Spiritual tourism is understood as “tourism characterized by a self-conscious project of spiritual betterment”. The term is used to describe a variety of tourism practices or behaviors that tourists understand to contribute to their own sense of meaning, purpose, and identity, and/or are seen as beneficial for the individual’s health and well-being.

There are three key themes include: (a) spirituality as a state of transcendence where one is involved in meaning-making and in a quest for the purpose in life; (b) spirituality as a process that involves achieving self-awareness, being authentic to oneself and connecting to something larger than one’s ego; and (c) spirituality as a sense of wholeness, the ability to experience meaningful connection to one’s core self and a mutual interdependency with other humans and the biosphere.

Spiritual Tourist

Spiritual tourist is refers to one who visits a specific place out of their usual environment, with the intention of increasing their level of spiritual meaning and thus spiritual growth.  Religious practices clearly encourage spiritual progress, and such spiritual practices are frequently a conspicuous feature of religious involvement. This is not due to any overtly religious compulsion, which could be religious, non-religious, sacred or experiential in nature, but within a transcendental context, irrespective of the chief reason for travelling to a destination. People pursue meaning and life purpose beyond the self, their searches for meaning, and their experiences of transcendence and connectedness through their unique travel experiences. Some form of religious and/or spiritual involvement may indeed provide additional ways for people to dealing with problems and thus help them to cope.