Religious tourism, an opportunity sacrificed to ideology and mismanagement/ Morteza Hamounian
The intersection of Seyed Tir and Jomhuri streets in Tehran has another name: “Four Religions Square.” (1) Four Religions Square is where the Christian church, Jewish synagogue, Zoroastrian fire temple, and Muslim mosque are all located on one street. Iran is a land on the Silk Road, where the owners of different religions and beliefs have lived or passed through. According to statistics and names, the majority of Iranians are Shia Muslims, and the rest are from Sunni Muslims to Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Baha’is, and followers of other religions and beliefs living in Iran. The Mandaeans are the oldest religious group after the Jews who came to Iran and settled mostly in the south. However, the south of Iran also has other believers. The Sikhs, who have mostly come to Iran in recent centuries and are mostly settled in the south of Iran and also in Tehran. All these believers of different religions have their own
Reports indicate that there are more than ten thousand religious sites in Iran, mostly belonging to Shia Muslims. We do not know to what extent these official statistics include religious sites of both official and non-official religions in Iran. It can be said that these ten thousand religious sites themselves have great potential for religious tourism in Iran. It should be noted that the growth of Imamzadeh sites – as religious sites – in the years after the revolution has also raised doubts about the actual number of religious sites in Iran; a country that had about 1,500 Imamzadeh shrines in 1978 and in 2011, there were 11,000 Imamzadeh shrines.
The presence of tourists in these religious places is known as “religious tourism”. Religious tourism is a subset of cultural tourism, in which individuals travel to visit or pilgrimage to religious attractions. These trips are sometimes for religious obligations and other times, the goal of the tourist is simply to become familiar with the culture of other religions or to admire the architectural beauty of religious sites. (3) In this type of tourism, believers of that particular religion find closeness to their sacred places and the feeling of lightness and tranquility afterwards is one of the rewards that this type of tourism brings.
But the point here is that with this number of religious centers for this particular type of tourism and with the existence of many respected religious sites for Shiites in Iran, the total number of tourists entering Iran in 2023, according to data from the World Tourism Organization, has decreased by 37% compared to 2019, to a number lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic (4); a number that, according to the Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, has also had a 52% growth in the first ten months of the current Persian year compared to the previous year (5). Additionally, according to the news bulletin of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts published in April 2021, the total number of tourists entering Iran was four million and 23,568. Mashhad Hashemi Nejad Airport had over 44,141 flights in 202
But what is the problem in the religious tourism sector? Is it the issue of tourists or their place of residence or their security? The answer is all of the above! Religious tourists need safe and comfortable transportation to be able to travel from anywhere in the world or within Iran and visit different religious sites. But the problem does not end there. In a situation where 50% of the country’s airplanes are outdated, the country’s rail and locomotive transportation are facing a crisis, and the country’s Economic Council announces the need for replacement due to the aging of 85,000 trucks, buses, and minibuses, safe transportation is not possible. Additionally, religious tourists are interested in staying in the nearest place to their desired religious site so that they can be in the spiritual atmosphere of sacred places at all times during their trip. Therefore, the number of hotels around religious sites and their quality of service and standards are very important in religious tourism, and in this area, we face serious problems in
Another issue is the safety of religious tourists. Security is one of the most important factors in the development of tourism in the world. The bitter story here is that according to statistics published in Khordad 1402, the rate of theft in the country has quadrupled in the past five years. (9) I think considering this statistic of theft in the country, the fate of the security situation of tourists, especially religious tourists, in Iran should be clear.
However, with a higher priority than the provision of transportation and accommodation for religious tourists in Iran, the issue of strategic planning and comprehensive program for religious tourism must be addressed. Religious tourism without strategic planning and systematic methods will not be very effective. In previous governments, this program-oriented approach was less emphasized, although it was included in the sixth development plan, it was not practically implemented. (8) In fact, the main issue here is the need to pay attention to tourism infrastructure in Iran, so that a clear strategy and comprehensive program can be developed and approved based on these infrastructures, to meet the basic needs of religious tourists for their travels and provide the necessary peace and tranquility. Giving priority to religious tourism was also one of the demands of tourism activists in the seventh development plan. Of course, a chapter has been included in this plan called “Tourism”. Now, whether this chapter and plan will be successful or not, remains to be seen. Although experts say that until a comprehensive tourism
Another point is the discussion of religious event-based tourism in Iran, which can receive more attention. Most Muslim countries in the world celebrate in the month of Ramadan and tourists travel to these countries to participate. Additionally, in Iran, we have the capacity for the months of Muharram and Safar and their rituals, which can be turned into an opportunity for religious tourism in Iran. All of these require planning, strategy, and precise and specific designs for decision-makers and implementers of the country. This is something that apparently does not hold much importance for them or is not a priority.
In addition, religious tourists are not necessarily believers or followers of a particular religion or belief. They are travelers who visit religious sites in other countries to see, explore, and sometimes learn and satisfy their curiosity. A prominent example of this is tourists who travel to the city of Vatican (the center of the Catholic Church) to visit its museums, gardens, and other attractions, but many of them are not believers in the Catholic religion or Christianity. The point here is that in Iran, we face serious problems in this area. In Iran, we have many religious and spiritual centers that, due to the ideological structure of the Islamic Republic government, have been neglected and their potential for religious tourism is not utilized. Various Christian churches in Iran, multiple synagogues and tombs such as those of Prophet Daniel, Esther, and Mordecai for Jews, important religious centers for Baha’is, Zoroastrian fire temples, and rituals and spiritual centers for Mandaeans and even Sikhs in
Some thinkers have spoken about the Iranian people’s religion over the past decades. Whether this concept is truly about peace and reality, or as Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari puts it, an ambiguous and empty concept, is a subject of debate among experts. (10) But the main point here is that Iran is full of important religious centers for believers of different religions, which could be turned into a place for religious tourism and income for Iran. However, due to the lack of a precise and proper plan, and a fantasy and hasty approach to this field, a great opportunity for Iran’s economy has been missed. The ideological view of Iran’s rulers towards the tourism sector should also be taken into account. Religious tourism in Iran is a serious opportunity to help create employment in the country and bring a flood of capital and currency into Iran’s economy. But it is a shame that the daily view of Iran’s rulers towards managing the country and their lack of strategy and plan, as well as
Notes:
1- Where is the Four-Way Intersection of Religions in Tehran? Academy of Tourism of Iran, November 11, 2017.
2- “Fake Imamzadehs” and registration of 11,000 Imamzadehs after the revolution, Deutsche Welle Persian, 6 August 2019.
3- Complete guide to pilgrimage trips, religious tourism and pilgrimage sites in Iran, Aligasht tourism magazine, 5 Dey month 1401.
4- Iran’s tourism in 2023, 37% less than before the coronavirus, Voice of America, February 4th, 1402.
5- Shawlbafian: 52% growth in foreign tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of this year, IRNA, 23 Bahman 1402.
6- Opportunity for 3 million religious tourists, Jom Jom newspaper, 20 Dey month 1402.
7- A tourism expert: Religious tourism should be prioritized in the seventh development plan, ISNA, October 16, 2023.
8- Religious Tourism Researcher: “Religious Tourism” without a strategy and systematic plan, will not be productive, IRNA, 6 Mehr month 1400.
9- Fourfold increase in theft statistics in Iran, Aftab News, 25 Khordad 1402.
10- Yousefi Ashkoori, Hassan, religious; vague and empty concept, Zeytoon website, 23 November 2021.
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