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Research on the Development of Religious Tourism and the Sustainable Development of Rural Environment and Health

Hsiao-hsien lin.

1 Department of Leisure Industry Management, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 41170, Taiwan

2 Department of Tourism Management, Athena lnstitute of Holidtic Wellness, Wuyi University, No 26, Wuyi Avenue, Wuyishan 354300, China

3 Institute of Physical Education and Health, Yulin Normal University, 1303 Jiaoyu East Rd., Yulin 537000, China; wt.moc.oohay@861961g

Jao-Chuan Lin

4 Department of Marine Leisure Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 811213, Taiwan; wt.ude.tsukn@lcj

Zhou-Fu Liang

5 School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Nanning Normal University, No. 175 Mingxiu East Road, Xixiangtang District, Nanning 530001, China

Associated Data

No data support.

The purpose of the research is to explore how to reach a consensus on the development of cultural tourism and the sustainability of the entire rural environment from the perspective of different rights holders. Using Beigang Township in Taiwan as a case study, we first conducted a questionnaire survey and analyzed 600 respondents by statistical verifications method, then used an interview method to compile suggestions from experts and scholars, and finally conducted a field survey to collect actual information. After summarizing, organizing, and analyzing all the data, the study was examined in a multivariate manner. This study concludes that creating parking spaces, providing a comfortable resting place, facilitating the exchange of ideas, and improving the environmental literacy of the public will increase the public attention to issues such as village visibility, people interaction, ancient architecture, culture and totems, public health and transportation, and entrepreneurial development, as well as address the concerns of local residents and some men and people over 31–40 years old. By doing so, we can improve community building and security, enrich cultural resources, build and develop sufficient industries, stabilize prices, obtain a safe and hygienic village environment, increase the desire to revisit, become a recommendation for family travel, and achieve the goal of sustainable development of rural environment and health.

1. Introduction

Cultural tourism has gradually become an important source of income for the tourism industry. It is also a tourism asset that countries are investing in and developing one after another. Sites, architecture, art, festivals, religions, pilgrimages, etc., cultural relics or behaviors that can be remembered can be called cultural tourism resources [ 1 ]. However, general tourism resources will gradually be consumed due to the time and degree of use [ 2 ], and maintenance cost is required. However, religious beliefs and culture will not be exploited and consumed for development purposes, resulting in the exploitation or depletion of cultural resources that are increasingly impure. Instead, because of the uniqueness of local religious beliefs and culture, they are recognized by the public and attract more believers to worship them [ 3 ], which in turn adds to the mystery of local culture and makes local religious beliefs and culture more valued and preserved by the public [ 4 ]. It can be seen that religious cultural tourism resources are sustainable and have considerable potential for improving the current situation of rural development.

Religious culture is a unique belief in Chinese society. The belief in gods and goddesses arises when people face unpredictable natural or man-made disasters, or events beyond their ability, and seek spiritual support in the hope that the gods will bless them and their families to be safe, secure, and even prosperous [ 5 ]. Wude Temple was founded in 1955 and has a history of more than 30 years. It has become a famous temple of wealth on both sides of the Taiwan Strait [ 6 ].

Because of the frequent transmission of cultural deeds, the temple has won the trust of the faithful. In less than half a century, more than 6000 branches have been established on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, making the belief in the god of wealth one of the most rapidly developing beliefs in Taiwan [ 7 ]. Since 2010, the current authorities have combined the concept of cultural and creative industries to transform the operation of the temple with an innovative commercial management model. Blue Ocean strategy, intelligent innovation, and online platforms are applied to adapt to the competitiveness. Facilities and activities such as robots, five-way gods of wealth cards, cafes, and the Triacademy attract more consumers [ 8 ]. Despite natural disasters in 2019–2020 and Taiwan’s overall economic downturn, the Lunar New Year Festival attracted more than 100,000 people [ 9 ]. Successive national holidays have brought in tens of thousands of people. On average, the temple attracts at least 4 million worshippers each year [ 10 ], indirectly creating more than a million business opportunities. This shows that Wude Temple has established itself in the hearts of the Taiwanese people and has become an indispensable part of their faith, bringing new opportunities for economic development to Beigang, which was originally an agricultural area.

Although religious beliefs and culture are specific to a region and have a unique appeal, they can attract people’s interest to experience or participate in them, leading to tourism or consumer behavior and indirectly generating the flow of people and capital. However, while tourism development is a major contributor to the economic development of villages, there are always oversights in management decisions and can have positive and negative impacts on the economy, society, and the environment [ 11 , 12 , 13 ], affecting local sustainable development.

Moreover, the impact of tourism development is not instantaneous but requires time to prove, and usually occurs after the end of tourism activities [ 12 , 14 , 15 ]. Especially with the development of Internet technology and software technology [ 16 ], coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic [ 17 ], people have begun to change their behaviors and choices in tourism activities. In order to understand the changes generated by the development, exploring from the perspective of the residents can provide insight into the real state of local changes [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], and exploring from the experience of tourists can understand the real effectiveness and shortcomings of tourism development promotion [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Religious and cultural promotion of tourism development can unite society, give people spiritual support, promote economic circulation, and improve the community environment, but it can also cause an increase in local social events, inflate consumer costs, leave behind waste, and cause air and environmental pollution. Therefore, in order to achieve sustainable village development, we must not capture the views of a single target group but must ensure that both residents and visitors have a basic understanding of environmental literacy and a consensus on sustainable development, in order to achieve the goal of promoting sustainable economic development in villages through religious culture. By exploring the development dilemma from both residents’ and visitors’ perspectives, not only can we obtain a more nuanced view of the problem [ 18 , 22 , 23 ], but we can also obtain a consensus between them to solve the di-lemma they face.

Furthermore, according to the literature in the National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan, although the current research on religion, culture, and tourism are mostly qualitative in terms of investigating cultural characteristics and assets [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], followed by the awareness of religious activities [ 2 , 16 , 27 ], and cultural creativity and merchandise [ 28 ], the most quantitative research is on the impact of religious and cultural tourism [ 29 , 30 ]. However, there are only two studies on the Wude Temple of the God of Wealth in Beigang, Yunlin, and only qualitative studies on religious culture [ 5 ] and temple business model [ 8 ], and no other studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of religious culture development on local tourism development.

Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to understand the impact of religious and cultural tourism activities on the development of rural communities and the surrounding environment. From the perspective of environmental perceptions of people from different backgrounds, the study aimed to present the views on the impact of development on the current situation of local communities and the surrounding environment after the promotion of tourism activities with cultural resources in rural areas, to identify the shortcomings of development, and to propose suggestions for improvement towards the goal of common prosperity.

1.1. The Importance of Environmental Literacy to the Development of Cultural Tourism

Cultural tourism is the act of using cultural artifacts, historical relics, and ancestral cultural creations as resources to attract tourists to travel and spend money. Culture is an inseparable tourism asset for the tourism industry [ 31 ]. However, cultural tourism cannot be properly developed without a beautiful natural environment, convenient traffic planning and transportation, and sales services of related industries and commodities in the vicinity [ 32 ]. It is clear that the promotion of cultural tourism still requires the integration of local economic, social, and environmental resources, and joint planning and development in order to effectively promote cultural tourism.

However, tourism development cannot be achieved overnight as it requires public recognition and cooperation for effective planning and development [ 18 , 22 , 23 ]. There has been a long-standing positive and negative debate on tourism development [ 11 , 12 , 13 ], which has not yet been properly resolved. The main reason is that tourist travel or consumption behavior has an impact on local economic, social, and environmental conditions, while residents continue to change the existing economic, social, and environmental conditions in order to obtain rich rewards and improve their quality of life [ 23 ]. As the global environment becomes more and more degraded and the problems arising from tourist behavior become more and more serious, individuals and society recognize the interaction between their living environment and the surrounding natural environment and the need to focus on individual or collective solutions to present or future environmental problems [ 33 ] and, therefore, begin to advocate environmental education and to appreciate its value deeply.

The value of environmental education is to enhance people’s environmental awareness and sensitivity, knowledge of environmental concepts, environmental values and attitudes, environmental action skills, as well as environmental action experiences [ 34 ]. In addition to the goals of technological integration, proactive participation in the problem-solving, balanced world and local perspectives, sustainable development, and international cooperation [ 35 ], environmental literacy should be cultivated so that citizens have basic environmental values and can effectively judge the strengths and weaknesses of development and help improve the current situation to achieve sustainable development. This shows that although culture may be damaged by tourism development if people can improve their knowledge of environmental education, be sensitive to tourism development, and develop environmental literacy, they will be able to reduce the negative impacts of tourism development and achieve the goal of sustainable development.

1.2. Establishment of Environmental Literacy Helps People Develop Cultural Tourism

Tourism is a global industry and a major economic source, but with global climate change, the problem of carbon emission and waste pollution from tourism activities is becoming more and more serious, so governments have started to pay attention to this problem actively [ 36 ]. The best way to solve the problems caused by tourism development is to improve the direction of development decisions and raise the level of environmental literacy of the people [ 37 ] so that decision-makers and the public can move toward a sustainable attitude toward tourism development decisions. It can be seen that exploring the current state of tourism development with people’s current attitude toward environmental literacy is a good way to examine the effectiveness and shortcomings of sustainable development of tourism decisions.

Tourism is generally seen as an important means of promoting local economic development [ 10 ], increasing local employment opportunities, improving local infrastructure, tax revenues, foreign investment, etc., and thus attracting more industries to the area [ 38 ], which not only contributes to the local economy but is also very beneficial to the economic positioning of the area [ 39 ]. The economic impact is easier to measure, has a more robust methodology, and is more convenient and reliable in terms of the amount of data available, and the economy is also the core interest of tourism development policy [ 40 ], so the issue of economic impact has been emphasized earlier than social and environmental impact.

The economic impact can be examined in terms of the price of people, industrial construction, and village development [ 16 ], which can lead to entrepreneurship and employment opportunities, increased wage income, increased tourism construction, increased tourism industries, the integration of local specialty industries, increased leisure opportunities, integrity of public facility maintenance, tourism development feedback to the community, convenience of public transportation, increased local health standards, development protection policy settings, development of creative goods and increased expenditure costs, and increased land and housing prices [ 16 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Therefore, the researcher believes that the most accurate economic impact factors can be obtained by examining employment, wages, consumption, construction, industry, facilities, prices, incentives, health, cultural and creative activities, community feedback, and policy coordination.

The social impact is brought about by the intervention of tourism development, which can positively promote cultural and lifestyle communication, reduce population outflow, and maintain a more robust social structure, as well as contribute to the preservation of local culture due to the importance of tourism; a tendency for social relations to become increasingly indifferent and self-serving, and the negative effects are the change in the local social system, the possible deviation of individual behavior, the growing coldness and utilitarianism of social relations, and the local social conflicts due to racial discrimination [ 42 ]. These include improved material living conditions, diversification of occupational structures, decreasing trends of out-migration, narrowing of racial barriers, increased community openness, increased community conflicts, and seasonal unemployment generation and crime [ 43 ]. It will also influence the popularity of tourism, improve the quality of local tourism services and activities, increase leisure opportunities, encourage participation in community tourism affairs, provide sufficient local tourism indicators and options for recreational facilities, strengthen tourism development organizations, attract young people to return to their hometowns, preserve indigenous cultures, raise expenditure costs, increase land and housing prices, highlight local architectural features, make visitors feel friendly, interact well with residents, and increase cultural exchanges across the strait, and provide sufficient police and security personnel, and increase the willingness of people to revisit or purchase property in the area [ 20 , 21 , 44 ]. Therefore, the researcher believes that the most accurate social impact factors can be obtained by looking at tourism facilities, community building, living atmosphere, cultural security, and then exploring the aspects of popularity, service and activity quality, policy participation, tourism organization planning, cultural and architectural characteristics, security maintenance, community building, and public interaction.

There are two sources of environmental impacts, the first is the impact of the tourism activity itself, and the other is the impact of the facilities provided for the tourism activity [ 45 ]. The physical environment can be divided into the human-made environment and the natural environment, including soil erosion, vegetation destruction, and ecosystem changes [ 21 , 46 ]. The impact of the man-made environment includes traffic congestion, noise, and garbage caused by the increase of population, and the lack of space and environment resulting in the overload of physical facilities [ 16 , 20 ], and the impact of a large number of new era buildings forming an incongruous landscape with the existing facilities [ 43 ]. Therefore, researchers believe that the most accurate environmental impact factors can be obtained by looking at tourism and leisure facilities, natural ecosystems [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], public transportation, parking and open space, environmental quality of tourists, garbage, motor vehicle fumes, water, and air quality.

1.3. Analyze the Importance of the Relationship between Perceptions of Tourism Shocks and Willingness to Re-Tourism to Establish Rural Health and Environmental Sustainability

Tourism development can promote the local economy, enhance the living conditions and quality of life of local residents, and improve existing facilities and infrastructure to increase tourists’ willingness to visit and spend money there [ 23 , 38 , 40 ]. A good experience of the effectiveness of decision-making and development will help residents to actively cooperate and generate the will to continuously promote participation in tourism decision-making [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], and a good tourism consumption experience will also increase tourists’ willingness to participate in tourism [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. The perceptions of decision effectiveness [ 54 , 55 ] and the current status of rural tourism development may also vary among different rights holders, genders, and ages [ 38 , 54 , 56 , 57 ].

Based on the above arguments, it is concluded that since villages can promote local economy through tourism development, improve community environment and facilities, enhance tourism conditions, and improve the quality of services and facilities, it will have a certain influence on the current situation of residents’ quality of life and tourists’ willingness to travel. Therefore, the researcher believes that there is a correlation between tourism impact perception and the desire to revisit or purchase a property.

2. Research Methods

2.1. research process and framework.

This study was designed to Beigang Wude Temple as a case and investigates the effect of Taiwan’s religious and cultural tourism for the development of rural tourism. Firstly, we collected relevant literature and conducted a questionnaire survey targeting local residents and tourists in Beigang from December 2020 to January 2021. A total of 800 questionnaires were distributed, and 600 valid questionnaires were retrieved, with a return rate of about 75%. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 22.0 software, and then descriptive analysis was conducted. Based on the analysis results, the field survey method was used to collect field information, and the interview method was used to collect the opinions of experts, seniors, and travelers, and the research paper was constructed by the sequence of summarization, organization, and analysis [ 20 ]. Finally, the multivariate verification analysis method was used to integrate the information of different research subjects, research theories, and methods, and to obtain accurate knowledge and meanings by comparing the research results from multiple perspectives and multiple data [ 20 , 58 , 59 ].

According to the above-mentioned literature [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ], the study investigated the economic, social, and environmental-related aspects and issues from the perception perspectives of different backgrounds, and the specific research framework is shown in Figure 1 .

Study framework.

According to the above framework, the research hypothesis is:

The development of religious and cultural tourism has no significant impact on the current economic development of the village.

There is no significant impact of religious and cultural tourism development on the social development of villages.

There is no significant impact of religious and cultural tourism development on village environment development.

There was no significant correlation between the impact of economic development and the willingness to revisit.

There was no significant correlation between the impact of social development and the willingness to revisit.

There was no significant correlation between environmental development impacts and the desire to revisit.

2.2. Research Tools

With reference to the literature on tourism impact [ 16 , 21 , 55 , 56 , 57 ], the economic, social, and environmental dimensions were categorized, and the subcomponents of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions were differentiated. The cognitive scale was designed using a five-point Likert scale, with a score of 5 for strongly agree, 4 for agree, 3 for generally agree, 2 for disagree, and 1 for strongly disagree, with the higher the score, the higher the cognitive level, and vice versa.

Reliability analysis can examine whether the measurement tool is reliable and stable. The α reliability coefficient method was used in this survey questionnaire, and SPSS 22.0 software was used to analyze the reliability of the questionnaire. Meanwhile, the coefficient value of Cronbach’s α is between 0 and 1, and the larger the α value, the better the correlation and the higher the reliability [ 60 ]. In general, an α value below 0.6 indicates that the internal consistency of the questionnaire is poor, an α value between 0.6 and 0.8 indicates that it is good, and if it is greater than 0.8, it indicates that the internal consistency of the questionnaire is very good [ 61 ]. The analysis showed that the Cronbach’s α coefficient was greater than 0.8 for economic, social, and environmental dimensions, so the reliability of the study questionnaire was higher for the economic dimension, as shown in Table 1 .

Classification table of tourism impact dimensions.

2.3. Research and Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of religious culture on the development of village tourism in Beigang Wude Temple. Quantitative research can get the opinions of most people, but cannot get detailed questions [ 62 , 63 ]. Although qualitative research can only represent the suggestions of a small number of people, with the answers provided by representative people, deeper and subtle insights can be obtained [ 64 ]. Mixed research methods can make up for shortcomings [ 65 ]. In order to obtain the most factual suggestions for improvement, the study first asked five industry members, scholars, and citizens who are familiar with the local development process and have relevant professional backgrounds and created an outline of the interviews by referring to the issues on which at least three people had a consensus. Based on the results of the questionnaire analysis, we then applied focused interviews to seek the opinions of professionals, scholars, and citizens who are familiar with the local development process and have relevant professional backgrounds, to obtain more factual truths and construct the best recommendations as shown in Table 2 .

Background information of the interviewees and outline of the interview.

Lastly, field surveys and interviews were conducted to collect actual information, and after summarizing, organizing, and analyzing all the data, a multivariate review was conducted.

The survey started in 2020, and the initial visitors were distributed all over the country. Due to limitations in manpower, material resources, and funding, field surveys were conducted first to observe the current status of village development and residents’ opinions. In addition, factors such as local farming, young people working outside the village, and the fact that the COVID-19 epidemic was not yet under control limited the initial collection of samples. Although the information was subsequently collected through a combination of online questionnaire platforms, the information collected by the researcher was flawed due to differences in respondents’ cooperation and proficiency in using 3C products. The limitations of the study will be presented in this paper, and we encourage subsequent researchers to correct them to improve on the study.

3. Results and Analysis

3.1. background analysis.

The analysis revealed that there was not much difference in the status of the respondents (45.5% of residents and 54.5% of tourists), but most of them were women (40.9%), aged between 21 and 50 (74.2%), mainly residents of central (48.5%) and southern (42.4%) areas, and mostly used their own cars for transportation (89.4%). Most of the spending amount was less than 35.71 USD (75.8%), mainly for prayers, donations, joss paper, and incense (72.8%), as shown in Table 3 .

Background disguised analysis table.

3.2. Analysis of the Awareness of the Impact of Religious and Cultural Tourism on Village Development

Culture is an indispensable trace of human civilization, and faith is a source of inspiration for most people. Religious and cultural concepts of the immutability and equality of all beings have been the means of transmitting the correct social values and fostering environmental and cultural awareness in our country from ancient times to the present [ 57 ]. Therefore, based on the premise of environmental awareness, exploring people’s views on promoting cultural tourism and maintaining the overall environment of rural communities [ 34 , 66 , 67 ] can be a sound proposal for sustainable rural development. However, development has positive and negative impacts on the economic, social, and environmental levels [ 12 , 16 ], and different backgrounds may lead to different perspectives, and acquiring different perspectives is beneficial for obtaining the best suggestions for improvement [ 16 , 23 , 55 , 56 , 57 ].

The questionnaire was designed based on the literature, and a Likert scale was used, with 1 meaning strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The basic statistical tests were used to explore people’s perceptions of the current status of village development, and then the t-test and ANOVA tests were used to explore the perception differences among different status, gender, and age, and then the interview information was compared and explored in a multivariate verification method [ 20 , 58 ].

3.2.1. Analysis of the Awareness of the Impact of Religious and Cultural Tourism on the Village Economy

It was found that most people believed that the development of cultural tourism in Wude Temple has combined with local specialty industries (4.24), increased entrepreneurship and employment opportunities (3.95), and indirectly improved the standard of medical and health care (4.09). However, the effectiveness of the existing tourism development in giving back to the community (3.53) was not perceived, and the quality of public facilities (4.11) and public transportation (3.18) remained poor, which is not entirely consistent with the literature [ 14 , 21 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]. In addition, there was a significant difference in the perception of the current status of public facilities maintenance in communities with feedback from tourism development ( p < 0.01), and residents felt worse about the effectiveness of public facilities maintenance; the older they were, the worse they felt, as shown in Table 4 . Based on the above description, Hypothesis 1 was not confirmed.

Analysis of the awareness of the impact of religious and cultural tourism on the village economy.

* p < 0.01.

Although environmental education has been included in the basic curriculum of Taiwan national education for many years, and students have been cultivating a sense of environmental conservation for many years, coupled with the Chinese culture’s promotion of the concept of benevolence and love, and the religion’s promotion of the awareness of equality of all beings, Taiwanese people are well aware of ecological and environmental conservation. However, the overall economic development of rural areas is insufficient, and all industries are still waiting to be developed. Although the people have the awareness of ecological and environmental conservation, they still hope to continue to develop rural cultural tourism activities by combining local religious customs (4.24), ecological environment, and agricultural products, so as to attract believers and tourists to visit the villages and create a large number of business opportunities, and to improve employment and entrepreneurship opportunities (3.95), medical and health care, as well as to improve the quality of life (4.09). However, since most of the existing public temple cultural institutions in Taiwan are private organizations with self-funded operations, and in order to avoid suspicion, officials seldom take the initiative to communicate with each other on development planning issues, and the degree of cooperation is low, as a result, the feedback received by villages is not effective (3.53), and the quality of public facilities (4.11) and public transportation remains poor (3.18). As a result, most people feel strongly about changes in the integration of special industries, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities, and the standard of medical and health care, but feel poorly about the effectiveness of the development of feedback villages, public transportation, and public facilities.

While the public has a wealth of environmental awareness and experience, policies need to be discussed, decisions need to be driven by human and resources, and results need to be proven over time so visitors who stay for a short period will not be able to accurately judge the difference between before and after changes. Moreover, as tourism development extends over time, the magnitude of change increases and only those who have lived here for a long time will be able to feel it deeply. Therefore, residents believe that the development of tourism does not give back to the community (residents < tourists; 3.77:4.39) and maintain public facilities (residents < tourists; 3.60:4.25), and the older they are, the worse they feel (20 under > 21–30 > 31–40 > over 51 > 41–50). Based on the above description, the analysis results obtained cannot be in line with the Institute of Research Hypothesis 1.

3.2.2. Analysis of the Awareness of the Impact of Religious and Cultural Tourism on Village Society

It was found that most people thought that the development of cultural tourism in Wude Temple was helpful in enhancing the visibility of local tourism (4.47), friendly interaction between residents and tourists (3.91), and preservation of unique village humanistic architecture or landscape totems (4.17). However, the result is not entirely consistent with the literature [ 16 , 23 , 55 , 56 , 57 ], as police, firefighters, and security personnel (3.47), as well as tourism indicators (4.05), are not well planned, and architectural features (3.3) are gradually disappearing. The results are in line with the literature [ 16 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. The issue of open space is significantly divided by gender ( p < 0.01), and men believe that parking and open space facilities need to be improved, while people aged 31–40 are more sensitive to the issues of social participation and development of tourism organizations, as shown in Table 5 . Based on the above description, Hypothesis 2 was not confirmed.

Analysis of the awareness of the impact of religious and cultural tourism on village society.

Most of the villages are remote areas where crowds do not easily gather. Promoting tourism development with religious, agricultural, and cultural specialties can effectively enhance local visibility (4.47). While residents expect to improve their quality of life and achieve long-term development, they do not want to lose their existing living habits (3.91), cultural cus-toms and features, and tourists do not want to lose their original village style and tourism features (4.17). However, due to the aging population, the outflow of young people (3.47), the small size of the village, and the limited space available for consumption (4.05), a large number of modern entertainment and consumption facilities have been built to meet the needs of tourists, forcing the demolition of existing buildings (3.3). Therefore, most people think that the visibility, preservation of unique village architecture or landscape totems, and interaction between residents and tourists are effective, while tourism indicators and police, firefighters, and security personnel are insufficient, and architectural features are gradually disappearing.

Since most people in Taiwan are highly educated and nurtured by sound professional knowledge and environmental teaching, they possess basic knowledge and have a high degree of environmental awareness and sensitivity. Most of the believers and cultural tourism tourists are family tourists, and there is little unused space in the rural areas. Excluding the living space of the existing residents, the shopping areas and stalls occupy the area, and the parking spaces for tourists are chaotic, resulting in tourists who are mainly male (father or elder brother) drivers often face the difficulty of finding a parking place (female > male; 3.56:3.97). Therefore, male citizens are more sensitive to the issue of parking and leisure facilities, while citizens aged 31–40 are more sensitive to the issue of social participation and the development of tourism organizations (31–40 > 20 under > over 51 > 21–30 > 41–50). Based on the above description, the analysis results obtained cannot be in line with the Institute of Research Hypothesis 2.

3.2.3. Analysis of the Awareness of the Impact of Religious and Cultural Tourism on the Village Environment

It was found that most people thought that the cultural tourism development of Wude Temple helped preserve the historical scenery and relics (4.00) and that the temple authorities provided sufficient space for public toilets (4.00). However, the planning of transportation outside the temple (3.06) was inconvenient, and the public trash cans were not clearly set up and insufficient (3.39), which is not exactly the same as in the literature [ 16 , 23 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. Although respondents of different status and gender had the same opinion, the older they were, the worse they felt about the planning of public toilets and the effectiveness of historical scenery and maintenance of monuments, as shown in Table 6 . Based on the above description, Hypothesis 3 was not confirmed.

Analysis of the awareness of the impact of religious and cultural tourism on the village environment.

Although the ecological environment, history, customs, and ancient architecture are important tourism resources, the unique local religious culture is also a unique rural tour-ism feature. However, rural villages are scattered and have little space for tourism development, and the number is small and dense so maintaining resources (4.00) and providing a good public environment and sanitary space (4.00) is the key to improving the quality of tourism and services as well as sustainable development. However, because the main tourist activity space is far away from the road outside, the residential houses and the surrounding stores are crowded (3.06), the activity area is narrow and the available space for planning is limited (3.39). Therefore, most people think that the historical scenery and historical sites are well maintained, and the public toilets are well planned, but the public garbage cans are not well set up and insufficient in number, and the transportation is inconvenient.

Nevertheless, due to the limited building space available in the village temples, the lack of public space around them, the intermingling of residential and tourist areas, the aging population, the proliferation of elderly tourists, the outflow of young people, and the loss of labor force, it is impossible to provide adequate and complete public toilet facilities to satisfy the elderly worshippers (tourists). Moreover, the longer historical scenery and relics exist, the more precious they become, but the more easily they are damaged. Changes in scenery or resources can be experienced and felt by people who have lived there for a long time in a different time and context (20 under > 21–30 > 31–40 > 41–50 > over 51). Therefore, the older people are, the more deeply they feel that public restrooms are inadequate and that historical landscapes and monuments are not well maintained. Based on the above description, the analysis results obtained cannot be in line with the Institute of Research Hypothesis 3.

3.3. Correlation Analysis of Village Development Impact and Perception of Re-Tourism or Property Purchase Intention

Ultimately, tourism development aims to promote village development, improve existing facilities and infrastructure, meet the needs of tourists, and promote sustainable visitation and tourism consumption [ 23 , 38 , 40 , 55 ], which are sustainable development goals. Therefore, it is important to investigate the impact of village development on perceptions and willingness to revisit or purchase property to understand the key factors of people’s willingness to revisit or purchase properties. Therefore, the Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between the impact on cognition and the willingness to revisit or purchase properties.

3.3.1. Correlation between Economic Impact and Perception of Re-Tourism Willingness

It was found that there was a significant relationship between industrial development, private property prices, community development and the willingness to revisit or purchase properties ( p < 0.001), and the effectiveness of industrial development (0.686), community development (0.618), and private property prices (0.588) influenced the willingness to recommend friends and relatives to travel and experience, and the results were not identical in the literature [ 23 , 38 , 40 , 55 ], as shown in Table 7 . Based on the above description, Hypothesis 4 was no confirmed.

Correlation analysis of the economic impact and re-tourism intention.

** p < 0.001.

Although tourism development is currently advocated to be environmentally friendly and to move toward sustainable tourism development, for villages with religious culture and agricultural industry as development resources, having adequate industrial development, sound community development, and stable prices for people’s livelihoods are still the main keys to attracting people. Based on the above description, the analysis results obtained cannot be in line with the Institute of Research Hypothesis 4.

3.3.2. Correlation between Society Impact and Perception of Re-Tourism Willingness

It was found that there was a significant correlation ( p < 0.001) between community building, the culture of life, cultural security and the willingness to revisit or purchase property, and the effectiveness of community building (0.686), cultural security (0.618), and culture of life (0.588) affected the willingness to recommend friends and relatives to travel and experience, and the results were not identical in the literature [ 19 , 34 , 36 , 51 ], as shown in Table 8 . Based on the above description, Hypothesis 5 was no confirmed.

Correlation analysis of society impact and re-tourism intention.

Since villages have limited space for tourism development, organizing volunteers or bringing in manpower to maintain culture and law and order, deeply cultivating local human customs and cultural characteristics, using existing space for community building, as well as proper planning of tourism highlights, will be the basis for people to recommend their friends and relatives to visit the villages. Based on the above description, resulting in the analysis results obtained cannot be in line with the Institute of Research Hypothesis 5.

3.3.3. Correlation between Environment Impact and Perception of Re-Tourism Willingness

A significant correlation ( p < 0.001) was found between village environment, public health, and the willingness to revisit or purchase properties, and the effectiveness of public health (0.752) and village environment (0.317) influenced people’s attractiveness and willingness to re-engage in local activities and the results were not identical in the literature [ 23 , 38 , 40 , 55 ], as shown in Table 9 . Based on the above description, Hypothesis 6 was no confirmed.

Correlation analysis of the environmental impact and re-tourism intention.

* p < 0.01. ** p < 0.001.

The environment and sanitary conditions of tourism are the main factors for people to consider in their travel activities, especially in the current poor travel environment surrounded by viruses, a safe and sanitary travel environment is a key consideration. Therefore, maintaining a clean and safe public sanitary space in the village environment is a key factor to attract tourists to visit again and recommend their friends and relatives to visit with them. Based on the above description, the analysis results obtained cannot be in line with the Institute of Research Hypothesis 6.

4. Conclusions

Survey results show that although cultural tourism helps villages to improve their reputation, preserve historical sites, increase the integration of special industries, promote interaction among people, increase entrepreneurship and employment opportunities, and improve the standard of public toilets and medical sanitation, problems such as the lack of tourism feedback, inadequate village development, low number of public garbage cans, unclear settings, inconvenient transportation, insufficient public facilities, tourism indicators, and police and fire safety personnel, and the disappearance of local architecture have yet to be solved.

It was concluded that creating parking spaces, providing a comfortable resting place for tourists, creating an open exchange of ideas, and raising public awareness and consciousness of the environment would increase the importance of public issues such as village visibility, citizen interaction, ancient architecture, culture and totems, public health and transportation, and entrepreneurial development in the village, as well as address the concerns of local residents and some men and people over the age of 31–40. It will also improve community building and security, enrich cultural resources, provide adequate industrial infrastructure and development, stabilize prices, and achieve a safe and sanitary public environment, thus increasing the desire of people to revisit and making the village a recommended destination for family travel, and achieving the goal of sustainable development of rural environment and health.

Based on the above results, the following suggestions are made:

4.1. Local Government

Development does not only depend on local rural characteristics and tourism resources but also requires administrative and financial support from government agencies in order to have proper development space and community planning.

If the local government can entrust experts and scholars to conduct field Tacha, reforming surrounding tourist moving lines, link temples and cultural organizations, to collect the views of residents, aid to promote the depth of cultural tourism.

4.2. Local Authorities

Development does not rely solely on government resources and enthusiastic public input, but also on talents with professional knowledge and skills, in order to continuously explore local characteristics, create uninterrupted tourism appeal, and achieve sustainable development goals.

If local governments or tourism development organizations can refer to the suggestions of local cultural organizations and professionals, conserve local cultural assets, and use resources to develop tourism activities or products, they can create tourism highlights.

4.3. Policy Makers

Visionary leaders are critical but gathering more information and recruiting more expertise can lead to innovative, sound, and trend-aligned decisions.

If government agencies can invite existing villagers, organize community volunteer organizations, set up entrepreneurial technology courses, encourage residents to participate, and combine local high school courses and manpower, it can solve the problem of insufficient development manpower.

4.4. Suggestions for Future Research

Since the study mainly takes Beigang Wude Temple as a case study, it explores the influence of Taiwan’s religious and cultural tourism on the development of rural tourism, and the different cultural customs and characteristics of different regions may also cause different village development impacts.

Therefore, the researchers believe that it is recommended that future researchers continue to explore religious and cultural tourism or related issues based on differences in different countries, regions, different rights, and ages, and understand the understanding and differences of peers on this topic in order to improve related research flaws.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, H.-H.L. and Z.-F.L.; methodology, H.-H.L.; software, Y.L.; validation, J.-C.L., Y.L.; formal analysis, H.-H.L.; investigation, J.-C.L.; resources, Z.-F.L.; data curation, Y.L.; writing—original draft preparation, H.-H.L. and Z.-F.L.; writing—review and editing, H.-H.L.; visualization, H.-H.L.; supervision, H.-H.L.; project administration, Z.-F.L.; funding acquisition, J.-C.L., Y.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

All subjects in the study were anonymously labeled and agreed to participate in the survey.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

World Religious and Spiritual Tourism Destinations Network

The creation of the World Religious and Spiritual Tourism Destinations Network (WRSTDN) is an initiative developed by the Tourism and Society Think Tank, in collaboration with TSTT partner companies, to promote religious tourism and culture in a region or country. 

The World Religious and Spiritual Tourism Destinations Network is an effective way to promote tourism, cross-cultural understanding and respect for religious diversity. However, it is important to do so in a respectful and ethical manner, ensuring that local religious communities are involved and benefit from the initiative.

What is the World Religious and Spiritual Tourism Destinations Network?

The Network is a collaborative platform that unites destinations, organizations and experts involved in religious tourism. Our goal is to foster the exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practices, as well as to promote the sustainable and responsible development of religious tourism.

For further information

Benefits of Membership

Connection to a World Network: Access to a wide network of contacts in the religious tourism sector.

Promotion and visibility: Opportunities to promote your destinations and services to an international audience.

Access to information and t rends: Periodic reports on trends, innovations and best practices in religious tourism.

Events and webinars: Invitations to exclusive events, conferences and webinars for the exchange of ideas and experiences.

We hope you will join us in this exciting journey to enrich and expand the reach of religious tourism in the world. 

Thanking you for your attention and looking forward to your valuable participation.

Registration form and further information

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Case studies

Palestine: history and culture

Peru: pre-Columbian and later traditions

Egypt: Coptic religious tourism

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Ad hoc advice and consultancy on aspects related to Religious Tourism. 

Technological tools adapted to Religious Tourism: innovation, digitalization, big data, etc.

Management of international events: meetings, assemblies, conventions, congresses, seminars, work groups, etc. 

Organization of commercial events: workshops, marketing campaigns, etc. 

Training and qualification of professionals adapted to the needs of religious, spiritual and pilgrim tourists. 

Research studies with prestigious universities 

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

• 10 Dec 2014

Tourism can protect and promote religious heritage

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PR No. : PR 14083

Sustainable development of tourism at religious heritage sites was in focus at the International Conference on Religious Heritage and Tourism: Types, trends and challenges , jointly organized by UNWTO, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism of Spain and the City Hall of Elche (27-28 November 2014, Elche, Spain).

With this backdrop, the International Conference on Religious Heritage and Tourism explored the main challenges and best practices for sustainable tourism development at religious sites in the city of Elche, Spain, home to the Mystery Play of Elx, the last living testimony of European religious theatre of the Middle Ages and declared a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

“Among the many motivations for travelling, visiting cultural or religious sites ranks high on travelers’ wish lists. Leveraging the growing interest for religious tourism worldwide is not only beneficial for the tourism sector, but crucial in building cultural dialogue and peace”, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, opening the Conference. “Religious tourism can also be a powerful instrument for raising awareness regarding the importance of safeguarding one´s heritage and that of humanity, and help preserve these important sites for future generations”, he added. 

The Secretary of State for Tourism of Spain, Isabel Borrego, highlighted the fruitful cooperation between UNWTO and Spain in further spreading awareness of the value of historical, cultural and artistic heritage, and stressed the importance of this particular tourism segment for Spain. "There is not a single town or city in Spain where you won’t find traditions, festivals religious celebrations, pilgrimages, monasteries, cathedrals or pilgrimages. Religious tourism boosts economic activity and helps safeguard our rich historic heritage, and will play an essential role in the future of the tourism sector."

The Mayor of Elche, Mercedes Alonso García, said: “Tourists are not only seeking to experience nature but also the most deeply rooted creations of the human spirit. In this sense, and as this conference has shown, a quality tourism offer consists of tangible cultural and religious heritage, as well as the intangible realities and cultural events fostered by them."

During the Conference, participants highlighted the role of religious heritage sites and religious traditions in educating future generations and creating a sense of belonging in host communities, the need to preserve the integrity and authenticity of these sites and having local communities benefiting from tourism development.

Participants also highlighted that tourism has become one of the forces driving preservation in many religious sites due to the growing secularization of society, and that for tourists interacting with other religions is a unique experience that can only happen within the full respect for host communities. 

Useful links:

International Conference on Religious Heritage and Tourism: Types, Trends and Challenges

UNWTO Regional Programme for Europe

UNWTO Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 

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February 28, 2019

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Religious Tourism: What is it and why is it so important?

Religious tourism is one of the earliest forms of tourism and is a fast growing market. Here, Peter Wiltshier, Consultant Researcher Community & Tourism Development NZ at Research Consultancy NZ, New Zealand , explains what it is and why it is so important.

View to Jerusalem old city, Israel

What is religious tourism?

Religious tourism has taken place since the dawn of civilisation. Pilgrims travelled to pay homage to the sacred places and their guardians throughout the world. Tourism to sacred sites has merged with pilgrimage in the past 2,000 years. More recently, in the past 200 years wealthy Europeans visited special sites of sacred ritual in both the New World and throughout Europe.

Why is it so important?

Sites of special sacred significance have been visited for millennia. What is now important is that these sites need protection, conservation and interpretation. There are few guardians of these special places of worship and visitation and even fewer sources of funds to maintain and manage sites for visitors and worshippers. We do make a distinction between worshippers and visitors, as the religious sites cater for both in roughly equal amounts at some very special places like Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal.

Religious tourism in history

The management of religious tourism presents many challenges that are unique in both breadth and application. Sites of religious significance have existed since biblical times and pilgrimage in the Judeo-Christian context is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, for example, in the story of Elkanah, who travels annually to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice (1 Samuel 1:1-28). It is also present in the New Testament Pentecost story, when Jews from all over the world went to Jerusalem for the Passover (Acts 2: 1-12). Many of these sites still exist and other sites, although not as old, have considerable heritage value. The management of heritage sites present particular problems, one of which relates to the cost of maintenance.

Managing sites of religious tourism

Most religious sites are owned by religious organisations, and this may cause challenges for their management, as they must balance the needs of worshippers with those of their visitors. Mosques are at the centre of Islamic tourism and are visited by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Muslims may visit mosques while travelling as a tourist attraction or as a place of worship. Many mosques have a dual role, functioning as both a place of worship and as a community centre. The role of community centre means that the mosque will be open for functions and festivities that are not strictly religious in nature and may include non-Muslims.

Muslim countries, such as those in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcome tourism, especially religious tourism. But they make a distinction between pilgrimage, the most well know being the Hajj, and other forms of religious tourism. While non-Muslims are welcome at sites such as mosques, they are not welcome at the Hajj. The Hajj is one of the most important forms of pilgrimage today with millions of Muslims travelling to Makkah (Mecca) in Saudi Arabia and, without question, the most important Muslim pilgrimage. It is therefore important to distinguish between Muslim travellers to Muslim sites and non-Muslim visitors to these sites. For example, it is not acceptable for non-Muslims to enter the region of Hejaz where the cities of Mecca and Medina are located. There is some conflict related to ‘ownership’ of these sites, and this is discussed below. Other religions have similar problems in relation to conflicting motivations.

Visitors and worshippers

One of the conflicts that has been noted is between visitors to religious sites and worshippers. While many visitors see worshippers as part of the experience, some worshippers do not like the feeling of being observed. Worshippers do not want to feel that they are part of a ‘show’, but are happy to share their religious space, and are proud of the architecture and history that attracts visitors to the site. Sacredness does not readily cross cultural boundaries. What is viewed as sacred by one group, such as congregants, may be seen as culturally interesting by another visitor group. Given that some visitors may wish to engage in worship, Church authorities may need to determine when a request to participate in a service should be accepted as an expression of genuine interest and/or intention.

Developing sites of special significance requires the dissemination and sharing of both intellectual and practical contributions to meet those needs in a planned and stakeholder-driven approach. Traditional approaches to development emerged half a century ago with a focus on core competencies and the agreed understanding that open and fair competition would raise quality and assure reasonable profit margins. It is important to create awareness of services and products and map those to marketing practices.

Analysis and synthesis through primary research enable cleric and manager to grasp visitors’ and worshippers’ needs and develop audiences for sites. In the book, we present the importance of maintenance and plans for developing sites to accommodate factors in both internal and external environments that acknowledge the requirement to remain competitive.

How can religious tourism sites stay competitive?

The importance of networks, grappling with the wider community and perhaps establishing a wider, even global, reach, is appraised as important. In seeking to tap into resources traditionally not employed in managing religious and pilgrimage sites, we elevate the need for an enterprise culture.

Our book features great practices for supporting tourism to sites of worship and pilgrimage from China and Nepal through to Salt Lake City, Australia and diverse but important sites in England, Hungary, Spain, and Ireland. Emerging practices in festival and event management at these sites are coupled with new interpretation through the use of virtual reality technology. Emerging good practices for emulation come with sites that are now employing funding managers prepared to manage the risks of increased visitation against the pressures to conserve and protect the ancient sites at the centre of the visitor experience.

This post also appears on the University of Derby blog .

Managing Religious Tourism is now available from the CABI Bookshop.

You might also be interested in reading From too many to too few: the impact of COVID-19 on overtourism

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, digital marketing for religious event of india for tourism sustainability and promotion.

The Emerald Handbook of ICT in Tourism and Hospitality

ISBN : 978-1-83982-689-4 , eISBN : 978-1-83982-688-7

Publication date: 30 November 2020

India is the place of many religions, customs and traditions. Religious events are regularly an exceptional tourist opportunity, and there are several religious events that take place in India throughout the year. These events not only focus on the importance of people engaging in religious events and having spiritual experience but also act as a promotional opportunity for any country. With changing times, these religious places have become a site for tourism; relatively a mere pilgrimage and digital marketing is especially useful in promoting these events and places to new potential attendees as well. Therefore, this research stresses upon the small- and medium-sized religious events that take place in various regions of India and the importance of digital marketing in sustaining and promoting the event tourism.

• Sustainability
• Digital marketing

Arora, S. and Sharma, A. (2020), "Digital Marketing for Religious Event of India for Tourism Sustainability and Promotion", Hassan, A. and Sharma, A. (Ed.) The Emerald Handbook of ICT in Tourism and Hospitality , Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 453-465. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-688-720201029

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Religious Tourism: an Opportunity to Further Nepal-India Ties

26 July, 2022

• Home / Research-Article / Religious Tourism: an Opportunity to Further Nepal-India Ties

Introduction

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi recently visited Lord Buddha's birthplace Lumbini in Nepal, on May 16, on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, at the invitation of Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Debua. PM Modi's fifth visit to Nepal since becoming the Prime Minister in 2014 and the first to Lumbini saw him use soft power diplomacy. The overtures will improve Indo-Nepal ties when the geopolitical dynamics are rapidly changing and further enhance the Indo-Nepal religious tourism circuit.

The two countries share special closeness and similarities in cultural tradition. Lord Buddha, born in Nepal, left his footprints worldwide, including in India. Sita, the daughter of Nepal, married Ram, the crown prince of Ayodhya in India. Sita has a special place in the heart of Hindus worldwide. The cultural and religious overlaps shape the relations between the two countries, with the religious facet being the predominant role. The religious connection has resulted in many Indian and Nepalese citizens visiting each other's countries for pilgrimage. Nepal sees the highest number of tourist visits from India.

Asia has seen significant growth in international tourist inflows over the years. Buddhism is among the potential avenues for attracting tourists from abroad, and pilgrimage is the second most popular reason for visiting Nepal. In the past few years, India and Nepal have worked closely on developing the transnational Buddhist and Ramayana tourist circuit. The COVID-19 pandemic struck a blow to tourism worldwide, bringing it to a standstill. With things easing to a certain extent, the two countries have made various moves to rejuvenate the religious tourist circuit in both countries. This report examines the religious circuits, steps taken to improve religious tourism, and the road ahead.

Buddhist Circuit

The Buddhist religious tourism circuit is significant since most Buddhists are concentrated in East and Southeast Asia. Buddha, in the Mahaparinirvana sutra, tells his followers that they can attain merit and a noble rebirth by embarking on a pilgrimage covering the places where he was born, gained enlightenment, first taught, and attained Nirvana.

A tourist circuit typically has well-defined entry and exit points along with three major tourist destinations that are distinct and apart. The circuit can be confined into a state, region, or transnational. They usually have one dominant theme with other sub-themes . [ [i] ]

The transnational Buddhist tourism circuit covers Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India and Nepal. It is intended to improve the footfall of tourists and includes Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Rajgir, Shravasti, Vaishali, Nalanda, Kaushambi, Sankisa, and Kapilavastu. Bodh Gaya and Sarnath lead the pack among them. These Buddhist sites in India receive 6% of nationwide foreign tourist arrivals.

The holy sites follow Buddha's life cycle. Lumbini (Nepal) is the most important one being Buddha's birthplace. Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath after enlightenment, Kushinagar was chosen for his final departure, Nalanda was an epicentre for learning and one of the world's first residential universities, and he spent several months meditating at Rajgir, Sravasti, where he taught many of his Suttas and Vaishali where he delivered his last sermon.

The connectivity is mainly via air, rail, and roads, although road remains the most popular mode of transportation for tourists on the Buddhist circuit. IRCTC operates Buddhist Circuit Train envisioned to cover the most venerable sites of Buddhism. The train enables all guests to pay respects at Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace, despite it being located across the India-Nepal border in addition to the Mayadevi temple. The train starts from New Delhi and covers Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Varanasi, Sarnath, Lumbini, Kushinagar, Sravasti, and Agra in an 8-day journey allowing tourists to sightsee the holy sites. The Buddhist Train runs throughout the year, with trips scheduled from January-March and October-December in 2022.[ [ii] ]

In October 2021, India inaugurated Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh, which will help connect key Buddhist pilgrimage cities. The airport has its significance, given that Kushinagar is believed to be the final resting place of Buddha. It is also the centre of the transnational Buddhist circuit, including Lumbini, Sarnath, and Bodh Gaya, among other holy places.

On the Nepalese side, Nepal recently inaugurated the much-delayed Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. Nepal's second international airport in Bhairahawa is envisaged as the gateway to the pilgrimage site of the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini. It is expected to increase the number of pilgrim arrivals to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lumbini. The airport project conceived by South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development to develop and improve tourism infrastructure was approved a decade ago by the board of the Asian Development Bank.

The Buddhist circuit in Uttar Pradesh attracts international tourists from all across the world. Kaushambi, where Buddha stayed and preached during the sixth and ninth years of attaining enlightenment, received the highest number of tourists in the last five years. Sarnath is the second most visited place after Kaushambi. Tourist visits to Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit in 2020-2021 have been severely impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Table 1: Tourist visits to Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit in the Years - 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021

Source: Year-wise Tourist Statistics, UP Tourism

Foreign tourists have preferred to visit Sarnath, where Buddha turned the Wheel of Law, whereas domestic tourists have preferred to visit Kaushambi. Sarnath has received the highest foreign tourist visits in the Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit in the last five years. Shravasti received the second-highest number of tourists in the 2017-2019 period after Sarnath.

Table 2: Foreign tourists visit Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit in the Years - 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021

The inflow of foreign tourists to important tourist places in Uttar Pradesh was severely hit in 2020-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The foreign tourist visits increased yearly from the 2017-2019 period, with 2019 seeing a 25.5% increase in foreign tourists compared to the last year. The inflow, however, reduced staggeringly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 2020 seeing an 81.22% decrease and 2021 seeing a 94.97% decrease in foreign tourists compared to the last year.

India banned international flights on March 23, 2020, with only limited international flights allowed to operate between India and select countries under bilateral air bubble agreements. Regular international flights resumed on March 27, 2022, after a COVID-19 pandemic-induced hiatus of two years. [ [iii] ]

Table 3: Foreign tourist visits to important tourist places of Uttar Pradesh in the years 2017 to 2021

Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, is the most visited pilgrimage site in Nepal by foreign tourists excluding Indian tourists in Nepal. The incoming foreign visits, excluding Indian tourists, were battered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Nepal was open for tourist arrivals only for the first three months leading to a 73.7% reduction in tourist visits to Lumbini.

One million seven hundred seventy-nine thousand eighty-six persons visited Lumbini in 2019, with 78.76% Nepalese, 11.51% Indians, and 9.73% other countries. In 2020, 279,927 persons visited Lumbini, with 70.5% Nepalese, 13.3% Indians, and 16.2% from other countries. In 2021, 508,892 persons visited Lumbini, with 91.1% Nepalese, 8.6% Indians, and 0.23% from other countries.

Bhairahawa and Rupendehi account for most of the tourist arrivals by land entry points in the last three years. In 2019, the land entry point accounted for 161396 or 80% of arrivals out of 201307 in Nepal. In 2020, the land entry point accounted for 43272 or 92.2% of arrivals out of 46955 in Nepal.

Table 4: Foreign tourist visits to Lumbini, Nepal (excluding Indian tourists)

Source: Nepal Tourism Statistics 2021 , Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation

East and South East Asian countries account for many international arrivals to the Buddhist Circuit. The same is reflected in the country-wise visit statistics to Lumbini (excluding Indian citizens) for 2020. Sri Lanka (47507), Myanmar (30791), Thailand (28364), China (21269), Vietnam (8345), South Korea (6145), Germany (3306), Taiwan (2623), Japan (2056), and the USA (2047) were the top 10 countries in terms of country-wise tourist visit (excluding Indian citizens) to Lumbini in 2019.

Ramayana Circuit

Recently, the transnational Buddhist circuit has dominated the discourse around Indo-Nepal religious tourism, with both countries looking to rejuvenate tourism in the post-COVID-19 world. The bilateral Joint Working Group for cooperation in the tourism sector had earlier agreed to promote the development of the Ramayana circuit and Buddhist circuit in the two countries. [ [iv] ]

During PM Modi's visit to Janakpur in 2018, the two Prime Ministers launched India-Nepal Ramayana Circuit to connect spiritual places in Nepal linked to Ramayana to the places in the rest of India where Lord Rama and Mother Janaki had set their feet. They had also flagged off the inaugural bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya. The bus service will allow devotees to experience the pleasure of affordable and attractive pilgrimage and help develop Nepal's tourism by coming in large numbers. Thousands of devotees from India visit Janakpur in Nepal on the occasion of Vivah Panchami. Devotees keep coming to perform Parikrama throughout the year. [ [v] ]

On the Indian side, fifteen destinations have been identified for development under the Ramayana circuit, including Rameshwaram, Hampi, Bhadrachalam, Nagpur, Nashik, Jagdalpur, Buxar, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Chitrakoot, Mahendragiri, Ayodhya, Nandigram, and Shringverpur. [ [vi] ]

On the Nepalese side, Janakpur is an integral part of the Ramayana circuit, and the Ayodhya-Janakpur bus service made it a part of the Ramayana circuit. In 2018, the two countries agreed to organize yearly fairs in Ayodhya and Janakpur to promote religious ties between the two cities.   

PM Modi in 2018 announced assistance of Rs 100 crores for developing Janakpur and nearby areas in cooperation with the Nepal Government. The two countries, in collaboration, would identify projects along with the provincial government. [ [vii] ]

Although the primary focus till now has been on connecting Ayodhya and Janakpur, the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu is a significant centre of faith for Hindus, among other important places. The Pashupati area in Nepal receives the second highest foreign tourists (excluding Indian tourists) after Lumbini. Pashupati was visited by 163311, 171937, 25400, and 3190 foreign tourists (excluding Indian tourists) in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively. The incoming foreign tourists, excluding Indian tourists, grew year-on-year between 2015-2019 but were affected severely by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Table 5: Foreign tourist visits to Pashupatinath, Nepal (excluding Indian tourists)

The Pashupatinath Mahadev temple in Varanasi also attracts scores of tourists and pilgrims after the development of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The temple has also emerged as a symbol of India-Nepal unity. [ [viii] ]

Last month, IRCTC started running the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train connecting India and Nepal for the Ramayana circuit covering prominent places associated with the life of Lord Rama. [ [ix] ] The 18-day train journey covering an 8,000 km long circuit kick-starts from Delhi and covers Ayodhya, Janakpur (Nepal), Sitamarhi, Varanasi, Nashik, and Rameshwaram before returning to the capital. The theme-based Tourist circuit train takes the tourists to Ram Janmbhoomi temple in Ayodhya, Hanuman temple and Bharat Mandir at Nandigram, and Ram-Janaki temple in Janakpur, among other essential holy sites. [ [x] ]

Last year, it ran the Shri Ramayana Yatra Tour package under the 'Dekho Apna Desh' Deluxe Air-Conditioned Tourist train with 16 nights/17 days tour package to help devotees explore various prominent sacred places associated with the life of Lord Rama.

The construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, expected to be completed next year, will boost the Ramayana circuit. The upcoming Ayodhya International Airport is supposed to become functional by the time the construction of the Ram temple is over will increase the air connectivity in the circuit. [ [xi] ]

Promoting Trans-National Buddhist and Ramayana Circuit

Prime Minister Modi's visit to the Mayadevi temple on May 16 underscores the importance of religious connections in India-Nepal bilateral ties. The birthplace of Lord Buddha lies within the Mayadevi temple. Nepal and India share the civilizational and profound cultural heritage of the people of both countries. The civilizational contact of over two millennia and cultural overlaps between India and Nepal results in the countries sharing complementaries, including religion and culture, among other things. India's soft power has great resonance with Nepal. Over the centuries, the vast tradition of civilization, culture, and knowledge has gained momentum through the pilgrimages from India and Nepal.

PM Modi's visit to Nepal saw the 'shilanyas' ceremony for constructing the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage at a plot in Lumbini owned by the New Delhi-based International Buddhist Confederation (IBC). [ [xii] ] The envisaged Buddhist centre is proposed to house prayer halls, a meditation centre, an exhibition hall, a library, and other amenities. The Buddhist centre will be open to Buddhist pilgrims and centres worldwide. The centre in the Lumbini monastic zone will deepen the cultural and people-to-people linkages between India and Nepal. The centre will help promote the Buddhist philosophy and the teachings of Gautam Buddha.

Tourism is an integral part of Nepal's economy. Religious tourism is one of the most significant contributors to the Nepalese tourism industry. It has helped generate revenue, and jobs, apart from promoting the Nepalese way of life, culture, and traditions, among other things. Every year, lakhs of devotees from all over the world visit the religious shrines in India and Nepal.

Last year, the new Kushinagar International Airport received a proposal from Nepal-based Buddha Airlines to connect Kushinagar with Kathmandu via Lucknow. The airline also has plans to operate flights between Kushinagar and Bhairahawa in Lumbini. [ [xiii] ]

The airport has boosted airline connectivity within the Buddist circuit and pushed the holy places in Uttar Pradesh on the global map. The airport received the first batch of international Buddhist travellers a few months ago. A high-level Buddhist delegation from Thailand and Vietnam arrived via a chartered flight.

Earlier, tourists and pilgrims from Buddhist nations would touch at Kathmandu airport and then travel to Kushinagar by road. Alternatively, international charter flights would land at Bodh Gaya and return via Varanasi. Now, pilgrimage tourists from Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore can comfortably fly directly by air to Kushinagar. They will also have a direct flight from Bhairahawa and Kathmandu to Kushinagar as and when operational.

A decade ago, Buddha Airlines had experimented with operating flights from Kathmandu, Lucknow, and Varanasi, but the same fell flat due to less footfall. Uttar Pradesh now has three international airports: Kushinagar, Lucknow, and Varanasi. The airport is part of India's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), wherein underserved airports connect with key airports through flights.

PM Modi, during his recent visit to Nepal, had first flown to Kushinagar Airport and from there left for Nepal in a chopper in a symbolic move. The airport will likely start international flights soon in the next few months, with airport authorities working on fulfilling the technical requirements. The airport will allow international tourists to visit pilgrimage sites in Kushinagar and Lumbini easily.

Pilgrims prefer travelling through India to Lumbini rather than flying to Kathmandu and then making their way to Lumbini. Most international tourists come from India as part of the Buddhist circuit, including the holy places in Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar, among others.

The Buddhist circuit already has four international airports and two domestic airports. Another two domestic airports are in the pipeline, apart from plans to develop helicopter services and improve international connectivity. [ [xiv] ]

Bharat Gaurav train is tipped to be the first tourist train from India to cross the international border into Nepal. The previous Ramayana circuit tours covered by tourist trains from India covered Janakpur through Sitamarhi station. Indian Railways, with support from Nepal Railways, has now extended the track from Jainagar station in India to Janakpur in Nepal.

The two countries recently launched a cross-border railway line linking Jainagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal. It is the first broad-gauge passenger rail link between the two countries which will be extended up to Bardibas in Nepal. India is supporting the project with Rs 548 crore grant. [ [xv] ]

Last year, the Ministry of Tourism under the Government of India organized Buddhist Circuit Train FAM Tour and Conference to promote the potential of Buddhist tourism. The conference discussed vital issues around developing and promoting tourism in the circuit. Under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, Tourism Ministry (India) sanctioned five projects worth Rs 325.53 crore to develop a Buddhist circuit in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh. [ [xvi] ]

The Ministry focuses on connectivity, infrastructure and logistics, cultural research, heritage, education, public awareness, communication and outreach as the significant verticals of development under the Buddhist circuit. The four-fold development strategy focus on improving rail, air, and road connectivity, enhancing tourism infrastructure and dependent services, streamlining branding and promotion, and showcasing the heritage and culture. [ [xvii] ]

On the Nepalese side, the country is developing infrastructure on its side of the Ramayana circuit. The Janakpur Cultural and Tourism Infrastructure Development Project has an estimated cost of NRs 2000 million. As part of it, the cultural heritage sites of Janakpur will be conserved and beautified, and the construction of information boards, signage, and parks have been planned. It is working to link local and national infrastructure with the Buddha circuit and Ramayana circuit. It is preparing master plans for implementation for the Buddha and Ramayana circuits, among other religious circuits. [ [xviii] ]

In 2018, Nepal proposed developing a monorail network connecting Buddha's birthplace Lumbini, Tilaurakot, and Ramgram with the Gautam Buddha International Airport. The government had planned a feasibility study, after which the works would start if it got a favourable report from the study. The Lumbini Declaration 2018 established Lumbini as the gateway to the larger tourist circuit of Asian Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The plan envisaged connecting Lumbini with Bodhgaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar of India and other Buddhist heritage sites in other countries such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other countries. [ [xix] ]

The new Gautam Buddha International Airport's financial and technical viability might not be possible if India does not allow aircraft to enter Nepal from proposed cross-border routes in Nepalgunj, Mahendranagar, or Bhairahawa. International flights headed to the new airport will have to fly an extra 300 km in the aerial distance if not allowed to use the proposed cross-border airspaces.

The grant of additional routes from Janakpur, Nepalgunj, and Mahendranagar to Nepal will be essential to facilitate connectivity and travel between the two countries. Nepal has requested India for more cross-border entry and exit points for a decade. India and Nepal, in a joint communique in 2014, had agreed to resolve the issue of the direct cross-border route to facilitate flights between regional airports in Pokhara and Bhairahawa. In 2016, Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi (L626) route bi-directional or two-way was agreed upon, but the same remains unimplemented. [ [xx] ]

The India-Nepal Bilateral Motor Vehicle Agreement for passenger traffic envisaged regular bus services between the two countries per agreed routes, trips, and timetables to promote tourism. The bus services initially covered Kathmandu, Bhairahawa, and Varanasi, among other places. [ [xxi] ]

The two countries had earlier signed MoU on twinning arrangments between Lumbini-Bodh Gaya, Ayodhya-Janakpur, and Kathmandu-Varanasi as sister cities in light of their historical and deep cultural linkages. The sister-city relations would help promote cultural exchange and develop stronger people-to-people ties. Recently, the two countries have agreed to establish sister city relations between Lumbini-Kushinagar to enhance ties between the two countries. [ [xxii] ]

Culture helps bring people closer. Religious tourism between India and Nepal has already added value to public life and society. The holy places in India and Nepal symbolize both countries' shared heritage and values. The shared heritage has existed since ancient times, from Lumbini in Nepal to Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya, and Sarnath in India. The two countries need to develop this heritage together and enrich it further.

Even though Nepal can offer a lot to prospective tourists, including the Himalayas, among other tourist places, it has not been able to capitalize on the potential of tourism ultimately. The contribution of tourism to Nepal's GDP is not as significant as it can be. However, it has made a considerable impact on the economy of Nepal by driving the socio-economic development of the country. Nepal can make it big in tourism but will have to change its approach in order to fulfil the potential of tourism it has.

The tourism sector was one of the worst-affected sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nepal's revenue from tourism decreased by 70% in 2020 compared to the last year due to the pandemic-induced disruption. In 2021, the income from tourism decreased by 48.2% in comparison to the previous year.

After improving the COVID-19 situation and achieving vaccination targets in India, the Tourism Ministry has started aggressively promoting tourism. The tourism sector has started showing signs of returning to the pre-pandemic normal. The New Year of 2022 saw the tourism sector rejuvenating. Lumbini is reported to have received more Indian tourists after PM Modi's visit in May. [ [xxiii] ] The Governments need to be prudent in formulating policies and take into confidence the stakeholders to ensure that the tourism sector remains resilient while facing new challenges in the future.

The transnational nature of the Buddhist circuit necessitates greater coordination between India and Nepal. [ [xxiv] ] The two countries need to continue making significant investments in infrastructure to implement the Buddhist religious circuit. The investment must improve connectivity, build more hotels to address paucity, maintain the cleanliness of tourist spots, enhance security, and create amenities along the transnational circuit.

The connectivity between the tourist destinations in the transnational circuit is essential. While various measures have been taken to improve the same, it is pertinent to enhance the connectivity between Lumbini and other destinations in the transnational circuit. Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace, is an indispensable part of the transnational Buddhist circuit. The proposed Lumbini-Kushinagar rail link will help improve the connectivity between the two countries. [ [xxv] ]

Creating more integrated check posts (ICPs) like the upcoming Bhairahawa and Sonauli will help facilitate the movement of people across the border. As and when the under-construction ICPs are completed, this will increase the movement of people across the India-Nepal border. The increase in ICPs will allow international tourists coming to India to come to Nepal more easily.          

The road travellers on the East-West corridor cutting through Kushinagar and the Buddhist circuit routes in Bihar often lacked decent eateries and even toilets. India and Nepal should work on improving amenities on both sides of the borders by opening cafes/food courts with hygienic washrooms. Such moves will also lead to the generation of jobs for the locals residing in and around the Buddhist circuit. Local entrepreneurs must be encouraged to cash in by catering to the pilgrimage tourists whose footfalls are bound to soar. Taxi services and car rentals can also be another avenue for employment generation and help tourists. [ [xxvi] ] 10

The two countries also need greater cooperation to focus on the joint marketing and promotion of the religious circuits. The two countries can develop, share and set common tourism standards, undertake capacity building in the tourism industry, and formulate joint marketing and branding strategies to create a brand around the transitional religious circuit. A dedicated standard website for promoting the international religious circuit can help increase the impressions around the same.

India already showcases the Buddhist sites on its Incredible India website and also developed a dedicated website, 'indiathelandofbuddha,' to promote and showcase the rich Buddhist heritage in India.

The two countries need to give more momentum to their future efforts to take religious tourism to the next level. Religious tourism between India and Nepal will lead to inter-dependence through the religious circuits, driving economic growth and bilateral ties. It will also help strengthen the spirit of friendship between the two countries.

India and Nepal have been working closely and supporting each other's efforts to develop the transnational Buddhist circuit and Lumbini. The two countries strongly realize all the possibilities of development. The two countries' common heritage, culture, and love are significant assets. The stronger the asset becomes, the stronger both countries can leverage the potential and take the message of Lord Buddha across the world. It will also further the ever-strengthening friendship of India and Nepal and the closeness between the two countries.

The two countries need to strengthen their cooperation and leverage the close links to benefit from the tourism sector. COVID-19 sent the tourism industry across the world into a deep slumber, but with things getting back on track, things are looking bright again. There is a need to aggressively market tourism to get it back on track. Hurdles will be there throughout in the form of bureaucratic red tape and political issues. The will of both the counterparts and how they handle the obstacles as they come in the way will dictate the state of religious tourism between the duo. Only time will tell whether India and Nepal can fulfil the potential religious tourism.

[i] Swadesh Darshan. (2018, October 22). National Portal of India. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/swadesh-darshan

[ii] Buddhist Train Brochure. (n.d.). IRCTC Buddhist Train. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.irctcbuddhisttrain.com/assets/pdf/BuddhistTrainBrochure.pdf

[iii] Regular international flights resume in India after two years. (2022, March 27). The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/visit/regular-international-flights-resume-in-india-after-two-years/articleshow/90479469.cms

[iv] Indo-Nepal Tourism Forum to be set up for mutual consultation and promotion of tourism: Tourism Minister Ramayana and Budhist circuits to be promoted through common branding by India and Nepal. (2018, July 30). PIB. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1540659

[v] PM Modi flags off the Ayodhya-Janakpur bus service. (n.d.). DD News. https://ddnews.gov.in/national/pm-narendra-modi-leave-2-day-visit-nepal

[vi] The Government has identified fifteen destinations for the development of tourism under the Ramayana Circuit. (n.d.). Press Information Bureau. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=191116

[vii] English rendering of PM’s speech at the Civic Reception at Barahbiga ground in Janakpur, Nepal. (2018, May 11). Press Information Bureau. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1531923

[viii] Varanasi's Pashupatinath Mahadev Mandir: A symbol of India-Nepal unity. (2022, March 27). ThePrint. https://theprint.in/world/varanasis-pashupatinath-mahadev-mandir-a-symbol-of-india-nepal-unity/890826/

[ix] Shri G Kishan Reddy and Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw flag off the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train operating on the Ramayana Circuit from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station today. (2022, June 21). PIB. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1836061

[x] Chauhan, A. (2022, May 26). 18 Days, 8k Km; Irctc Introduces Train Covering The Ramayan Circuit. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/18-days-8k-km-irctc-introduces-train-covering-the-ramayan-circuit/articleshow/91799213.cms

[xi] Seth, M., & Srivastav, V. (2022, April 8). Ayodhya Airport: AAI, UP govt sign lease for land transfer. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/have-told-officials-ayodhya-airport-should-be-ready-along-with-ram-temple-yogi-adityanath-7858440/

[xii] India International Centre for Buddhist Culture & Heritage: Strengthening Buddhist heritage & legacy |. (2022, May 16). NewsOnAIR. https://newsonair.com/2022/05/16/india-international-centre-for-buddist-culture-heritage-strengthening-buddhist-heritage-legacy/

[xiii] Jha, A. M. (2021, October 20). Kushinagar airport to boost tourism in Uttar Pradesh & Bihar: Secretary | Patna News. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/kushinagar-airport-to-boost-tourism-in-up-bihar-secy/articleshow/87143266.cms

[xiv] Religious tourism high on agenda during PM Modi's Nepal visit. (2022, May 16). Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/religious-tourism-high-on-agenda-during-pm-modis-nepal-visit/articleshow/91585696.cms

[xv] Laskar, R. H., & Laska, R. H. (2022, April 2). India, Nepal launch cross-border rail link, Deuba urges Modi to resolve border dispute. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-nepal-launch-cross-border-rail-link-deuba-urges-modi-to-resolve-border-dispute-101648912450187.html

[xvi] Ministry of Tourism to organise conference on Buddhist circuit to promote potential of Buddhist tourism Under Swadesh Darshan Scheme. (2021, October 5). Ministry Of Tourism. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://tourism.gov.in/sites/default/files/2021-10/PIB1761045.pdf

[xvii] Kushinagar International Airport - Boost to tourism in Buddhist circuit. (2021, October 26). PIB. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2021/oct/doc2021102701.pdf

[xviii] The Fifteenth Plan . (n.d.). National Planning Commission. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://npc.gov.np/images/category/15th_plan_English_Version.pdf

[xix] Government plans Lumbini monorail feasibility studies. (2018, May 1). The Kathmandu Post. https://kathmandupost.com/miscellaneous/2018/05/01/government-plans-lumbini-monorail-feasibility-studies

[xx] Bhairahawa airport to open on May 16, but Modi won't land there. (2022, May 10). The Kathmandu Post. https://kathmandupost.com/national/2022/05/10/bhairahawa-airport-to-open-on-may-16-but-modi-won-t-land-there

[xxi] Outcomes during the visit of Prime Minister to Nepal (November 25-27, 2014). (n.d.). Press Information Bureau. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=112053

[xxii] Chaubey, A. K. (2022, May 16). India-Nepal agree to establish sister-city ties between Lumbini and Kushinagar. Zee News. https://zeenews.india.com/india/india-nepal-agree-to-establish-sister-city-relations-between-lumbini-and-kushinagar-check-details-of-mous-signed-today-2464090.html

[xxiii] Ghimire, S. (2022, July 6). More Indian tourists flock to Nepal's Lumbini after PM Modi's visit in May. Daijiworld. https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=976429

[xxiv] Thakur, J. (2019, September 20). Religious tourism as soft power: Strengthening India's outreach to Southeast Asia | ORF. Observer Research Foundation. https://www.orfonline.org/research/religious-tourism-as-soft-power-strengthening-indias-outreach-to-southeast-asia-55674/

[xxv] India-Nepal cooperation on a rising trajectory in religious tourism. (2022, May 13). ThePrint. https://theprint.in/world/india-nepal-cooperation-on-rising-trajectory-in-religious-tourism/955114/

[xxvi] Kushinagar-Nepal flight to boost Buddhist circuit. (2021, September 3). Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/kushinagar-nepal-flight-to-boost-buddhist-circuit/articleshow/85883343.cms

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