “Sustainable tourism: learning from Indian religious traditions”, InternationalJournal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 11 Nos 2/3, pp. 91-5.

Hughes, M. and Carlsen, J. (2010), “The business of cultural heritage tourism: critical successfactors”, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 17-32.

Jaipur Udaipur (2010), available at: www.jaipurudaipur.com/tour_packages/TajGolden_Temple_Tour.htm (accessed 10 May 2010).

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Jutla, R.S. (2001), “Understanding Sikh pilgrimage”, Tourism Recreation Research, Vol. 27 No. 2,pp. 65-72.

Kaul, H. and Gupta, S. (2009), “Sustainable tourism in India”, Worldwide Hospitality and TourismThemes, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 12-18.

Kerstetter, D.L., Confer, J.J. and Graefe, A.R. (2001), “An exploration of the specialization conceptwithin the context of heritage tourism”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 39 No. 3,pp. 267-74.

Kim, S.S. and Prideaux, B. (2005), “Marketing implications arising from a comparative study ofinternational pleasure tourist motivations and other travel-related characteristics ofvisitors to Korea”, Tourism Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 347-57.

Kim, S.S., Crompton, J.L. and Botha, C. (2000), “Responding to competition: a strategy forSun/Lost City, South Africa”, Tourism Management, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 33-41, cited inKim, S.S. and Prideaux, B. (2005), “Marketing implications arising from a comparativestudy of international pleasure tourist motivations and other travel-related characteristicsof visitors to Korea”, Tourism Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 347–57.

Kozak, M. (2002), “Comparative analysis of tourist motivations by nationality and destinations”,Tourism Management, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 221-32.

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Further reading

Muncipal Corporation Records (n.d.), cited in Sandhu, K. (2009) “The open city with narrowcrevices; marginalisation versus facilitation in urban space”, paper presented at the 10thN-AERUS Conference, Rotterdam, 1-3 October.

National Bureau of Crime Records (2010), available at: http://ncrb.nic.in/cii-2008/table 3.1.pdf(accessed 28 May 2010).

Corresponding authorGaurav Tripathi can be contacted at: [email protected]

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Internet deployment in thespiritual tourism industry:

the case of Vaishno Devi ShrineKanika Gupta and Anju Gulla

Institute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, India

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the role of internet/web services in spiritual tourism and thechallenges faced in internet deployment and how they could be overcome.

Design/methodology/approach – The study was carried via structured questionnaires/interviewswith open-ended and closed-ended questions with Indian pilgrims and the shrine board members. Alsothe web site/portals of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and other religious places were analyzed.

Findings – Findings show the level of awareness amongst the pilgrims about how internet can playa major role in providing ease of information.

Practical implications – The use of information and communication technology provides greaterconvenience and comfort to pilgrims by providing access to information. The technology elementfacilitates hassle free darshan to tourists, encourages the rate of repeat visits by managing the long waithours and also information about other services.

Originality/value – The paper focuses on the growing needs of internet in spiritual tourism in India.

Keywords Internet, Tourism, Religion, India


Glossary

Vaishno Devi Shrine The holy Hindu temple situated in Jammuand Kashmir, India.

Temples A building reserved for religious purposes.

Pilgrim The person who is on long journey in thesearch of the great moral significance.

Hinduism The religious tradition of South Asia.

Jainism Jainism is an ancient religion of India thatprescribes a path of non-violence towardsall living beings.

Buddhism A religion and philosophy encompassing avariety of traditions, beliefs and practices,largely based on teachings attributed toSiddhartha Gautama, commonly known asthe Buddha.



The authors wish to extend special thanks to Dr Vinnie Jauhari and Dr Gunjan M. Sanjeev forproviding them with an opportunity and for encouraging them to write for this theme issue ofWHATT.

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Vol. 2 No. 5, 2010pp. 507-519


DOI 10.1108/17554211011090120

Sikhism Sikhism is a religion founded in fifteenthcentury Punjab on the teachings of GuruNanak Dev.

Tirth Yatra Undertaking religious journey to a holy site

Badrinath, Puri, Dwarka and Rameshwaram The four abodes of God in the four directionsof India – Puri in the east, Rameshwaram inthe south, Dwarka in the west, andBadrinath in the north.

Souvenirs An object a traveler brings home as amemory associated with it.

Holy cave Referred to the sacred cave of Vaishno Devi.

Trikuta Mountains The mountains in Jammu and Kashmirwhere the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi issituated.

Katra Katra or Katra Vaishno Devi, as it ispopularly known, is a small town inJammu and Kashmir, India, situated in thefoothills of the Trikuta Mountains, where theholy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi is located.

Navaratras The Hindu festival of worship and dance.

Vedas The religious text originated in ancientIndia.

Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati The three goddesses resided in the holy caveof Vaishno Devi Shrine.

Prashad The edible substance that is first offered togoddess and then consumed.

Poojans Prayers.

Darshan sightseeing, glimpse of Goddess.

OverviewIndia is one of the most spiritually enriched places on earth – a veritable land of temples.The pilgrim destinations and the reliance in the land for subsistence farming encouragespiritualism and in turn, this allows all the religions to flourish and prosper. Majorreligions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism were conceived in India.Apart from these religions, numerous sages, philosophers and founders of religions alsosought and received sanctuary and enlightenment on India’s soil. Religious tourism is asacred journey which is moved by faith and there is a relationship that exists betweenreligions and tourism (Sharpley and Sundaram, 2005). Religious tourism has a longhistory in India and the practice of Tirth Yatra or pilgrimage has been an element ofIndian social life since ancient times (Kamra, 1997; Gupta et al., 2002). India is dotted with

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spiritual destinations. A visit to them is essential to one who is on the path of selfspiritual discovery. The concept of shrines in the four corners of India which areBadrinath, Puri, Dwarka and Rameshwaram also known as Char Dhaam seems to be aplanned effort to ensure spiritual travel throughout the country (Seth, 2005). Even today,pilgrimage continues to be the most important reasons for travel although we haveentered an era of modern tourism. One of the spiritual journeys to the holy places wherepilgrims visit because of their unflinching faith is the Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi.

Review of literatureSpiritual tourismHistorically, pilgrimage has been defined as a journey in search of truth (Vukonic, 1996),where people are drawn to sacred places as a result of their spiritual magnetism(Preston, 1992). It is this search for truth that motivates people to travel to ancient sitesand places. Religious travel and pilgrimage has been growing tremendously in the pastfew decades, surprising many who thought that religious tourism would lose its socialsignificance. Business people traveling to attend business conventions are businesstourists and a person vacationing near the sea is a beach tourist. From this perspective,a pilgrim is a religious tourist who is motivated by spiritual or religious factors.Religion has been considered as one of the oldest forms of non-economic travel andhas been a motive for undertaking journeys (Jackowski and Smith, 1992). According toJackowski (2000) approximately 240 million people in any given year go onpilgrimages – the majority of whom are Christians, Hindus and Muslims. Spiritualtravel now occupies an important segment of international tourism and has beengrowing steadily (Bywater, 1994). This increase in spiritual travel has led to theincreased growth of tourism in the modern era (Lloyd, 1998), yet there is a dearth ofstudies in the area of religious tourism (Vukonic, 1998).

Spiritual tourism involves the devotional aspect as well as sightseeing, traveling,visiting nearby places, buying souvenirs and voyaging by air (Gupta, 1999). Smith (1992)argues that pilgrimage in the modern world is partly a religious journey and partly touristicand that pilgrims span a wide socio-economic and demographic group (Smith, 1989).

Technology and tourismTourism has been recognized as an information-based industry and the internet morethan any other technology now makes it possible for pilgrims to go online and quicklyfind information about the sites they intend to visit. The internet is more important totravel and tourism because when travel is purchased, it is typically the informationwhich is being purchased. The number of internet users has been rising sharply and byNovember 2008 it was estimated to be around 81,000,000, reflecting 7.0 per centpenetration of internet users in India (Internet World Stats, 2010). With the growingpopularity of the cybercafes, low cost of broadband, and government initiatives, internetusage is expected to rise by 150 per cent in the coming years. According to Xinran et al.(2006), 95 per cent of web users surf the internet to gather travel information and aroundthree quarters of online travel buyers used search engines prior to make bookings. Inaddition to the internet, other The use of information and communication technology(ICT) driven devices such as mobile phones, global positioning systems, smart phonesand hand-held devices help to facilitate enhanced travel experiences (Gammack, 2004).

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The internet gives the opportunity to operators to offer online bookings by reducingadvertising costs and providing a platform to interact throughout the day with othercustomers (Anckar and Walden, 2001). There are many sophisticated uses of ICT in thetourism industry and also connected problems. Web pages made for the tourismindustry provide a mirror image of the tourism product. These web pages with theircontent regarding audio and video presentations, interactive maps and route findersoffer significant potential (Zelenka, 2009). Furthermore, the use of ICT enablescooperation among different partners such as airlines companies, hotel chains and creditcard companies. Moreover, the use of ICT has enabled the tourism service provider tointeract directly with customers and bypass traditional intermediaries. Successful ICTdeployment in developing countries like India still faces many challenges though.E-commerce in developing countries like India is inhibited by the lack oftelecommunications, logistics, skilled employees as well as by low levels of computerliteracy, income and computer and internet penetration among end-users (Anigan, 1999).Security issues like stealing personal information (e.g. address and credit cardinformation) is still a serious hurdle in fully adopting e-business (Anigan, 1999).

About Vaishno Devi ShrineAccording to the World Tourism Organization, tourism is now the world’s largestindustry and makes a significant contribution to national and regional economies. Thereare many foreigners as well as domestic travelers who travel across the country to visitpilgrimage shrines and holy places in India. Vaishno Devi Shrine is one of the mostpopular holy shrines in Northern India which is visited by millions of pilgrims everyyear. These pilgrims come from all parts of India motivated by faith or by religiousreasons. After chaar dhaam Yatra, Hindus consider Vaishno Devi as the next holiest sitein India. The holy cave is nestled in the Trikuta Mountains at an altitude of 5,200 ft andthe pilgrims have to trek for nearly 12 km from the base camp at Katra. It lies 61 km northof Jammu in J&K. Although the Yatra is open throughout the year, the peak period isduring the summer and autumn months, especially during Navaratras (special days forworshipping a Goddess and her numerous forms). It is not known exactly whenpilgrimage to this shrine began but geological studies of the cave indicate its age to bealmost one million years. Although in Vedas there is no prior reference to the worship ofa female deity, mountain Trikuta is mentioned in Rigveda, the oldest of the four Vedas.This unique shrine is said to be the residence of three forms of Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmiand Maha Saraswati (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, 2010).

There are now many thousands of devotees visiting the Holy Cave every year and theaverage number of visitors per day falls between 15,000 and 18,000. As per the Yatrainformation on the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board web page, the number of pilgrims in 1986stood at 13.96 Lakhs, which has dramatically increased to 82.35 lacs (8.2 Million) in theyear 2009. Table I depicts an annual increase by 10-12 per cent every year (Shri MataVaishno Devi Shrine Board, 2010).

The pilgrim need to register themselves and his/her companions with Mata VaishnoDevi Shrine Board before undertaking the Yatra which is entirely free. Permission isformally documented and this is the basis on which the party can proceed to the mainShrine. Although the entire Yatra Registration process is fully computerized, efforts arebeing made by the Shrine board to better organize the permissions process as withoutprior approval, a pilgrim can be turned back.

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Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine BoardVaishno Devi Shrine Board is a non-profit organization created as a statutory Act passedby the Government of Jammu and Kashmir under “The Jammu & Kashmir ShriMata Vaishno Devi Shrine Act, 1986”. The Shrine Board is vested with all the authoritiesand manages all the regulations related to making the Yatra a comfortable andsatisfactory experience for pilgrims. More than Rs. 125 crores has been invested by theboard so far in the numerous developmental activities at the holy place (Shri MataVaishno Devi Shrine Board, 2010). All these projects and developmental activities arefunded by the donations in cash or in kind or in service and the offerings at Mata VaishnoDevi Temple. The official web site of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board provides details likeclimate, maps, sight-seeing and provides additional facilities like helicopter bookings,darshan bookings and some links to hotels. The Mata Vaishno Devi official web site isoutsourced and created by Sparrow Interactive Pvt. Ltd (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi ShrineBoard, 2010).

Donations and religion go hand in hand. A donation is considered to be part of theoffering a devotee makes towards the service of a great Goddess. The Shrine Boardfacilitates giving by offering numerous online donation schemes. All online donationsare exempt from tax under section 80-G of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (Shri Mata VaishnoDevi Shrine Board, 2010). Ongoing development activities at the Shrine are funded bygiving, as explained by a broad member during a telephone interview. The details of allprojects are uploaded to the web site together with cost estimates so that pilgrims candonate accordingly. The devotees receive multiple benefits by devoting online –including a receipt of donation for which tax exemption can be sought. Other benefitsmay include concessions on accommodation during the visit (Shri Mata Vaishno DeviShrine Board, 2010). Other ways of donating are provided by individual Poojans.Devotees can pay online and a special poojan will be made in the devotees’ name, or thedevotee may attend the poojan by paying a little more and can attend the poojan alongwith his five family members. Donations can also be made through various ICICI ATMsthroughout the country. NRIs can also donate through the ICICI Money 2 India scheme.The donations need not necessarily be in cash, but can be in kind ranging from food andgroceries, clothing, electronics and jewellery. Also, devotees who are willing to offertheir services to the Holy Goddess as they relate to specialist skills like IT, accountancy,legal, management, engineering and architecture are welcomed by the Shrine Board and

Year Pilgrims visiting shrine per year (in lakhs) Growth % age

2000 52.17 –2001 50.57 23.102002 44.32 212.252003 54.00 222004 61.00 132005 62.52 2.452006 69.50 11.252007 74.17 6.752008 67.92 2102009 82.35 21.24

Source: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board web site

Table I.Growth percentage of

pilgrims over the years inVaishno Devi Shrine

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in return they are treated as guests of the Shrine Board for the duration of their service.And online registry of services offered helps them in assimilating the database ofdevotees (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, 2010).

Given this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is:. to identify the extent of internet usage by Pilgrims while preparing for their trip

to Vaishno Devi;. to identify pilgrims’ positive experiences and the issues that inhibit internet

adoption; and. to suggest ways that can lead to satisfactory experience of the pilgrimage by

successfully disseminating effective information through internet web sites.It our view that by providing fast and speedy internet based can help in ensuringa hassle free darshan to Mata Vaishno Devi.

MethodologyA structured questionnaire with 16 closed questions and two open-ended questions wasdeveloped to ask respondents about the type of the facilities that should be available toensure hassle free darshan to Vaishno Devi and the measures that government needs totake to ensure the same. First three questions captured the internet usage behavior of thepilgrims and hence delineated the various purposes for which they use internet. The nextfour questions catered to the frequency of travel to religious places how often therespondent visits Vaishno Devi. The next two questions sought to uncover theinformation sources used and in particular, if the respondent had used the internet. Is so,we were interested in the ways in which the available facilities and services had beenused in preparing for their trip to Vaishno Devi. Target respondents for this study had incommon that they had some prior experience in using internet and could use these skillsin preparing for their visit to Vaishno Devi. The respondents who did not use the internetfor this purpose did not play any further part in the analysis. The services/facilitieslisted in the questionnaire are the ones available on Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s website. One objective is to explore the level of awareness regarding availability of theinformation related to Vaishno Devi that may help the pilgrims in planning their visit.The next two questions address the experience of the pilgrims while accessinginformation over the internet and executing their transaction and what are the reasonsfor limiting their use of the available pre-purchase services. Initially, 14 factors arestudied using a five point Likert scale. The latter questions used nine factors and afive point Likert scale. The various factors listed are delineated based on the literaturereview and expert opinion. Then the pilgrims were questioned on the various facilitiesthat should be available or provided by the government to ensure a hassle free darshan.And finally, the last four questions related to the demographic characteristics of thepilgrims. The analysis was completed using SPSS software. The statistical methodsemployed are percentiles and factor analysis.

Data collectionThe study was administered via an online structured questionnaire. It was sent as a linkin an e-mail to people living in and around Delhi. Also, efforts were made to get gatherpersonally administered responses from in and around Delhi (Delhi and Gurgaon only).The target respondents were all people who had visited Vaishno Devi at least once. In terms

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of the questions relating to internet searching, data were only included for respondents whohad at least run searches seeking information about Vaishno Devi (Table II).

Descriptive profile of the respondentsTable III shows the various reasons why respondents use internet. The observationsays that still in the digital era, less than half the population uses internet for onlinepurchases which itself indicates that this area needs to be explored by researchers and

%

AgeBelow 18 0.0019-25 9.1026-35 50.0036-50 29.5051 and above 5.70Missing 5.70OccupationStudent 6.80Professional 75.00Retired 0.00Self employed 10.20Missing 7.00Qualification12th 8.00Graduate 20.50Masters 29.50Professional 22.70PhD 12.50Missing 6.80GenderMale 48.90Female 42.00Missing 9.10Monthly income,20,000 3.4020,001-50,000 38.6050,001-1,00,000 21.60.1,00,001 10.20Missing 26.10

Note: n ¼ 88

Table II.Descriptive statistics of

respondents

Emailing (%) 82.95Search Information (%) 73.86Online purchasing (%) 22.73Online Banking (%) 53.41Online Booking (%) 55.68Others include Downloading music research office work

Note: n ¼ 88

Table III.Purposes for which

Internet is used

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practitioners, though around half the population uses internet for online bookings andonline banking and around more than three quarter of the population uses internet forsearching information and for e-mailing purposes.

Table IV shows that 69 per cent of the sample population uses the internet severaltimes a day, which itself authenticates our target population.

Table V shows the list of information available on the official web site of Vaishno DeviShrine Board and depicts the percentage of the population who have either soughtinformation or used the online booking service, or those who are aware of this facility buthave not used the service, or alternatively, are not aware that this information is availableonline. The response rate in this particular question is around 65 per cent. More than halfof the population is either aware or has used the online services to make train reservations,air reservations, hotel bookings, hire cars, or make darshan bookings or helicopterbookings and for banking/ATM information. The target group evidently possessed goodknowledge of the internet-based services and information available to them.

Internet use %

Several times a day 69.30Few times a week 2.30Once a day 11.40Once a month or less 11.40Missing 6

Table IV.Frequency of usinginternet

Yes, I haveused the

internet (%)

I know this informationis available online

but I did not avail thisinformation (%)

I do not knowthat this service is

available online (%)Missing

(%)

Train booking 52 16 32Air booking 40 27 33Hotel booking 36 31 33Hiring cars 13 39 13 36Darshan booking 14 22 21 44Helicopter booking 13 33 10 44Security desk 19 36 44Bhent Prasad(offerings) 6 25 25 44Donations online 15 18 23 44Bhojanalayas/refreshment 6 21 30 44Souvenier shops 6 25 25 44Medical facility 7 34 16 44Cloak rooms 6 24 26 44Places to rest 8 30 19 43Banks/ATMs 23 18 19 40Palakis/Ponis(for transport) 6 17 33 44Climate 40 19 5 46Maps 43 14 9 34Sight seeing 19 26 13 42

Table V.Percentage of therespondents availingservices/informationavailable on VaishnoDevi Shrine Board officialweb site

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Findings and analysisThe two major questions regarding the experiences of internet users when seekingVaishno Devi information and executing the transactions and reasons for not makingonline payments were studied using factor analysis. Fourteen factors were convertedinto four components explaining 64.28 per cent of the variance and indicating that thevariance of the main construct is well defined by these four principal components.

The four factors derived are highlighted in Table VI and all these factors are furtherstudied using a test of reliability. Out of four factors, three are found to be highlyreliable with alpha varying from 0.75 to 0.97 (Table VII; Cronbach’s alpha) (0.7 orgreater for alpha represents sufficient reliability). Thus, factors 2-4 seem to besufficiently reliable. Factor 1 is also reliable (.0.5 is moderately reliable).

Factor analysis inhibitors of internet use for seeking information for Vaishno DeviThe factors studied highlight the main inhibitors and where efforts can be made toimprove uptake of internet-based services. Respondents’ ratings were subject to principalcomponent analysis with Varimax rotation and two factors were extracted from the ninestudied variables which explain 62.33 per cent of the variance (Table VIII). The twofactors extracted were studied for reliability and both the factors posed sufficientreliability as the alpha value is ranged from 0.77 to 0.84 (Table IX; Cronbach’s alpha).

Extracted components% of variance

explained

% cumulativevariance

explained

Factor 1 – reliable informationNever had security issue while executing transaction onlineThe online information is very reliable 16.73 16.73Executing transaction online is cost-effectiveI never faced any problem while accessing information onlineFactor 2 – convenienceFinding online information saves timeAccessing Information online is convenientSuccessful execution of transaction 16.38 33.10I am able to find information very easilyI am able to find information very fastAlways get receipt for my online transactionFactor 3 – satisfactory experienceSatisfactory experience while booking online 15.96 49.06Never faced any problem while executing transactionsFactor 4 – consistentAlways got every information I wanted 15.22 64.28I have been able to pay for my bookings easily over the net

Table VI.Experience of

the respondents whoused internet while

preparing for their tripto Vaishno Devi

Factor 1 0.62Factor 2 0.75Factor 3 0.945Factor 4 0.978

Table VII.Cronbach’s alpha

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Conclusions and recommendationsE-commerce now has a high presence and uptake in the tourism industry. The majority ofthe respondents reported using internet services mostly for train, air, hotel bookings, andfor the weather information and maps (Table V). Some of these respondents also knewabout the other information available online but chose not to use it. The best thing aboutseeking information online is that it provides consumer freedom and control which is just afew clicks away. As per Table VI, reliability, convenience, satisfactory experience andconsistent information available are the main drivers for using the internet to gatherinformation about Vaishno Devi. The reliability factor as per Table V depicts that peoplewho have used the internet as a means of seeking information find that accurate andupdated information is available online. The other factor shows that accessing onlineinformation is very convenient and with satisfactory execution of transactions.

On average, one quarter of the respondents did not know that the information relatedto many services is available online (Table V). The main inhibiting factors relating to theuse of the internet seem to relate to individual perceptions of the web services on offerand a preference for personalized transactions organized via agents or by telephone.Some of the people do not know how to access information over the net and others lacktrust and have privacy issues (Table VIII).

In today’s fast paced environment, online information has become a culture and aninevitable part of our life. As per Table III, more than 70 per cent of the respondents useinternet for searching information and e-mailing, but for online banking, purchasing andbookings it is still at a nascent stage in India. There is just 2.3 per cent of penetrationof internet users (eMarketer, 2010). There is either lack of awareness among therespondents or finding information on other services as mentioned in Table V. This caneven be attributed to the inertia regarding e-commerce adoption shown by therespondents. Although the information is available free of cost on Vaishno Devi ShrineBoard’s official web site, aggressive efforts should be made to spread awareness aboutthe services available. The pilgrims need to know that by accessing information online,

% of variance explained% cumulative variance

explained

Factor 1 – perceptionDifficult to access information over the netDo not trust web servicesI prefer personalized transactions through agents 35.43 35.43I prefer personalized transactions over phoneI got only expensive services over the netI do not know how to use internetFactor 2 – trust and privacyI am concerned of privacy issuesI am concerned of security issues 26.90 62.33I cannot negotiate over the net

Table VIII.Factors responsible forinhibiting use of internet

Factor 1 0.839Factor 2 0.77

Table IX.Cronbach’s alpha

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there are benefits over traditional ways of seeking information. These include consumerconvenience, pleasure of seeking information 24 £ 7, monetary savings, time saving, selfenhancement and social adjustments. An incentive needs to be provided to the currentand prospective users to enhance the usage of the internet prior to and when planningtheir trip.

Based on the experience of the pilgrimage, some of the respondents have providedsuggestions as to what services should be improved. They requested more hygienicbhojanalayas/refreshments, improved local transport facilities, comfortableaccommodation, especially in peak periods, rest rooms, traffic control and advanceinformation on the number of visitors on any given day. Few respondents had appreciatedthe services that are currently available. However, they feel that the darshans should beautomated so as to ensure they have at least a few minutes in the presence of theGoddesses.

Based on the above analysis and conclusions, it is possible to make the followingrecommendations:

. Information can be disseminated by installing kiosks at several places in andaround Jammu and at specific places as banks, post offices, railway stations,airports, hotels in other cities. The Shrine Board can also partner with severalprivate or government bodies to disseminate information as they have done tocollect donations through ICICI ATMs across the country (Shri Mata VaishnoDevi Shrine Board, 2010). The morning Aarti (prayers) can be showcased as aprogramme on Religious channels as Aastha, Sanskaar and the web siteinformation may be scrolled on the screen. Better information disseminationsaves time and effort by providing a one stop authenticated web site where by allthe services for online bookings and other information can be found. The abovewill certainly help in increasing the number of visitors to the holy cave and inproviding a more comfortable and hassle free darshan to Vaishno Devi.

. Though adequate information is available on the official web site, the potentialbenefits have not yet been fully explored. The providers should be pro-active toarouse awareness by aggressively promoting the information available. This canbe done by advertising over the internet via web banners. The web bannerscan also be flashed at the ICICI ATMs when people are using that medium. Theycan also tie up with authentic organizations like Indian Railway Catering andTourism Corporation of India whereby Shrine Board can promote their travelpackages to Jammu on their websites and similarly, IRCTC can promote MataVaishno Devi Shrine Board’s web site.

. The officials of the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board should provide latest newsupdates for areas in and around Jammu. The shrine board has already done thisfor weather information, but it is not yet updated daily as suggested by theweather notes on the web site. Developing the web site is a significant challengeespecially when some of the developments are outsourced. To address this, eitherthe outsourced organization should have a longer term contract or daily updatescould be done by a suitably skilled person who is employed for this purpose.

. To promote tourism along with a spiritual visit, some package tours should beinitiated at the official web site of Vaishno Devi. If the links can be embedded onthe official web site, the problem of authenticity is solved, which of itself will yield

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multiple benefits. It will also enhance entrepreneurship opportunities; especiallyfor spas, massage centers, restaurants, branded food take away counters andhotels – as suggested by the respondents.

. Internet inclusion should be initiated by the government as they have done forfinancial inclusion. Inculcating internet literacy at primary schools, especiallygovernment schools may help in address the gap.

. As per the suggestions of the respondents, the information on the web site is noteasy to follow and it is difficult to navigate through the web site as the font size isvery small. Furthermore, a Hindi version is not available. Ultimately, the web siteneeds to be more user friendly and highlight the relevant information as tabs astoo much text is provided in densely packed paragraphs.

. Other suggestions are to make separate lanes for ponis and autos and thatautomated darshans should be used so that each and every visitor has the sametime period to view the Goddess.

Private providers could tie up with the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s officials toactively enrich the pilgrims’ experience. The limitation of the current research is thatthe sample size is small and too concentrated in the areas of Delhi and Gurgaon.A larger study could be undertaken to capture the experiences of visitors from all overthe country and additionally, international tourists.

References

Anckar, B. and Walden, B. (2001), “Introducing web technology in a small peripheral hospitalityorganization”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 13No. 5, pp. 241-50.

Anigan, G. (1999), “Views on electronic commerce”, International Trade Forum, No. 2, pp. 23-7.

Bywater, M. (1994), “Religious travel in Europe”, Travel and Tourism Analyst, No. 2, pp. 39-52.

Gammack, J. (2004), Development Needs of Small to Medium Size Tourism Business, School ofManagement Griffith, Business School Griffith University, Nathan.

Gupta, S., Lal, K. and Bhattacharya, M. (2002), Cultural Tourism in India, Indraprashtha Museumof Art & Technology, New Delhi.

Gupta, V. (1999), “Sustainable tourism: learning from Indian religious traditions”, InternationalJournal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 11 Nos 2/3, p. 91.

Internet World Stats (2010), “Internet world stats: usage and population statistics (Asia)”,available at: www.internetworldstats.com/asia.htm#in (accessed 20 April 2010).

Jackowski, A. (2000), “Religious tourism: problems with terminology”, in Jackowski, A. (Ed.),Peregrinus Cracoviensis, Institute of Geography, Jagiellonian University, Krakow.

Jackowski, A. and Smith, V.L. (1992), “Polish pilgrim tourists”, Annals of Tourism Research,Vol. 19, pp. 92-106.

Kamra, K. (1997), Tourism: Theory, Planning and Practice, Indus, New Delhi.

Lloyd, D.W. (1998), Battlefeild Tourism, Berg, New York, NY.

Macklin, B. (2007), “Worldwide internet users: 2005-2011”, eMarketer Reports.

Preston, J.J. (1992), “Spiritual magnetism: an organizing principle for the study of pilgrimage”,in Morinis, A. (Ed.), Sacred Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Greenwood,Westport, CT.

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Seth, R. (2005), Tourism in India: An Overview, Kalpaz, Delhi.

Sharpley, R. and Sundaram, P. (2005), “Tourism: a sacred journey? The case of Ashram Tourism,India”, International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 7, pp. 161-71.

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (2010), available at: www.maavaishnodevi.org/introduction1.asp; www.maavaishnodevi.org/help_desk_ystats.asp (accessed 25 May 2010).

Smith, V. (1989), Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism, 2nd ed., University ofPennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA.

Smith, V.L. (1992), “Introduction – the quest in guest”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 19,pp. 1-17.

Vukonic, B. (1996), Tourism and Religion, Elsevier Science, Oxford, translated by Sanja Matesic.

Vukonic, B. (1998), “Religious tourism: economic value or an empty box?”, Zagreb InternationalReview of Economics and Business, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 83-94.

Xinran, L., Dae-Yong, K. and Alastair, M. (2006), “The effect of prior destination experience ononline information search behavior”, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 6 No. 2,pp. 160-78.

Zelenka, J. (2009), “Information and communication technologies in tourism – influence,dynamics, trends”, Ekonomie a Management, p. 1.

Further reading

Kelly, J.R. (1982), Leisure, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Singh, S. (2005), “Secular pilgrimages and sacred tourism in the Indian Himalayas”, Geo Journal,Vol. 64, pp. 215-23.

Corresponding authorKanika Gupta can be contacted at: [email protected]

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Does self-service technologyimpact destination imageand customer delight?

R. LakshmiVIT Business School, VIT University, Vellore, India, and

P. GanesanSchool of Finance and Banking, Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study customer delight in tourism as influenced bydestination image and perceived value, in the context of Tirupati Thirumala Balaji Devasthanam, themost visited temple in the world. Further, the role of self-service technology in enhancing destinationimage is also discussed.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a causal research design and convenientsampling techniques. The target population of this study is the visitors who visited Thirumala templeduring the past year. A self-administered questionnaire including both structured and open-endedquestions and interviews schedules were employed. Factor and regression analysis have been used toexplore the tourist’s attitude towards self-service technology interfaces, in the context of ThirumalaThirupathi Devasthanam (TTD).

Findings – The self-service technology channels such as the web site and the television channel hadan impact on the customer delight element and these online channels need to be explored and utilizedto create a superior experience.

Practical implications – The information obtained will help policy makers to design a morecomprehensive marketing mix, to enhance tourist experience. Moreover, the role of technology in thefield of tourism will provide valuable insights as to how best to reach the target audience.

Originality/value – Very few studies have explored destination image, customer delight, valuedimensionality as well as SST interventions-destination image in a tourism context.

Keywords Self-service, Communication technologies, Customer satisfaction, Tourism, Religion, India


Glossary (citation from Wikipedia)

Tirupati Tirumala Balaji Devasthanam Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams also referredas TTD is an independent trust which managesthe Tirumala Venkateswara Temple atTirumala, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple Tirumala Venkateswara is a famous Hindutemple of Lord Vishnu. It is located in the hilltown of Thriumala, Andhra Pradesh, India. Thetemple is situated on Venkatadri, one of theseven hills of Tirumala, and hence is also knownas the Temple of Seven Hills.



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Lord Venkateshwara Venkateshwara means the Lord who destroysthe sins of the people. According to the Hinduscriptures, Vishnu, out of love towards hisdevotees, incarnated as Venkateshwara andappeared for the salvation and uplifting ofhumanity.

Darsan Darsana (Darshan, is a Sanskrit term meaning“sight” (in the sense of an instance of seeing orbeholding, vision, apparition, or glimpse. Thereare two major kinds of darshan at the Thirumalatemple: Dharma Darshanam – free darshan,paid darshan (Sudarshanam).

Karma Dosham Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning action, effect,destiny. In Indian beliefs, the karmic effects ofall deeds are viewed as actively shaping past,present, and future experiences. Dosha – thisSanskrit word meaning is unfavourable, notgood, etc. Karma dosham means something badoccurring due to the result of negative actions.

Sevas Seva refers to: volunteer work; selfless service;work offered to God (in Indian religions).Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams organizesthree kinds of sevas, namely Daily seva,weekly seva and annual seva. Arjitha Sevameans performing seva to the Lord on paymentof a fee to the temple.

Pooja Pooja is the ceremonial act of showing reverenceto a God or Goddess through invocation, prayer,song, and ritual.

IntroductionThe year 2010 has been designated by the World Religious Travel Association (WRTA)as “The Year of Travel Ministry” with one of its objective being to endorse and enhanceknowledge regarding the devotion-based retreat opportunities available across theglobe. This throws light on the fact that religious or spiritual tourism is being acceptedas a major economic contributor in the travel industry, with a predicted continuous andexplosive expansion in the coming years. Wright (2007) has pointed out in his studythat, according to WRTA, over three hundred million travelers undertook journeys tosacred places in the year 2007. The size of the industry is estimated by WRTA at $18billion.

In the Indian scenario, which is known globally for its rich culture and heritage,tourism industry is the third largest net earner of foreign exchange. The industry alsohas the distinction of being one of the sectors utilizing the largest number of humanresources. By 2020, it is projected that tourism sector will contribute 8.5 crore in grossdomestic product to the Indian economy. Even when Indian tourism industry was

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adversely affected by global recession in 2009, the sector could count on visitorsinterested in faith tourism. The key rationale for this was that travelling was not seen asan extravagance but a necessity. According to industry experts, the development ofreligious tourism sector in India has been growing at 10-15 percent, with a lot ofuntapped potential.

Timothy and Boyd (2006) note in their study of religious tourism that it is the oldestand one of the most significant categories of tourism. Jansen and Kuhl (2008) alsoacknowledged the significance of religious places in attracting travelers. However,according to Digance (2003), there is a lack of research in this area, which helps ineffectively designing and marketing religious experiences.

The relationship between religion and tourism is one that sparks healthy tensions,therefore, an appreciation of the objectives and operating practices of both contexts canbe of mutual benefit. The competitiveness and attractiveness of the destinations can beenhanced as a result of such an understanding. The World Tourism Organization(1996) identifies tourism as one of the world’s most durable and dynamic economicsectors. The global travel industry acknowledges that today, tourists are seekingunique and different experiences. It needs to be noted that there is a dramatic change inthe purchasing and spending behavior of pilgrims as identified by Wright (2007) andBar and Cohen-Hattab (2003). Despite the fact that conventional tourists still hold sway,there is an emergence of new age tourists who are seeking first-class, value-addedservices.

Cohen (1998) highlighted a significant difference among tourists and pilgrims –although they visit the same place, the reason for the visit will be different for eachgroup. While pilgrims wish to worship, the tourist perceive it to be a tourist spot. Thisdistinction has been reiterated by Shackley (2001) and Shoval (2000) in their laterstudies. Travelers visiting sacred places have been classified into five general types,namely; pious pilgrims, pilgrim-tourists or religious tourists, more tourist than pilgrimand secular tourists based on the models developed by Adler (1989), Smith (1992), andCollins-Kreiner and Kliot (2000).

Religious Tourism nowadays is considered as a common motivation for travel.Jackowski (2000) points out that religious tourism is a common motivation for traveland states that nearly two hundred and forty million people travel every year in thisregard. However, the organization and administration of spiritual or sacred spots havenot been investigated in a systematic manner (Shackley, 2001, 2003). This leads toimproper management of resources, and can result in overcrowding, lack of properservices and infrastructure, and poor experience for the tourist (Woodward, 2004).

According to Werthner and Klein (1999), Sheldon (1997), Bebko (2000), and Bowenand Clarke (2002) the heterogeneity, intangibility, and perishability of the tourismservices make them very information intensive and it is also acknowledged as one ofthe most important quality parameters for efficient service delivery (Schertler, 1994).

Murray (1991) stated that tourists seek information from several sources to reduceuncertainty associated with the destination. It also helps them to formulate a realisticexpectation. Service providers need to understand that external communication isviewed by the tourist as an explicit experience promise. Word-of-mouth communicationalso influences the service expectations of a tourist (Clow et al., 1997; Hoffman andBateson, 1997; Dion et al., 1998; Fache, 2000; Kalamas et al., 2002).

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This study reviews the efficacy of information provided by a self-help technologyinterface in enhancing destination image among the public. The study was carried outin the context of Thirumala Devasthanam as it employs multichannel strategies toreach its target audience (i.e. web site, information desks all across India and atelevision channel). The influence of a self-service technology (SST) interface inenhancing perceived value and customer delight as it relates to Thirumala’s web siteand private television channel is also discussed.

The Sri Venkateswara temple at Thirumala, Andhra Pradesh, is one of the mostpopular and prosperous temples in India, with a 1,900-year-old cultural heritage. Thetemple has been aptly called as “Vatican of the East”, drawing on a daily basis traffic of50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims seeking darsan of Lord Venkateshwara. The Andra Pradeshtourism department is developing the temple trail of Tirupathi and adjoining areas withan investment of US$9.5 million, highlighting the importance given to spiritual tourism.

This paper is structured in three parts. The subsequent segment is a review of theliterature on destination image, SST, perceived value, and customer delight.The succeeding section, after formulating hypotheses, describes the methodology ofthe study and the results it has generated. The concluding section talks about the majorfindings and inferences.

Literature reviewDestination imageCrompton (1979) had defined destination image as an “attitudinal concept of the sum ofbeliefs, ideas and impressions that a tourist holds of a destination”. Studies by Lawsonand Band-Bovy (1977), Gartner (1993), Dann (1996), Baloglu and Brinberg (1997),Baloglu and McCleary (1999), and Hosany et al. (2006), observe that destination imageconsist of two dimensions: cognitive (beliefs and knowledge about physical attributesof a destination) and affective (feelings towards the attributes and environments)components. Consistent with these definitions, research work on affective qualities ofdestination image focuses on emotional responses to ecological and place attributes,while studies on cognitive quality have focused on the evaluation of physical feauturesof destinations. Studies encompassing both the dimensions in measuring destinationimage were carried out by Baloglu (2001), Baloglu and McCleary (1999), Chen and Uysal(2002), Kim and Richardson (2003), Pike and Ryan (2004), and Beerli and Martin (2004),giving a better understanding of the same.

The studies by Pearce (1982), Woodside and Lysonski (1989), and Milman and Pizam(1995) indicate that the success of a tourism destination is influenced by the image of adestination. In tourism, it has been found that developing the right image for adestination leads to realistic expectations and in turn, these go a long way in satisfyingvisitors (Seaton, 1997; Morgan and Pritchard, 1998; Bigne et al., 2001). The importanceof employing destination image in endorsing a tourist location cannot be overlooked(Baloglu, 1996; Tapachai and Waryszak, 2000), as the image significantly influencetourists in taking decisions as noted by Guthrie and Gale (1991) and Jenkins (1999).Thus, it has been pointed out by Bigne et al. (2001) that destination image plays apivotal role in influencing choice process, evaluation of the said destination and futureintentions of a tourist.

In facilitating formation of destination image, tourists depend on a variety ofinformation sources as observed by Fodness and Murray (1997, 1999), Klenosky and


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Gitelson (1998), Vogt and Fesenmaier (1998), Smith and Gregory (2000), Sung et al.(2000), Stefanou (2000), and Markwick (2001). Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001) note thatthe availability of the types of information sources will be influenced by a tourist’sdestination image. Travel guides, newspapers, travel agents, magazines, friends,relatives, postcards, and personal experiences (among others) were found to contributeto a tourist’s perception of a destination. Gursoy and Umbreit (2004) and Bieger andLaesser (2004) reported that diverse information sources are used in evaluatingdestinations by tourists coming from different cultural backgrounds.

SST interface acting as an information sourceSSTs are “technological interfaces that enable customers to produce a serviceindependent of direct service employee involvement” (Meuter et al., 2000). They also listout the various types of SST interfaces that are adapted by organizations liketelephone-based technologies, interactive voice response systems, direct online orinternet-based interfaces, interactive freestanding kiosks, and video or compact disctechnologies which are employed as a major or alternative channel for interaction.A contribution of the study carried out by Meuter et al. (2000) was in its exploration of awide range of SSTs and classifying according to purpose into customer service, directtransactions, and self-help categories.

Internet has been accepted as providing a wider variety of self-service possibilities(Yen, 2005) and it provides a more beneficial option to consumers. Self help in terms ofinformation search, customer service, and transactions are all possible using internetSST. When the internet is employed as an information source, Bonn et al. (1999), hasstated that it is noticeably different from other resources with regard to its advantage inproviding real-time information, accessibility, convenience in updating, and interactivecommunications. Alba et al. (1997) has described the information quality as the extentto which consumers are proficient in using the information obtained to envisage theirsatisfaction from ensuing consumption. Searching for information requires energy andtime and so users focus their efforts on sourcing information that they consider to beuseful and valuable (Chen and Dubinsky, 2003; Hauser and Wernerfelt, 1990).Experienced internet users can quickly determine which information channels willyield the best information. Furthermore, it has been noted in studies by Kaplanidou andVogt (2006) and Castaneda et al. (2007) that decisions taken by tourists are influencedby the use of the internet and this information source has a significant impact on theirtravel intentions and post journey satisfaction.

As with any other service, information is viewed as one of the most vital parametersof customer service. Attention has been drawn to the role of the internet in influencingtourist image formation. Frias et al. (2008) state that when tourists utilize both a travelagency and the internet, the perception of destination image is of poorer quality thanwhen they use a travel agency alone. However, this has been moderated by the degree ofa tourist’s experience with the internet as well as his or her involvement with themessage. Other related studies by Kaplanidou and Vogt (2006), Gursoy and McCleary(2004), and Castaneda et al. (2007) also point out that internet usage influences decisionof tourists relating to their travel intention.

According to Zhou (2004), endorsing travel and tourism which is based on therecollections and experiences of a tourist is an extremely complex procedure, due to itshighly intangible nature. However, employing visual images can help in a better

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representation of service attributes (Clow et al., 2006) and so a dedicated televisionchannel telecasting various happenings in Thirumala Devasthanam may assist in thepromotion of Thirupathi region and Thirumala temple in particular. Further, as pointedout by Moutinho (1984), and quoted in the study of Obenour et al. (2004); the decisionmaking process of a tourist is greatly influenced by public image, and this can be madepossible when large-scale awareness is created. Similarly, Brown and Singhal (1993)argue that with rapid diffusion of cable television and use of video, there will be anincrease in the influence of television programs and films in terms of shaping theattitude and behavior of the individual as well as society as a whole.

Kim and Richardson (2003) and Butler (1990) also note that information provided byprogrammes aired in television and movies are assessed by the public as arecomparatively unprejudiced and objective when evaluated against conventionaladvertising. The accessibility issue of these information sources also acts as a majorfactor in its influence on destination image.

Perceived valueBehavioral intention of customers is assumed to be influenced directly and indirectly byperceived value (Zeithaml, 1988; Bolton and Drew, 1991). Liu et al. (2005), Lam et al.(2004), Yang and Peterson (2004), and McDougall and Levesque (2000) state thatperceived value has a positive influence on customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is treatedas the outcome of the customer’s perception of the value received in a transaction.

In a tourism context, customer value has been researched by Jayanti and Ghosh(1996).

Bojanic (1996) and Pechlaner et al. (2002) observe that the concept of value plays acrucial role in gaining competitive advantage. The study by Petrick et al. (2001) andBolton and Drew (1991) showed that an intention to revisit a destination is affected byperceived value. Taking into account the growing importance of technology,Parasuraman and Grewal (2000) believe that there is a need to better understand thecreation of value in such contexts. They are of the opinion that the value perceived byan empowered customer is quite different from traditional service encounters.

Customer delightAccording to Schneider and Bowen (1999) if a service provider fulfills the basiccustomer need for self esteem, it can result in customer delight. Schneider and Bowen(1999) and Schlossberg (1993) have stated that customer delight is the consumer’semotional response to experience which is crucial in affecting future behavioralintentions.

Keinningham et al. (1999) argue that by exceeding the upper thresholds of a “zone oftolerance” the customer experiences “delight”. Paul (2000) observes that customerdelight will in turn, generate positive word of mouth. Kumar et al.’s (2001) studysuggests that customer delight can occur without the element of surprise; but typicallyencompasses joy, exhilaration, thrill, and exuberance in varying degrees.

Fin (2006) points out that disparity in behavioral intentions of customers withsimilar satisfaction levels can be explained by employing customer delight.

Studies that examine the destination image and satisfaction link have describedimage as a precursor to satisfaction (Ball et al., 2004); while works by Johnson et al.(2001) reveal that it as a consequence to satisfaction.


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Proposed hypothesesBased on the review of literature, the following model and hypotheses are proposed(Figure 1):

H1. SST interfaces have a significant influence on the visitor’s delight.

H2. Perceived value of the SST interfaces has a significant influence on thevisitor’s delight.

Research methodologyThe study was carried out in Thirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD), TTD centreand nearby places in Vellore, Tamil Nadu with a sample size of 125 respondents, ofwhich 112 usable responses were included. The study uses a structured questionnaire,which had been developed to measure the perceived destination image of Thirumala,the influence of SST interfaces on destination image, the perceived value and thecustomer delight dimensions. The respondents were asked to answer the questionsbased on their experience with the Thirumala web site, Thirumala’s private televisionchannel (TTD Bhakti channel), and also to provide their socio-demographic profile. Afive point Likert scale was used wherever applicable.

The questionnaire was pre-tested and alterations were made to the questions as andwhen statements were not clearly understood. Convenience sampling was employed toovercome the limitation of time and budgetary constraints.

Data and profileThe questionnaire was used both as a self-administered instrument as well as aninterview schedule with respondents who were not fluent in the English language.The survey was administered to respondents above the age of f15 who has visited TTDwithin a period of one year. This was emphasized during data collection, specificallyfrom respondents in Vellore region. Out of a total of 112 usable responses, nearly71 percent of the respondents were males.

The age profile showed that the majority belonged to the age group between 22 and35 years of age, consisting of 57 percent of the total sample size. The educational profileindicates that 47 percent of the respondents possess a post graduate qualification and19 percent had professional qualification. Nearly, 51 percent of the respondents areworking either in the private or public sector and 22 percent were students.The statistics indicates that nearly 60 percent of respondents travel with their familyand children and 12 percent travel with their friends. For 90 percent of the respondents,

Figure 1.Proposed model for study Perceived value Customer delight

Destination image

Self-service technologyinterface

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Thirumala temple is their main destination; while some visit the temple when theyvisit Kalahasthi, a nearby temple, famous for its “Rahu” pooja. A majority of therespondents had visited the temple more than five times (Table I).

Results and discussionsThe study has the following findings.

Destination image of Thirumala as perceived by the pilgrimsThe principal component analysis (PCA) extracted four factors, through the varimaxrotation method. The extracted factors accounted for 60.02 percent of the variance,thereby indicating that the variables are vital in understanding the destination image ofTTD. This classification of factors is in line with the psychological and functionalcharacteristics as envisaged by Martineau (1958):

Factor 1. Functional image attributes indicates transportation, accommodation,and infrastructure facilities, shopping, safe environment and these itemsexplain 18.822 percent of the variance. The internal consistency value is0.797, which exceeds the suggested level value. The mean score of 3.79 ofthe variables explaining destination image demonstrate that people dogave importance to these factors, but not significantly so.

Factor 2. Psychological holistic images indicates a great place for refreshing the soul,spiritual rejuvenation, divine atmosphere, and a re-energizing retreatfrom routine life; and the items explain 14.912 percent of the variance.The internal consistency value (0.778) exceeds the suggested level value.

Indicators Frequency Percentage

GenderMale 79 70.5Female 33 29.5Age15-20 6 5.422-35 64 57.136-50 29 25.951-65 12 10.765 and above 1 0.9Educational qualificationProfessional 19 17.0Post graduation 47 42.0Graduation 30 26.8Predegree 8 7.1High school 7 6.3OccupationSelf employed 9 8.0Government/private official 58 51.8Business 8 7.1House wife 4 3.6Student 25 22.3

Table I.Demographic profile


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The mean score of 4.36 of the variables explaining destination imagedemonstrates that people attributed very high importance to these factors.

Factor 3. Functional holistic images indicates distinctive history and heritage,breathtaking scenery and natural attractions, fabulous scenic drive, andclean environment and the items explain 13.648 percent of the variance.The internal consistency value (0.664) exceeds the suggested level value.The mean score of 4.16 of the variables explains the destination image anddemonstrates that people give very high importance to these factors also.

Factor 4. Psychological image attributes indicates pleasant weather, friendly andhelpful staff, etc. and these items explain 12.639 percent of the variance. Theinternal consistency value is 0.584. The mean score of 3.89 of the variablesexplaining destination image demonstrate that the people do not give asmuch importance as the holistic factors.

When we consider all the four factors, the mean score of .4 but ,4.5 is displayedby two factors constituting holistic dimensions, giving a clear suggestion concerningthe perception of public regarding the destination image of TTD. The public perceiveTTD as a place for spiritual rejuvenation, a thought echoed by people across all agesand gender. The majority of respondents visiting Thirumala believe that Thirumalatemple provides peace of mind and they feel spiritually rejuvenated by their experiencethere.

The other two factors show a mean score of ,4 but .3.5. However, these factorsalso need to be looked into when we are trying to enhance the reach of Thirumalatemple to a wider and more discerning audience. According to a study carried out byBagri (2002) in the context of tourism in the Himalayan region, tourists werecategorized into religious tourists, pleasure tourists and special interest tourists ornature lovers. Similarly, Thirupathi also has a tremendous potential to cater to all thethree segments and religious tourism can be combined judiciously to create specialpackages, thereby attracting a wider segment of tourists. When visitors combine theirtrip to Thirumala with other places of interest, it may also help in balancing the highervolume of visitors at some sites and the relatively lower levels elsewhere, therebyproviding the visitors with a more enriching experience.

Primary purpose or motivation to travel to Thirumala DevasthanamAn overwhelming majority of 93 percent of the sample said that the motivation for theirvisit to TTD is spiritual or religious in nature. This information was gathered via anopen ended question and the answers varied from “darsan” to offering and forspiritual purposes. Thus, the majority of people visiting Thirumala can be classified aspious pilgrims, who are deeply motivated by their religious beliefs, as denoted bySmith (1992). They undertake a spiritual journey by showing their love and respectto the divine force and to express their gratitude, to be relieved from sins or“karma” dosham or to request divine intervention. This finding goes against thestatement of Post et al. (1998), who stated that young pilgrims undertake religiousjourney for amusement and also to meet others (Table II).

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Level of importance among the various information sourcesThe level of importance regarding the information sources which influencea pilgrim/visitor in shaping impressions about Thirumala temple are discussed below.

The mean score of .3.5 but ,4.5 of the information sources, illustrates that thefollowing, namely; family members, friends, and information desks emerged aswielding the highest persuasive power. The mean score of .3 but ,3.5 for ThirumalaDevasthanam’s web site, and television channel, showed that these information sourcesare of a lower level of importance in the respondent’s eyes. The information sources liketravel agents, travel guides, tour operators, travel blogs, articles, movies, andadvertisements had a very low score between 2 and 2.5, showing they do not make adifference to the visitor’s impressions on Thirumala temple.

The implication of the above findings is that positive word of mouth plays a veryimportant role in enhancing destination image. People are thrilled when they listen tothe experiences of others – regarding their trip to Thirumala temple, and darsan andwant to experience the same. The majority are also mentally prepared to undergo thedifficulties they face during the pilgrimage, considering it as a way of absolving theirsins and attaining spiritual happiness. Family members act as the most vitalinformation source and people visit Thirumala because it is something like a familytradition and needs to be followed. For them they share their joy and sorrows with LordVenkateshwara, just as they would with their dear ones. A study by Keller (2007)established that 17 percent word of mouth conversations happen during telephonicinteractions, 10 percent is online and 76 percent of discussions still occur on aface-to-face basis.

There may be a problem in that sections of the public are not aware of the TTD website and television channel, as a means of accessing information, and it may therebyexplain why it is viewed as of lesser importance. It can also be that it is usually the firsttime traveler who searches for information extensively before deciding on a destination.In fact, the majority of the study sample had visited the temple on more than twoprevious occasions.

These information sources have scope for improvement, if the awareness level iscreated among all the public, the benefits of incorporating a technology interface in aspiritual context can be highlighted (Table III).

Motivation Frequency Percentage

Offering 8 7.1Darshan 25 22.3Worship/pray/blessing 32 28.6Tourism/picnic 6 5.4Peace/refresh 11 9.8Belief 2 1.8Spiritual 7 6.3Heritage 1 0.9Devotee 3 2.7Thankful to God 1 0.9Personal 2 1.8

Table II.Motivation to visitThirumala temple


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Level of agreement with the information provided by SST interface (ThirumalaDevasthanam web site)The PCA extracted two factors, through the varimax rotation method. The extractedfactors accounted for 57.81 percent of the variance, thereby clearly indicating that thevariables are vital in understanding the use of the web site as an information source:

Factor 1. Location specific information specifies information regarding the historyof the place, darshan, accommodation, booking and transportationfacilities, various “sevas” and festivals conducted at the temple, andresource person details. The scaled items explain 37.626 percent of thevariance. The internal consistency value is 0.83 which exceeds thesuggested level value. The mean score of 3.92 shows that these factors are ofa very high order.

Factor 2. Miscellaneous information indicates information pertaining to nearbyspiritual locations, shopping and the scaled items explain 20.185 of variance.The internal consistency value is 0.512. The mean score of 3.39 shows thatthese factors are not perceived as important by the web site users.

Information sourceExtremelyimportant Important Neutral

Somewhatimportant

Not at allimportant

Travel agentsmean: 2.34/SD: 1.40

11 (9.8) 19 (17.0) 22 (19.6) 17 (15.2) 40 (35.7)

Brochuresmean: 2.49/SD: 1.39

31 (27.7) 39 (34.8) 19 (17.0) 11 (9.8) 9 (8.0)

FriendsMean: 3.66/SD: 1.23

60 (53.6) 26 (23.2) 15 (13.4) 5 (4.5) 3 (2.7)

Family membersmean: 4.24/SD:1.04

31 (27.7) 31 (27.7) 16 (14.3) 9 (8) 21 (18.8)

Thirumala Devasthanam’sown websitemean: 3.34/SD:1.47

27 (24.1) 33 (29.5) 26 (23.2) 8 (7.1) 14 (12.5)

Thirumala Devasthanam’stelevision channelmean:3.47/SD:1.30

32 (28.6) 40 (35.7) 17 (15.2) 7 (6.3) 12 (10.7)

Thirumala Devasthanam’sinformation deskmean: 3.68/SD:1.27

10 (8.9) 16 (14.3) 23 (20.5) 12 (10.7) 48 (42.9)

Tour operatormean:2.42/SD:1.37

10 (8.9) 15 (13.4) 26 (23.2) 15 (13.4) 41 (36.6)

Other internet sitesmean: 2.22/SD:1.34

7 (6.3) 6 (5.4) 19 (17.0) 10 (8.9) 35 (31.3)

Travel blogsmean: 2.34/SD:1.33

6 (5.4) 19 (17.0) 23 (20.5) 14 (12.5) 43 (38.4)

Articles/newsmean: 2.43/SD:1.39

8 (7.1) 21 (18.8) 21 (18.8) 13 (11.6) 42 (37.5)

Moviesmean: 2.19/SD:1.22

5 (4.5) 12 (10.7) 23 (20.5) 22 (19.6) 42 (37.5)

Advertisementsmean: 2.31/SD:1.33

7 (6.3) 16 (14.3) 23 (20.5) 16 (14.3) 43 (38.4)Table III.Information sources –level of importance

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Level of agreement with the information provided by SST interface (ThirumalaDevasthanam Bhakthi channel)The PCA extracted two factors, through the varimax rotation method. The extractedfactors accounted for 87.21 percent of the variance, thereby clearly indicating that thevariables are vital in understanding the use of the television channel as an informationsource:

Factor 1. Religious information programs specifies telecasting of various sevasand festivals at the Thirumala temple and spiritual significance ofThirumala Devasthanam and the scaled items explain 44.02 percent ofthe variance. The internal consistency value is 0.861, which exceeds thesuggested level value. The mean score of 3.96 illustrates that thesefactors are of a higher order.

Factor 2. Miscellaneous information programs specifies telecasting the details ofvarious resource persons related with Thirumala Devasthanam andnearby spiritual and tourist locations and the scaled items explain 43.19percent of the variance. The internal consistency value is 0.835, whichexceeds the suggested level value. The mean score of 3.55 illustrates thatthese factors are also of a higher order.

Relation between SST interface, perceived value, and customer delightEach of the SST interfaces was regressed with the dependent variable, customerdelight. In the case of the web site interface, The R 2 value was 0.439, which means that43.9 percent of the total variance in customer delight can be explained by theinformation provided by the self-service interface. The F-ratio was 34.791, which wassignificant at p , 0.000. The beta value of Factor 1 – location specific information(B ¼ 0.554) was the most vital factor that affected tourist delight, followed by Factor 2– miscellaneous information (B ¼ 0.361) (Table IV).

In the case of the television channel interface, The R 2 value was 0.361, which meansthat 36.1 percent of the total variance in customer delight can be explained by theinformation provided by this specific self-service interface. The F-ratio was 27.952,which was significant at p , 0.000.The b value of Factor 1 – religious information

Model

Unstandardisedcoeffecients

B SE

Standardisedcoeffecients

B

tLowerbound

Sig.Upperbound

Constant 3.467 0.098 35.519 0.000REGR factor score 1(web site)

0.684 0.098 0.554 6.979 0.000

REGR factor score 2 0.441 0.097 0.361 4.547 0.000R 2 0.439Adjusted R 2 0.426SE of the estimate 0.93608F-value 34.791 *

Notes: *0.000 level of significance; dependent variable: customer delight – web site

Table IV.Relation: self-service

interface (web site) andcustomer delight


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programs (B ¼ 0.562) was the most vital factor that affected tourist delight, followed byFactor 2 – miscellaneous information programs (B ¼ 0.213) (Table V).

Thus, H1 was accepted which stated that SST interfaces have a significant influenceon the visitor’s delight.

When using SST interfaces, service providers have to give the most attentionand importance to providing information about the location. For the televisionchannel, the audience enjoys watching what is happening at TTD in termsof the various poojas offered. When people watch it, they feel a part of theexperience.

The perceived value of the self service interface was regressed with the dependentvariable, customer delight. The R 2 value was 0.637, which means that 63.7 percentof the total variance in customer delight can be explained by the perceived value thatthe respondent felt towards the TTD web site, one of the SST interfaces used in thestudy. The F-ratio was 77.311 was significant at p , 0.000 which indicated that theresults were significant (Table VI).

In the case of the television channel, The R 2 value was 0.527, which means that52.7 percent of the total variance in customer delight can be explained by the perceivedvalue that the respondent felt towards the TTD television channel. The F-ratio was111.32 was significant at p , 0.000 which indicated that the results were significant(Table VII).

It can be inferred that perceived value has a significant influence on tourist delight.Thus, H2 is accepted, and therefore, measures to improve perceived value of theself-service interface needs to be taken care of.

Managerial implicationsFrom being a niche market driven chiefly by people of older age and budgetpilgrimages, faith tourism has progressed into an immense and vibrant industryencompassing tourists of all ages looking for different choices and quality travelexperiences (WRTA, 2007).

There is general acceptance that with the rapid advancement of technology,the tourism industry is also embracing information and communication systems to agreater extent. Tourism is an information intensive industry. According to Zafiropoulosand Vrana (2006), the internet has an immense impact on the tourism industry.

Model


B SE


B

tLowerbound

Sig.Upperbound

Constant 3.892 0.086 45.074 0.000REGR factor score 1 (TV) 0.606 0.087 0.562 6.989 0.000REGR factor score 2 0.231 0.087 0.213 2.656 0.009R 2 0.361Adjusted R 2 0.348SE of the estimate 0.87210F-value 27.952 *

Notes: *0.000 level of significance; dependent variable: customer delight – TV channel

Table V.Relation: self-serviceinterface (TV channel)and customer delight

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It can offer customized content to users according to their individual preferences(Newhagen and Rafaeli, 1996).

This study sought to review the outcomes of SST interfaces – especially a privatetelevision channel and internet with special reference to TTD. From an academic viewpoint, this inquiry presents an insight into hitherto unexplored relationships, in thecontext of religious tourist delight. From a professional point of view, the objective ofthe study was to help clarify how the tourist’s perception of the information obtainedfrom the self-service interface affects customer delight with regard to the selecteddestination.

Therefore, it is imperative to discern how the tourist analyses the various channelsof interface and what precisely they search for. It is very important to assess theinformation channel choice of customers as it helps in formulating an effective andefficient channel design; resource allocation across channels, and in identifying the bestchannels to reach prospective visitors. This in turn helps decision-makers to design amore efficient communication mix.

Studies have established that destinations employing information technologiesintensively have immense competitive benefit and, therefore, faith tourism also needs tomake use of this advantage.

Model


B SE


B

tLowerbound

Sig.Upperbound

Constant 0.965 0.287 3.360 0.001Perceived value 0.746 0.071 0.726 10.550 0.000R 2 0.527Adjusted R 2 0.522SE of the estimate 0.74688F-value 111.32 *

Notes: *0.000 level of significance; dependent variable: customer delight – TV channel

Table VII.Relation: perceived value

of self-service interface(TV channel) andcustomer delight

Model


B SE


B

tLowerbound

Sig.Upperbound

Constant 0.047 0.298 0.158 0.875

Perceived value (WS) 0.365 0.097 0.319 3.757 0.000

Perceived value (WS) 0.559 0.086 0.552 6.497 0.000

R 2 0.637

Adjusted R 2 0.629

SE of the estimate 0.75039

F-value 77.311 *

Notes: *0.000 level of significance; dependent variable: customer delight (WS)

Table VI.Relation: perceived value

of self-service interface(web site) and customer

delight


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LimitationsThe lack of references concerning religious tourism (Collins-Kreiner; 2006; Vukonic,1996) can be considered as one limitation of the study and the small sample size isanother limitation. Undertaking a qualitative study may have given a much betterpicture regarding the perception of people visiting Thirumala Devasthanam. However,for the purposes of this study, the internet was considered solely as a resource of touristinformation rather than as a medium for the purchase of religious services.

References

Bagri, S.C. (2002), Issues and Trends in Tourism Management, Himalayan Ecotourism Society,Srinagar.

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Further reading

Gartner, W.C. and Shen, J. (1992), “The impact of Tiananmen Square on China’s tourism image”,Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 47-52.

Kaplanidou and Vogt Kaplanidou, K. and Vogt, C. (2007), “The interrelationship between sportevent and destination image and sport tourist’s behaviours”, Journal of Sport Tourism,Vol. 12 Nos 3-4, pp. 183-206.

Levitt, T. (1981), “Marketing intangible products and product intangibles”, Harvard BusinessReview, May-June, pp. 95-102.

Schofield, P. (1996), “Cinematographic images of a city”, Tourism Management, Vol. 17,pp. 333-40.

Schroeder, T. (1996), “The relationship of residents’ image of their state as a tourist destinationand their support for tourism”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 71-3.

Corresponding authorR. Lakshmi can be contacted at: [email protected]

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Confluence of technologyand commercial factors at

ISKCON templeReflections on customer experience

Meghna Rishi, Anjana Singh and Rati ShuklaInstitute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, India

Abstract

Purpose – As there has been no research about specific Indian temples, the aim of this paper is toexplore the role of technology and commercial factors at ISKCON temple in the National CapitalRegion, in enhancing the tourists’ experience. ISKCON temple, New Delhi, has been the pioneer inimplementing technology as a tool for augmenting spirituality and Krishna consciousness amongstvisitors but it has been unable to excel in the same. Along with technology, various commercialaspects are also exclusively operative at the temple. This paper highlights the confluence oftechnology and commercial elements at the temple and their role in creating a satisfying visitorexperience. The paper recommends changes that will help the temple’s policy makers/management indeveloping superlative tourist experiences.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores a strategic question by interacting with thekey stakeholders. More specifically, interviews with policy makers, temple committee members anddevotees, have been conducted along with a questionnaire which has led to data collection from thecustomers.

Findings – Identified gaps in the technology and commercial factors that are currently in place atthe ISKCON temple. A customer survey highlights key expectations of visitors, bringing out thesatisfaction level of the visitors with their integrated experience at the ISKCON temple, New Delhi.

Practical implications – ISKCON temple attracts global tourists giving it a cosmopolitan nature.This research paper creates awareness amongst all the policy makers and temple management aboutways to craft an outstanding as well as magnetizing experience for the visitors.

Originality/value – India has a legacy of spiritual destinations that have been attractinginternational and domestic tourists. In the light of this fact, it becomes critical to identify the factorsand elements that enhance the cultural, spiritual as well as overall customer experience at thesereligious destinations.

Keywords Tourism, Religion, Customer satisfaction, Communication technologies,Commercial services, India


Glossary

Akshardham Temple Temple in New Delhi devoted to Lord Swaminarayana,showcasing Indian culture, grandeur and bliss.

Bhajan-Kirtan A bhajan or kirtan is a Hindu devotional song that praisesthe Lord.

Bhagwad Gita India’s religious scripture that features the preaching of LordKrishna.

Bhakti Yoga Activities centered around expressing devotion to God.



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Vol. 2 No. 5, 2010pp. 539-553


DOI 10.1108/17554211011090148

Gaura-Nitai Indian deities of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda.

Good Karma Karma is simply the process of cause and effect. Karma refers toDeeds that a human soul performs in his lifetime. Indianideologies propagate that Good Deeds or Good Karma ofcurrent life have a positive effect on the future life of the soul.We therefore create future (good) karma continually with everythought and action.

“Hare Krishna Sect” A sect of Hinduism devoted to the worship of Lord Krishna.

ISKCON Vridavan The ISKCON temple is situated in Vrindavan, a place in India.,where the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna displayed histranscendental pastimes 5,000 years ago.

Krishna Supreme personality of Godhead.

Prasad/Prasadam Food that has first been offered to God. Prasadam is food whichis prepared specifically for God and offered to His deity, and isthus considered sacred. It is then distributed amongst all thedevotees so that they can receive the blessings or God.

Radha-Krishna Radha, is the childhood friend and lover of Lord Krishna and isworshipped as Goddess in India.

Rama-Lakshamana-Hanuman Three separate nomenclature for Indian Lord.

Satsangs “Sat” means truth and “sang” means company. Thus, literally“satsang” means keeping ‘true company’ or the collectivecompany of religious people who sing together and praise theLord. In India, Satsangs are organized at various religiousforums where people get together and sing and praise the Lord.

Vedic expo Technology-based spiritual shows at the ISKCON Temple,New Delhi.

Yagnapurush Kund India’s great sages established the Yagna tradition in whichthey chanted holy sentences, offered grains and Indian Butter(Ghee) in a sacrificial fire (yagna kund) to appease the deities ofearth, water, fire, air, etc. The Yagnapurush Kund, at theAkshardham temple, New Delhi, is a fascinating combinationof a Yagna Kund and a musical fountain. It is the world’s largestyagna kund measuring 3000 £ 3000 with 2,870 steps and 108small shrines. Its perfect geometric forms testify to ancientIndia’s advanced knowledge in mathematics and geometry. Atnight the center comes to life with a colorful musical waterfountain that echoes the traditional sentiments of India.

IntroductionThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness, commonly addressed asISKCON has developed via the practice of “Bhakti Yoga” or the devotion of God, byAcharaya Bhaktivedanta Swami Prapbhupada in North America during the mid-1960s

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(ISKCON, 2010; ISKCON Vridavan, 2010, Shinn, 1987). The main motive of this“Hare Krishna Sect” is to spread the teachings of the Bhagwad Gita, India’s religiousscripture that features the preaching of Lord Krishna, who is believed to be the “supremepersonality of the godhead” by the devotees of this society (Rhodes, 2005). ISKCONtemples are spread all across the globe and there are 40 such temples in various cities ofIndia (Pilgrimage India, 2010). The society, through its temples precipitates religioustourism which has been recognized as the earliest form of tourism (Sharpley, 2009;Koldowski and Martin, 2008) and forms a part of the world’s largest industry The TourismIndustry (Waters,1995 cited in Sheldon, 2001). Smith (2004, p. 25) noted “‘tourism andtravel have been a part of the human experience for millennia’, describing it as a form ofnomadism that characterizes Homosapiens” (Page and Connel, 2010). It is noted thatbecause of the exploratory nature of tourism, even the religious tourist’s visit to a site or atemple is not always solely for religious reasons (Rinschede, 1992) and the broader motiveis to enjoy an experience which is partly religious and at the same time offers a “holisticholiday” (Smith, 2003). Considering the characteristics of this “New-Age” tourism(Bowman, 1994 as cited in Digance and Cusack, 2002), it becomes important for temples tooffer an experience to their customers, which is religious and yet offers more.

The ISKCON temple in New Delhi, the national capital of India, was built in the year1998 and hosts the deities of Radha Krishna, Gaura Nitai and Rama-Lakshmana-Hanumana. The society’s objective is to spread spirituality and enhance the culturaland religious experience of visitors and so it has implemented, at its’ temple inNew Delhi, the use of innovative technologies that help to advance the “KrishnaConsciousness movement” (Rochford, 1995) and animate the spiritual realities of theBhagwad Gita. The use of technology is designed to augment the spiritual experienceof visitors and devotees and as travelers today have a strong desire for learning byexperience, strong emphasis is placed on stimulating the senses, thereby providing anauthentic experience. ISKCON temple offers its customers an opportunity to experiencegreater satisfaction from their visits than most other religious sites (Ing et al., 2010).For example, the temple premises offer visitors an opportunity to indulge in shoppingfor books, souvenirs, music tapes and CDs as well as food and beverages. Ward (1999)as cited in Schmidt and Little (2007) suggests that a positive linkage between leisureand spirituality can be established as combined, they help visitors to relax and this inturn aids introspection and making connections. These connections are spiritual asthey are made with one’s own self as well as with others (Loeffler, 2004). The ISKCONtemple in New Delhi, clearly presents its visitors with a gamut of activities that aregeared towards leisure and an association of these activities with the spiritual nature ofthe temple is intentional. However, to some visitors, commercial activities inside atemple are neither anticipated or appreciated (Rivera et al., 2009).

Thus, the confluence of technology and commercial factors at the ISKCON temple,New Delhi, has implications for the religious travelers, as it seeks to offer religiousrationality based on scientific realms (Baum, 2000) with the intention of motivatingreligious travel to this sacred destination (Timothy and Olsen, 2006).

MethodologyThe elements of customer experience at a religious destination have been adapted fromprior research. The dimensions of technology and commercial factors, that enhancecustomer experience, at the ISKCON temple, New Delhi, have been chosen because the

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ISKCON temple was the pioneer in spreading the spiritual message by integratingvarious kinds of equipment and technologies. The role of commercial elementsoperating in the temple premises, towards improving the overall experience of thevisitors, is of interest because not all visitors travelling to a religious destination are“religiously devoted” (Shani et al., 2007) and for many people, such visits are as muchabout experiencing the culture (Levi and Kocher, 2009) and/or the historic backgroundassociated with a religious site or temple.

A combination of quantitative research and qualitative research initiated byin-depth interviews, was adopted for this study so as to understand the confluence oftechnology and commercial factors operating at the ISKCON temple, New Delhi, andtheir role in enriching the overall customer experience. In terms of quantitativeresearch, the data collection instrument used was a questionnaire which went throughthree rounds of redesign and was finally validated by a team of five ISKCON Life-Members. A sample of 111 respondents was chosen based on convenience samplingand the questionnaire was administered by the researchers. The respondents wereIndian nationals, aged 18 years and above. The sample population includes 65 maleand 46 female respondents. The age profile of the total population reflects50 respondents in the age group 25-40, 31 respondents aged 40-60, 25 respondentsaged 18-25 years and five respondents who were 60 or above. The survey was onlyadministered to those who had visited the ISKCON temple, New Delhi, at least onceand has experienced the technology-based spiritual shows at the temple as well as thecommercial units at the premises. This criterion is implemented because of the factthat the experiences of the past tend to have an influence on the customer expectationsand people who have not visited the temple are believed to have limited informationabout what they are likely to experience (Ing et al., 2010; Bosque et al., 2009).

The data were interpreted via a ranking method and percentage calculations andthe questionnaire was designed so as to provide a rank order of the various reasons forvisiting the ISKCON temple as well as purchase preferences from the items that areavailable on the temple premises. Only rank first and last have been considered fordata analysis because these reflect the primary likes and dislikes of the temple visitors.

To further investigate the elements that help in exemplifying the visitor’sexperience at the ISKCON temple, and to understand the strategy of the temple’smanaging authorities, three in-depth interviews were undertaken with the vicepresident – ISKCON, New Delhi, the restaurant manager at the Govinda Restaurant,ISKCON and one life member and preacher of ISKCON. The discussion with the VicePresident sought to identify the vision and the initiatives of the temple management asthey relate to various aspects of visitor satisfaction. Interview with the RestaurantManager at the Govinda Restaurant was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of thecommercial units operating in the temple premises and finally, in order to understandthe view and beliefs of the devotees and ISKCON believers, about the role of technologyand commerce at the ISKCON temple, an interview was conducted with a lifemember and preacher of ISKCON. These interviews were useful in exploring gapsbetween the expectations of customers and the perceptions of management. The wholeprocess leads to validated and implementable recommendations offered through thecurrent study.

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Technology and ISKCON templeAs globalization has embraced the entire world, it has touched humans in innumerableways. Not only has the world become more closely knit, but societies have developedscientific insight and a desire to seek solutions to their “material, psychologicaland social problems” through science and not through rigid beliefs in the “sacred”(Pavicic et al., 2007). Today’s society is technology based and science and religion notonly coexist but also reinforce each other (Gotami and Suksawat, 2010). Given thisbackdrop, the use of technology to infuse the message of spirituality amongstindividuals seems like a concrete step towards spreading God-consciousness.

ISKCON temple, New Delhi, has evidently adapted a scientific approachtowards infusing Krishna consciousness amongst the temple visitors byimplementing ‘technology-based-spiritual shows’, also called the “Vedic Expo” at thetemple. The temple management currently runs four shows based on technologieslike robotics and simultaneous use of sound and lights, aimed at offering insight intothe teachings of Bhagwat Gita and the great Indian Epic – The Mahabharata(Das, 2010). All shows last for a time duration of 30 minutes to an hour and implementthe use of flash lights, white and coloured projections, sounds and narrations, smokemachines, statues that are illuminated as the narrative progresses and variousreligious messages and robotics techniques. ISKCON temple is India’s pioneer inestablishing shows that employ technology to present a religious message. However,the Akshardham temple, New Delhi has absorbed this learning and adoptedsimilar techniques to evoke the religious tendencies of its visitors by conducting 3D“Audio Animatronics Shows”, the screening of an exclusively formulated religiousfilm, technology-based boat rides and a sound and light based musical fountain calledthe “Yagnapurush Kund” (Akshardham, 2010).

Information technology is an integral part of the tourism industry today as travelersplan their destinations in consultation with online as well as offline travel agents(Delgado and Davidson, 2002; Qi et al., 2009). Now, even religious practitioners havestarted to utilize technology to reach out to more people. (Gotami and Suksawat, 2010).Spiritual destinations and temples in India too, use web sites to offer information aboutthe temple, its history and activities at the temple. In fact, some web sites even offerdirectional maps to the temple and nearby accommodation facilities. The ISKCONtemple also has its own web site and as devotees from many nations includingAmerica, the UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Latin America and Japan visitISKCON temples (Brookes, 1992), it is essential that the temple has a platform ofinformation that is global in nature.

Since information and communication technologies (ICT) provide a powerful tool tohelp promote and construct stronger strategies and operations for the tourism industry(Buhalis, 1998; Sheldon, 1997; Werthner and Klein, 1999 cited in Pender and Sharpley,2010), the use of various ICT applications at a travel destination will almost certainlyenhance the visitor experience. These include 24 hour information availability,computerized helpline numbers, web sites, high tech security systems and theinstallation of close circuit televisions (CCTVs). At ISKCON temple CCTVs areinstalled throughout the premises and at the entrance of the temple for completesurveillance of the temple grounds and in so doing, to ensure the safety of devotees.

The temple offers a blend of spirituality with technology and serves as a destinationwhich can be specifically defined as a “tourist destination” because it amalgamates

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various commercial aspects and services, under one roof, offering an integratedexperience (Buhalis, 2000; Leiper, 1995; cited by Dmitrovic et al., 2009).

Commercialization of religious sites and ISKCONSpirituality is different for every individual (Schmidt and Little, 2007) and religiousplaces have been successful in various ways by creating a spiritual experience thathelps worshippers to form a relationship with God. As a nation, Indians are known fortheir spiritual inclinations but interestingly, spirituality in the country has acquireda “different meaning for different generations” (IndiaToday, 2010). Because of India’srich religious heritage, the ISKCON movement gained acceptance amongst people whowere initially skeptical of ISKCON (Mehta, 1993). The cosmopolitan nature of ISKCONcan be traced from this background. As noted earlier, not all visitors are religiousdevotees and have different reasons for visiting the temple. Religious tourism,historically too, has witnessed this phenomenon of accommodating visitors who arereligious as well as the ones who are not solely religious (Cohen, 1998; Ho andMcKercher, 2004). Shackley (2002) mentions that people have different reasons forvisiting religious sites ranging from desiring an experience which is life changing,seeking divine worship, seeking to spend a relaxing day out or merely to marvel andexplore. But it has been argued that religious devotees visiting these places are in lessnumber (Shackley, 2001). The reasons for getting attracted by so many visitors otherthan worshippers are that religious sites are also seen as cultural destinations(Shani et al., 2007). Visitors often perceive visiting these destinations as an opportunityfor gaining spiritual, cultural, educational and entertainment experiences (Olsen, 2006).Various religious destinations, therefore, are designed to attract and satisfy largenumber of tourists by offering on the premises activities like Bhajans, Satsang, audiovisual presentations, sale of souvenirs, books, religious items, food, catering servicesand by organizing special events and lodging facilities. These destinations serve a dualpurpose of offering leisure and a connection with religious thinking (Rivera et al., 2009).

ISKCON temple is one such religious destination where satsangs, preachingsessions by devotees and bhajan-kirtan are organized to fulfill the spiritual needsof visitors (ISKCON, 2010) and the commercial aspects like the museum, GovindaRestaurant, Snack bar, Prasad stall and Book, Music and Gift shop, offer anopportunity to have an experience which is exploratory and leisurely in nature. Thisreinforces Feifer’s (1985) concept of “postmodern-Tourists” where a visitor experiencestoo many things in single visit.

The Govinda Restaurant serves only vegetarian cuisine reinforcing the religiousideologies of rebirth and Good Karma. However, the restaurant is open for parties andprivate ceremonies and can lead to dissatisfaction amongst customers since manyreligious destinations have been criticized for overcrowding (Shackley, 2003, 2001).Mc Kercher and Du Cros (2002) mention that commercialization in religiousdestinations often loses its sanctity but Shani et al. (2007) argue that the managementteams of these destinations are quite aware and design commercial elements that arereligiously educative.

The current studyThis study explores the nature of the customer experience at the ISKCON temple whichis a product of the religious activities inside the temple, technological innovations

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initiated and implemented at the temple and the commercial offerings inside the templepremises. Since inadequate services, lack of proper infrastructure and poor visitorexperience are familiar problems faced by religious sites (Woodward, 2004), the studyalso investigates whether ISKCON temple has an efficient confluence of these factors.The research offers implementable recommendations that would help in creating aunique experience for the temple’s visitors. The objectives of the study undertakenhave been delineated as follows:

. to identify the role of technology in spreading Krishna consciousness andspiritualism amongst visitors;

. to measure the level of excellence achieved by ISKCON temple, in execution ofthe technology-based spiritual shows;

. to analyze whether various commercial initiatives at the temple, affect thespiritual image of the destination; and

. to understand the satisfaction level amongst visitors with the overall templeexperience resulting from the confluence of technology and commercial factors atISKCON temple.

Findings and discussionPurpose of temple visit and ISCKON management’s perceptionsThe study reveals that visitors at the ISKCON temple are a mixture of people who makethe visit for religious purposes and those who come to the destination to experience thedistinctive technological and commercial features of the temple. Table I highlights that31 per cent of the ISKCON, New Delhi, visitors come to the temple to listen to thediscourses and attend the Kirtans or the “Congregational singing and chanting”(Rochford, 2006), making the purpose of the visit, religious in nature. However,58 per cent of travelers come to absorb, explore and appreciate the ambience of thetemple and 17 per cent visitors come to experience the technology-based spiritual showsand the various commercial units like the restaurant, snack bar and book-souvenirshops. Such customers can be categorized as the ones, for whom temple visits are also ameans of spending leisure time within a cultural destination (Shackley, 2002). About77 per cent of the targeted population considers the commercial and technologicalfactors, as secondary reasons for making the visit and it is evident that these factorscontribute the least towards attracting visitors to the temple. The data, hence, showsthat the technological and commercial features at the temple act only, as add-ontowards infusing greater value to the overall customer experience. Many visitors,

Discourses atISKCON Kirtan

Technology-based shows Ambience Restaurant

Book shop/souveniers

Rank 1 (number ofrespondents) 2 33 13 58 2 3Percentage 2 29 12 52 2 3Rank 6 (number ofrespondents) 15 6 22 5 31 32Percentage 14 5 20 4 28 29

Table I.Purpose of the visit

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come to the temple to nurture their religious sentiments with the temple and themovement (Brookes, 1992). They seek enjoyment and solace through the peacefulambience of the ISKCON temple, which is a resultant of its “lush green gardens”,the huge temple structure (ISKCON, 2010) and the constant singing, dancing and kirtanswithin the premises.

Based on inputs from the vice president, ISKCON, New Delhi, it is evident thatthe views of the temple management are aligned with the actual customer experience.ISKCON, New Delhi’s management believes that it is essential to create a conduciveatmosphere for all visitors, irrespective of their purpose of visit, through consistentsinging and dancing to the tunes of the Lord, through chanting which evokes spiritualityand by exploring Indian ideologies through technology. The temple authorities havemade provisions for commercial units inside the premises with the view that visitorscan enjoy various sets of activities including eating, making purchases and exploringsouvenirs while they are at the temple.

Role of technology at the temple: ISKCON management’s and preacher’s perceptionThe role of technology towards spreading Krishna Consciousness amongst the visitorsand devotees of the ISKCON temple can be positively established through the study.Table II shows that 82 per cent of the respondents consider that technology-basedspirituality is interesting and attractive which implies that the use ofmultimedia/robotics technology is augmenting a spiritual as well as a recreationalexperience for the temple visitors.

The temple management, too, believes that presenting the teachings of BhagwadGita through the medium of technology-based shows, helps in concretely establishingthe religious philosophies, among visitors. Such shows also act as a means ofeducational entertainment for children and leisure-seeking-visitors.

The use of information technology through web site representation is beingimplemented at the ISKCON temple and the customer survey reveals that 48 per cent ofthe sample found the web site of the temple informative and user-friendly. However,52 per cent of respondents are either unaware of the web site or are unhappy with it.The temple authorities believe that their web site is functioning efficiently and ispopular amongst the visitors as well as the devotees. A gap can be identified betweenthe management’s perception and the feedback of the respondents because 39 per centof sample population seemed to be unaware of the temple’s web site. Discussion withthe Preacher and Life-member of ISKCON, New Delhi, brought out that the fact that theweb site of the temple as well as the ISKCON society is frequently used by the devoteesand ISKCON members. This shows that web site of the temple is not so popular

Number of respondentsTechnological aspects at ISKCON Yes No Unaware

Technology-based shows are interesting andattractive 91 (82) 20 (18) 0Web site is informative and user-friendly 53 (48) 14 (13) 44 (39)Security systems are technologically advances 76 (68) 35 (32) 0

Note: The parenthetical values are calculated in percentageTable II.Technology at ISKCON

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among general visitors, however, it is regularly accessed by the temple devotees for thepurpose of gaining access to religious discourses and kirtans and viewing deityworship activities.

The security systems at ISKCON New Delhi are believed to be technologically advancedand well equipped for meeting the basic security needs of the devotees, by the majority ofrespondents. About 68 per cent of visitors consider the security systems at the temple apt inensuring the safety of travelers. The data shows that 32 per cent of respondents areskeptical about the security systems at the temple. It is observed that CCTV’s and securityguards are not adequately placed in and around the parking lot of the temple, the high-techmuseum and the open surroundings within the temple premises. There is a dissonancebetween the customer expectations of the temple authorities with regard to the securitysystems, and the actual implementation of the security systems by the management. Thelatter believe that the security systems are technologically advanced and have successfullyprovided safety for a gathering of more than 1,500 people in the past.

Excellence of technology-based spiritual shows at the temple and ISCKONmanagement’s perceptionsThe study indicates that even though ISKCON, New Delhi has been the initiator oftechnology to spread the message of God they no longer dominate in this sphere. It canbe seen in Table III that 52 per cent of respondents consider that the use of technologyis being implemented in a better way, at other temples in the country and 48 per cent ofthe people consider that ISKCON excels in the technology-based spiritual shows.Amongst the dissatisfied respondents, 91 per cent stated that the Akshardham temple,New Delhi, offers a better customer experience through technology-based shows. Themanagement of the temple take the view that the shows run at ISKCON are unmatchedin their quality and that no technology upgrades are needed. The equipment used forexecuting these shows was purchased in 1998 and there has not been any reinvestmentto keep abreast with the latest technologies since then. The mixed responses fromcustomers and the inputs from the temple authorities clearly indicate a need to revampthe technological features within the “Vedic-Expo” at the temple.

Role of commercial factors at the temple: ISKCON management’s, employee’s andpreacher’s perceptionReligious destinations today, have a “unique blend of visitors” and they offer, withinthe premises, various commercial facilities (Shackley, 2006). The current researchindicates the preferences for buying various commercial elements from the temple,amongst the visitors, and the data is exhibited in Table IV.

Number of respondentsYes No

Technology-based shows are the best at ISKCON 53 (48) 58 (52)If yes, specify. Akshardham 48 (91)Others 5 (9)Commercialisation is distasteful within thetemple premises 58 (52) 53 (48)

Note: The parenthetical values are calculated in percentage

Table III.Customer experience

at ISKCON

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Among commercial units, souvenirs and god statues, sold at the ISKCON temple aremost frequently purchased and tops the choice set of 38 per cent respondents. Otheritems sold at the temple also attract purchasers and Table IV shows that almost equalnumbers of respondents buy these commercial items. About 18 per cent ofvisitors prefer buying eatables from the snack bar and 13 per cent like to eat at the“Govinda Restaurant” inside the temple. This highlights that two separate eatingoutlets within the same temple are targeted at two different customer segments sincethe snack bar and the restaurant are priced differently. While a food platter is offeredat around INR 300 in the “Govinda Restaurant”, snacks can be purchased at aminimum of INR 25 from the snack bar. It is apparent in Table IV that more visitors,80 respondents, consider food at the snack bar reasonably priced and 66 respondentsconsidered the Govinda Restaurant reasonably priced. This strategy speaks positivelyabout the management’s focus on enhancing and maintaining the customer experienceat the temple. Discussion with the temple’s vice president and the restaurant managerhighlight the fact that diverse menus are offered at different prices for special palatesat the two eating outlets, with the intention of meeting the needs of varied customersvisiting the ISKCON temple. The data also reveals that all commercial items sold at thetemple are considered reasonably priced by the customers, indicating that commercialactivities at ISKCON are within the reach of visitors belonging to various economicsegments. Historically, too, it is observed that commercial activities at the varioustemples of ISKCON have been seen by the temple’s management as a means of‘food based fund raising’ (Muster, 1997) and discussion with the preacher at ISKCONalso identifies that the temple’s motive in establishing commercial entities is to provideto the visitors, various opportunities for exploration and spiritual recreation.

The garden at the ISKCON temple, New Delhi and the Govinda Restaurant providesits’ venue for private ceremonies, weddings and celebrations. Table III indicates thatthis commercialization is considered distasteful by 52 per cent respondents, however;it is acceptable to 48 per cent respondents. The management explains this phenomenonby reasoning that ceremonies within the temple premises help in increasing thenumber of visitors to the temple, even though the purpose of the visit might not bereligious. The devotees attached to the ISKCON movement and the temple believe that

Number of respondentsEvaluation of pricingof commercial factors

(considered reasonable)Commercial elementsat ISKCON

Preferences amongstcommercial factors Yes No

Souvenirs/God statues 42 (38) 88 23Books, music CD’sand cassettes 17 (15) 93 18Food from restaurant 14 (13) 66 45Food from snack bar 20 (18) 80 31Tickets for technology-based shows 18 (16) 89 22

Note: The parenthetical values are calculated in percentage

Table IV.Commercial factorsat ISKCON

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by offering an opportunity to make a visit, they can induce the spiritual sensibilities ofvisitors and magnetize more visitors towards the temple. This aspect hence, remainsarguable and the onus has to be on the temple’s desire to strike a balance betweenmentioned commercial activities and the spiritual nature of the destination.

Conclusion and recommendationsManaging tourist expectations is crucial for any destination as expectations cangreatly impact the travel choices that tourists make (Gnoth, 1997 cited by Bosque et al.,2009). At ISKCON temple, New Delhi, the management has taken various initiativestowards developing technological and commercial features inside the temple, whichtogether, lead towards a fulfilling experience for the temple visitors. The managementis aware that a tourist destination becomes attractive only when a “tourism system” iscreated around it to escalate the site as an attraction (Lew, 2000). Simultaneously, it isalso important to manage the religious site so that it is able to satisfy two types ofaudiences: “the worshippers and the tourists” (Shani et al., 2007). ISKCON templeauthorities have developed activities that are spiritual and various other elements thatcreate a leisurely atmosphere for customers, thereby making the site attractive fordifferent visitor segments.

The data from the customer survey brings out that 82 per cent of visitors considertechnology-based spiritual shows or the “Vedia Expo” interesting and attractive at theISKCON temple, New Delhi; 48 per cent of respondents consider commercializationwithin the temple premises as an acceptable feature and 68 per cent respondents feelthat the security systems are technologically advanced. Views about the excellence,convenience and hygiene of the basic amenities inside the temple, shows that 97 per centof respondents find the drinking water facility acceptable and 71 per cent respondentsare satisfied with the rest room and toilet facilities. These facts indicate that thesatisfaction level of visitors is high for technological features implemented by thetemple, however, a limited percentage of the population feel that commercializationwithin the temple is acceptable with regards to its spiritual atmosphere. Thecommercial units are considered as a value addition and not as the main motive forthe temple visit, however all commercial elements at the temple are appreciated by therespondents, for their product and pricing.

To better the total experience that ISKCON temple, New Delhi, offers to itscustomers, a few respondents suggest that the temple authorities could take theinitiative to make the surroundings of the temple litter-free and green and that theycould also increase the accessibility of nearby spiritual destinations like “The LotusTemple”, by introducing a flying cart that will save travelling time and add value tothe other commercial elements of the temple. This might be considered as“disneyfication of religion” by few but it also acts as an opportunity to convert asimple religious site into a “religious theme site” (Shani et al., 2007).

Based on the study, those who are managing the web site of the ISKCON temple,New Delhi, might learn from counterpart web sites (ISKCON Vrindavan’s and ISKCONMayapur’s web site, ISKCON’s centralized web site – www.iskcondesiretree.com)by becoming more evolved and including features like religious materials’ downloadand interactive games based on spiritual themes. Since ISKCON, New Delhi, attractsvisitors from the National Capital Region, nearby states as well as internationaltourists, it is essential to have flawless and vigilant security systems within the temple.

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Technological innovations like hand held security devices (Lee and Mills, 2010) andbomb detection devices within the parking lot must be employed and placement ofsecurity personnel in and around the temple should be increased. Since religiousdestinations can suffer from inefficient management (Shackley 2001, 2002) thereis scope for improving toilets/rest-rooms at the temple because it has a capacity tohouse 1,500 people (ISKCON, 2010) and currently has only two toilets inside thepremises. No first aid facility is currently available and this provision would assistvisitors’ safety in an event of any health mishap. Overall, the focus of the ISKCONtemple’s management should be on improving the experience and satisfaction level ofit’s visitors by building on the relationship between “Leisure and Spiritual Well being”(Heintzman, 2000; Schmidt and Little, 2007).

Future researchThe confluence of technological and commercials factors at Indian temples is expectedto remain a part of religious tourism in the country. Hence, further research shouldfocus on the ways to improve technology-based spiritual activities within religiousdestinations. Since, the Akshardham temple, New Delhi, has adapted technologicalpractices initiated by the ISKCON temple, New Delhi; future research must focus onunderstanding and devising similar scientific techniques that are aimed at fosteringspirituality. Activities that gratify the leisure seeking tourists (at religious sites) mustalso be explored through empirical and theoretical research, with a focus onestablishing commercial entities within temples, without compromising on theirspiritual personality.

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Further reading

Jafari, J. (2000), “Attraction”, Encyclopedia of Tourism, Routledge, London.

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McKercher, B. and du Cros, H. (2002), Cultural Tourism: The Partnership Between Tourism andCultural Heritage Management, Haworth Hospitality Press, New York, NY.

Nolan, M. and Nolan, S. (1992), “Religious sites as tourism attractions in Europe”, Annals ofTourism Research, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 68-78.

Pender, L. and Sharpley, R. (2005), The Management of Tourism, Sage, London.

Corresponding authorMeghna Rishi can be contacted at: [email protected]

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Exploring the relationshipbetween socio-cultural factors

and tourist satisfactionA study of Lotus Temple, New Delhi, India

Shachi Yadav, Rumki Bandyopadhyay, Gulam Rasul andAnudeep Rawal

Institute for International Management and Technology,Gurgaon, India

Abstract

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the impact of socio-cultural factors on pilgrimage tourism atLotus Temple. This study also seeks to investigate the relationship of socio-cultural factors with thesatisfaction level of tourists.

Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on questionnaire analysis from196 respondents. The research approach is a mixed method comprising exploratory and descriptiveresearch. The paper discusses the strengths of the Lotus Temple and challenges faced by the tourists.

Findings – It was found that travel motivations differ between foreign and domestic tourists. Thestudy also demonstrates that socio-cultural factors have a bearing on the overall satisfaction of tourists.

Practical implications – The results have implications for the development of a structuredapproach, to create a superior experience of the tourist at the Lotus Temple. The level of satisfactionand perception of socio-cultural factors are critical issues, in making the pilgrimage an attractivetourist destination. This study illustrates that, the tourist’s perception of socio-cultural factors playa significant role on tourist satisfaction.

Originality/value – The paper contributes to an understanding of the factors affecting tourism atthe Lotus Temple. This paper also offers a contribution to the varied perspectives on tourism inrelation to socio-cultural factors and levels of satisfaction.

Keywords Tourism, Customer satisfaction, Religion, India

Paper type Viewpoint

Glossary of Indian terms

Lotus Temple The Baha’i House of Worship near New Delhi, known as theLotus Temple.

Bahaism Relating to a religion founded in 1863 in Persia andemphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind.

Baha’i Mashriqul – Adhkar Lotus Shaped Outline.

Divinity 1. The state or quality of being divine:a. Divinity The godhead; God. Used with the.b. A deity, such as a god or goddess.

2. Godlike character.

Kalkaji A place in South of Delhi (Capital – India).



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The exploratory studyThis viewpoint aims to assess the potential and challenges for the Lotus Temple asa pilgrimage tourist destination in India. The paper also provides suggestions toenhance the tourist experience based on visitor observations and analysis.

ApproachAn exploratory study was conducted using a structured questionnaire designed tomeasure five constructs. Part I identifies the destination choice, Part II the motivationsfor visiting the Lotus Temple, Part III includes opinions about the Lotus Temple,Part IV discusses aspects of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the experience andPart V identifies the demographic profile of respondents.

A convenience sampling approach was adopted as it is relatively inexpensive todeploy. As noted by Cooper and Schindler (2007), convenience sampling is normallythe most cost effective and easiest method of conducting survey research. Prior toadministering the survey, the local authorities at the Lotus Temple were asked tocomment on the format and content of the questionnaire and minor changes were madeprior to its deployment.

About Lotus TempleThe Lotus Temple is known as the Baha’i Mashriqul – Adhkar, which is aLotus-shaped outline. It is located in Kalkaji, South of Delhi, India. The Lotus Templeis considered to be a modern architectural wonder and the shape of the buildingsignifies peace and tranquillity. The temple is shaped like a lotus and constructed fromwhite marble cement, dolomite and sand. It is considered captivating enough to lureevery traveler to Delhi, India. It is located in a sprawling 26 acres plot of land andfeatures a magnificent prayer hall, and together with its beautiful surroundings itprovides visitors with a unique experience. As an artistic representation of divinity, thelotus flower was the source of inspiration for the architect and it exhibits a high degreeof technological excellence along with aesthetic beauty. This rare melody of an ancientconcept with modern engineering skill and architecture combine to makes the temple afocus of attention for visitors.

The Lotus Temple is visited by thousands of people every day. Millions of peoplehave crossed its threshold, since its dedication to public worship in December 1986.(bahai.org). The Lotus Temple is the epitome of the Bahai faith, which is one of theyoungest world religions. By virtue of its significance and architectural beauty it nowoccupies a unique position in the hearts and minds of visitors.

Tourism in IndiaTourism is known to be the largest service industry globally in terms of gross revenueas well as in terms of foreign exchange earnings. The growth in tourism promises islikely to prompt substantial infrastructure development at key destinations acrossIndia (Planning Commission, Government of India, 2009). In terms of the world’s mostattractive destinations, India is now ranked 11th in the Asia Pacific region and14th best tourist destination for natural beauty and resources and 24th in terms of itscultural resources as cited in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, 2009,World Economic Forum (India Brand Equity Foundation, 2010). The potential of theIndian tourism industry seems to be bright as it is ranked fifth for long-term growth

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prospects (ten year horizon) and growth. Furthermore, India is expected to become thesecond largest tourism employer by 2019 (ibef.org) and tourism is expected to become amajor contributor to India’s economic growth (Saxena, 2005).

The potential of the Lotus Temple as a tourist destinationAn analysis of factors determining destination choice, motives for visiting the LotusTemple and factors affecting the level of visitor satisfaction, revealed the following:

. There are no significant differences in terms of motives for visiting the temple,among visitors of various ages, education, gender and travel intermediaries.

. Motives for visiting differ significantly for foreign and domestic tourists, althoughthe motives among foreign tourists of various nationalities were similar.

. Around 62.24 per cent of foreign tourists and 37.5 per cent of local tourists saidthat they enjoyed the scenic beauty of the Lotus Temple.

. The most commonly cited motives for visiting the Lotus Temple were lifestylerelated (30.4 per cent) and an expressed interest in cultural offerings andlocations (24.2 per cent).

. Few visitors in the sample expressed strong agreement with the need toexperience different philosophies, customs and cultures. However, most domestictourists were observed in family groups and this infers that a visit to the LotusTemple is considered to be a family-oriented event.

. Both international and domestic tourists expressed a high level of satisfactionwith the availability and knowledge of tourist guides (19.4 per cent) and the roleplayed by the Lotus Temple’s own tourist information centre (9.4 per cent).

. Primary purpose of visit responses were: an event to share with family andfriends (25 per cent), for the recreation and leisure (21.4 per cent) and forsightseeing (21.4 per cent).

. After visiting the Lotus Temple, most visitors concluded that it is wellmaintained (42.1 per cent), worth visiting (39 per cent) and features attractivegrounds (36 per cent). Overall, visitors felt that the Lotus Temple met theirexpectations and they were satisfied by their experience.

Visitors also cited some of the drawbacks experienced by other religious sites. The prevalence of poverty and begging as a social problem also imposes a threat

on the choice of destination that tourists make, it also impedes the tourist’soverall satisfaction, especially as it relates to escaping from daily routine andtensions.

. There was a high level of dissatisfaction with transportation (20.4 per cent) andthe availability of places to eat (15.4 per cent). Visitors were also dissatisfiedon account of the lack of ATM facilities (20.8 per cent), limited toilet facilities(22 per cent) and congestion (18 per cent).

. Further, visitors expressed a low level of satisfaction with quality of food andaccommodation available in the area.

. Visitors felt that much could be done to improve cleanliness and hygiene at theTemple and in the surrounding area.

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SuggestionsThe primary aim of the study was to understand the motives that underlie destinationchoice by visitors to the Lotus Temple, especially in relation to socio-cultural factors.The following suggestions would help to improve the tourist experience at theLotus Temple:

. The exploratory survey shows that friends, family and relatives are instrumentalin suggesting visit destinations. Tourism managers and agencies should tap thispotential by enhancing the promotional and marketing information relating tothe Lotus Temple.

. Some visitors expressed a desire to know more about the Lotus Temple andBahaism. With this in mind, cultural events and festivals could be planned andmanaged to maximize the benefits in terms of image enhancement and culturalenrichment.

. Lotus Temple visitors expressed a low level of satisfaction with the supportingamenities: transportation, quality of food and accommodation. There issignificant scope to improve these aspects of the visitor experience.

. With the aid of descriptive statistics, the researchers were able to discern thatalmost all local people make arrangements to travel to Lotus Temple personallyand almost all foreign tourists make use of travel agents. Most people came toknow about the Lotus Temple from their friends (51.9 per cent); some from mediasources (18.2 per cent). Further, most of the local tourists were visiting the site forthe first time (70 per cent), a few for the second or third time (12 per cent) andalmost all the foreign tourists were visiting for the first time. This indicates aneed to strengthen the marketing and promotion of the Lotus Temple as a touristdestination.

Concluding remarksThe Lotus Temple is appreciated by both domestic and international visitor segmentsfor its scenic beauty and in conversation with visitors they revealed a desire to return.While the results of this exploratory study have shed some light on the motivations oftourists who visit the Lotus Temple further research is needed. A more comprehensivestudy may reveal causal relationships between socio-cultural factors and destinationchoice that could be further utilized for marketing and planning purposes. Overall,visitors highlighted the complexity of socio-cultural considerations which need furtherexploration.

References

Cooper, D.R. and Schindler, P.S. (2007), Business Research Methods, 9th ed., Tata McGraw-Hill,New Delhi.

India Brand Equity Foundation (2010), “Tourism and hospitality”, IBEF, available at: www.ibef.org/industry/tourismhospitality.aspx (accessed May 10, 2010).

Planning Commission, Government of India (2009), “Towards faster and more inclusive growth –an approach to the 11th Five Year Plan 2007-2012”, available at: http://planningcommission.nic.in (accessed April 11, 2010).

Saxena, N. (2005), “Incredible India woos more tourists available”, available at: www.incredibleindia.org/pdf/Mrkantsinterview.pdf (accessed June 30, 2010).

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Further reading

The Official Website of the Baha is of India (2010), “The Lotus of Bahapur – a magnet for theheart”, available at: www.bahai.in/bahai-house-of-worship/stories-articles/the-lotus-of-bahapur-a-magnet-for-the-heart.html (accessed May 10, 2010).

Corresponding authorShachi Yadav can be contacted at: [email protected]

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How can the visitor experiencebe enhanced for spiritual

and cultural tourism in India?Vinnie Jauhari

Institute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, India

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the question: how can the consumer experience beenhanced for spiritual and cultural tourism in India?

Design/methodology/approach – The paper consolidates the main findings and conclusionsarising from the various studies featured in this theme issue of Worldwide Hospitality and TourismThemes. It addresses the concerns around consumer experience as well as taking into accountperspectives from some of the board members managing these shrines.

Findings – There are many factors affecting infrastructure as well as service-related elements whichshould be addressed to attain better levels of service. The boards’ managing these places or specifictemples/shrines must listen to customer concerns to ensure repeat visits.

Practical implications – There are many lessons for the various stakeholders operating in theseareas and for other intermediaries and bodies managing these places.

Originality/value – The paper links the objectives highlighted in the editorial and provides specificinsights into areas where actions could contribute to a superior consumer experience.

Keywords Tourism, Religion, Culture, Customer satisfaction, India

Paper type General review

IntroductionThis paper summarizes the major findings from the studies featured in this themeissue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. The main areas of spiritual andcultural interest featured are:

. Buddhism Tourism in India.

. The case of the Golden Temple.

. Self service technology and its impact on destination image and customerexperiences at Tirupati Temple.

. Internet deployment in the context of Vaishno Devi Shrine.

. Exploring confluence of technology and commercial factors at ISKON temple:together with reflections on visitor experiences.

. The relationship between socio-cultural factors and tourist satisfaction – a studyof the Lotus temple, New Delhi.

In these studies, the tourist experience is the key issue under investigation. However, eachstudy has focused on specific factors that could contribute to better customer experience.It is a mix of factors such as infrastructure, facilities, deployment of technology,socio-cultural elements as well as the aspirations of tourists. The other common element isthat in each of the studies, consumer inputs were gathered via interviews/formal




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DOI 10.1108/17554211011090166

questionnaires relating to their experience and steps that could and should be taken toimprove the experience element. In certain cases, inputs from the management boards ofthese sites were used to address some of the points that have been raised.

Enhancing Buddhist tourism in IndiaThe study used empirical data collection from 112 Indian and 104 foreigners andexpatriates and focused on exploring and comparing the awareness and interest offoreigners and Indians towards India as a destination for Buddhist sites in relation toother countries with Buddhist traditions such as Japan, China and Thailand.

Though Buddhism has its origins in India, both Indians and foreigners associateBuddhism with Tibet in the first instance, followed by Thailand and Japan. Buddhism hasbeen associated with the Dalai Lama, Gautam Buddha, Jigme Wangchuk among others.Indians though showed a high level of awareness associated with major landmarks inBuddha’s life. The level of awareness did not vary with the demographic variables such asage, education and gender. Higher number of foreigners have visited Lumbini (birth placeof Buddha now in Nepal), Bodh Gaya (in Bihar where Buddha gained enlightenment) andSarnath (where the first sermon was delivered by Buddha). Indians most often visitedBodh Gaya. More foreigners were interested in visiting these sights than Indians.

Dharamshala and Ladakh were the most popular places in India among foreigners forvisiting Buddhist temples and monasteries. The Ajanta Ellora caves were next in the list.

The key suggestions for improvement were as follows:. Cleanliness, infrastructure and sanitation were the most highly sought areas of

improvement highlighted by the study. Beggars and hawkers are viewed as aserious nuisance element.

. Site preservation is another element that visitors felt should be addressed.Appropriate signs, guide books, special internet sites for consumers, helpfulairport assistance and better rest stops on highways are other key suggestions.

. More government rest houses and a reduction in pollution levels were viewed asessential improvements.

. Access to healthcare facilities, prevention of crime against women, improvementsin the law and order situation were other notable observations.

. A branding campaign around the Buddhist circuit in India could play a key rolein attracting more visitors. However, the above suggestions would certainly helpin terms of taking this site to the next level from a visitor experience perspective.

The case of the Golden TempleThis paper includes empirical work with some 84 respondents. The key visitorimpediments were considered to be access points where there are challenges related totraffic jams, sanitation and beggars. Hygienic food, lack of travel information, languagebarriers and services offered by taxi drivers are also notable barriers. The suggestions forimproving the facilities around the Golden Temple site are as follows.

The city could be more attractive for tourists. Better connectivity through more flights,better management of traffic, cleanliness and economical places to stay. English speakingguides were considered important and it was felt that this would contribute to a betterexperience. Printed literature for educating people about the cultural and historicalsignificance of the temple and surrounding areas could be immensely helpful for foreign

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tourists. The queues leading to the actual shrine could be managed better by using anumber system implemented at specific intervals. Visitor suggestions also included thecreation of 24/7 convenience stores and tighter control of touts so as to prevent them frompestering visitors. The suggestions also included the need for more imaginativepromotional efforts relating to the Golden Temple and much better parking provision forvisitors. It was also felt that by developing more historical sites in Amritsar itself thattourists would engage more fully with this location.

Internet deployment for spiritual tourism at Vaishno Devi ShrineThis study focuses on how the internet could contribute to enhancing the visitorexperience when visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine. The research focused on understandingthe extent to which prespective visitors used the internet while preparing for a trip toVaishno Devi. It also sought to identify suggestions that could lead to more effectivedissemination of information through internet web sites.

Data were collected from 88 respondents. The findings show that the majority ofrespondents used internet services to make train, air and hotel bookings and to viewweather information and maps. Reliability, convenience, satisfactory experience andconsistent information availability were considered to be the key information driversrelating to a visit to the shrine. Visitors also mentioned other reasons for using onlineinformation: saving money and time and self enhancement.

The main suggestions for improvement of services were: hygienic food, improvementin local transport facilities, a more comfortable stay, especially in peak visitor periods, theprovision of rest rooms, better traffic control and advance information on the number ofvisitors on any given day. Visitors also felt that turnstiles or darshans should beautomated so that a consistent period of time is allocated to each visitor viewing the shrine.

It is recommended that information kiosks be set up at numerous locations.Partnership with various government bodies and the deployment of ATM machinesfor booking purposes is also suggested. Furthermore, a greater awareness of the shrineweb site would enrich the visitor experience. Some options for package tours shouldalso be initiated, perhaps in partnership with commercial organizations. Access tothe shrine also needs to be managed more carefully. Separate lanes for ponies should beincluded as well. Deployment of other languages for the Vaishno Devi shrine web sitewould also be very helpful.

Self service technology and its impact on destination image and customerdelight at TirupatiThe research carried out in Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam and nearby areas with125 respondents sought to measure the perceived destination image of the Thirumala.It also explores factors contributing to customer delight. The research points out thatthe perceptions of the public regarding the destination image is of a place meant forspiritual rejuvenation. However, the site has the potential for different categories oftourists: religious, pleasure and nature lovers. About 93 per cent of the respondentsmention that spirituality is the main motive for visiting Thirumala. It was noted,however, that family members, friends and information desks have significantpersuasive power. The self service technology channels such as the web site and thetelevision channel had an impact on the customer delight element and these onlinechannels need to be explored and utilized to create a superior experience.


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Exploring confluence of technology and commercial factors at ISKONtemple: reflections on consumer experienceThis research highlights the confluence of technology and commercial elements at thetemple and their role in creating a satisfying visitor experience. The research assesses therole of technology in spreading Krishna consciousness and spiritualism among visitors.It also yields insight on the relative degrees of excellence achieved by ISKON templeand assesses the satisfaction level amongst visitors with the overall temple experience.In terms of primary motives, 58 per cent of visitors come to absorb, explore and experiencethe ambience of the temple; 17 per cent of the visitors come to experience thetechnology-based spiritual shows; 31 per cent of visitors come to the temple to listen todiscourses and participate in religious chants. About 82 per cent of respondentsconsidered technology-based spiritual shows as interesting and attractive which impliesthat use of multimedia/robotics/technology is augmenting a spiritual as well as arecreational experience for the temple visitors. The main suggestions for enhancing theexperience is to ensure that the surroundings of the temple are litter free and green and toenhance accessibility to the nearby Lotus Temple. The web site could be more dynamicwhich could have religious materials downloads and interactive games based on spiritualthemes. Technological innovations in security systems also need to be deployed. Theconvenience facilities also need to be enhanced. Safety features and first aid devices shouldalso be in place.

Relationship between socio-cultural factors and tourist satisfaction – studyof Lotus temple at New DelhiThis is work in progress though initial findings reveal some interesting facts about theLotus Temple. Visitors are drawn by the scenic beauty of the Lotus Temple and feelthat the available information and tourist guides accurately portray the site. Visitorscite begging, poor public transportation and poor quality food and accommodation asthe key drawbacks. Further, visitors felt that improved cleanliness and hygiene wouldgreatly improve their experience.

Key recommendations arising from the research on spiritual and culturaldestinationsA great deal of effort is required to market these historical sites which potentially couldattract more visitors than those who currently undertake personal pilgrimages. In almostall cases, the key issues that have emerged relate to the need for better management ofinfrastructure, connectivity and transportation. There are also issues relating to improvedmanagement of traffic, hygiene and sanitation facilities. Further, more could be done tomarket destinations like the Lotus temple and ISKON temple. The issue of begging alsoneeds to be addressed in almost all locations as it is viewed as a serious impediment to thedevelopment of tourism. Finally, better food and accommodation provisions are needed inall locations to cope with the huge demand from existing travellers.

There are also common issues relating to the management of queues in the mainshrines and places of worship. The numbers are so large and the allotted times in the mainplaces of worship are variable. These issues could and should be addressed by effectivedemand and queue management techniques. Among other advances, this would enablethe various management boards to encourage visitors to plan their visits to coincide withlower demand periods and in this regard, websites have a pivotal role to play. In the longer

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term, online number systems and ATM machines as well as information kiosks will have awider role to play.

This theme issue has also highlighted the need for educated guides who can shareinformation with tourists so as to increase their understanding and experience of eachsite. In this regard, the government has a role to play in facilitating this development.There is also a need to publish literature about the various sites in multiple languages.This enhances understanding and creates a broader sense of connectivity with thedepth and breadth of India’s cultural and religious heritage. There is a role too forentrepreneurs who can offer a variety of different kinds of experiences to augment andenrich each of the main visitor locations. Finally, the environment and enhanced levelsof cleanliness have a role to play in developing the image of these famous locations asplaces of serenity and spirituality.

Corresponding authorVinnie Jauhari can be contacted at: [email protected]


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