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Entrepreneurship and indigenous enterpreneurs in religious tourism in India
Author(s) -
Shinde Kiran A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international journal of tourism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.155
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1522-1970
pISSN - 1099-2340
DOI - 10.1002/jtr.771
Subject(s) - tourism , indigenous , pilgrimage , religious tourism , entrepreneurship , context (archaeology) , sociology , resource (disambiguation) , tourism geography , economy , political science , economics , law , geography , ecology , computer network , archaeology , computer science , biology
This paper demonstrates how indigenous religious entrepreneurs drive religious tourism in a non‐western context. Building on the case study of Vrindavan, an emerging religious tourism destination in India, it explains religious tourism as a natural progression of traditional pilgrimage economy, where entrepreneurship springs from socio‐cultural and ritual exchanges and knowledge of religious protocols and procedures between indigenous religious functionaries and visitors. Using religious hegemony, social status and networks, religious entrepreneurs innovate, develop new products and expand the cultural economy of rituals and performances to suit the demands of the burgeoning tourism. The tendency to consider such entrepreneurship as ‘informal’ not only exempts them from most regulations and legal responsibilities but also undermines their contribution in maintaining the ‘religious’ — the most important resource in religious tourism. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.