Chapter 13: E-Tourism and Religion: Online Platforms and Religious Tourism Marketing

The harmonious connection between e-tourism and religion is examined in this chapter, with a particular emphasis on how internet platforms affect promotional ways for religious travel. It looks for ways that information and communication technology (ICT) is changing how people go on pilgrimages in the modern era and how that affects both the travel and religious communities. An in-depth review of secondary materials, encompassing scholarly works, industry papers, and online sources, is carried out in this chapter. According to this chapter, ICTs create a structural change in the marketing of spiritual tourism by giving pilgrims unparalleled access to holy places through virtual spiritual experiences. Online platforms play a crucial role in spreading information, streamlining travel arrangements, and encouraging participation in sacred events (Cardia et al., 2024). This chapter recognises the potential for e-tourism to revolutionise religious tourist marketing (Chaudhary et al., 2024). However, it acknowledges the limitations, including cultural sensitivity, moral quandaries, and technological inequalities that prevent everyone from having equal access to virtual pilgrimage experiences. The results provide helpful information to legislators, spiritual organisations, and stakeholders in the tourism sector. These help them better use Internet resources to advertise spiritual destinations, improve visitor experiences, and resolve ethical difficulties brought up by digital changes in the religious tourism industry. By clarifying the dynamic interaction between e-tourism and religion, this investigation adds to our understanding of modern pilgrimage customs and their economic implications. It emphasises how important it is to balance technological advancement with ethical considerations, cultural preservation requirements, and marketing methods for spiritual travel (Khennouche et al., 2024).