Faith-Based activities and tourism: Exploiting the possibilities for religious tourism development in Anaocha local government area, Nigeria

Okonkwo, E. and Afamefuna, E. (2020) Faith-Based activities and tourism: Exploiting the possibilities for religious tourism development in Anaocha local government area, Nigeria. International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 8 (3). Art. 4.

Abstract

Over the years, people have travelled for various motivations, giving birth to various types of specific interest tourism. The result is that various scholars have devoted their research to these specific areas of tourism. One such area of tourism that has grown exponentially is religious tourism (which some scholars also called spiritual tourism). This type of tourism explores travels motivated by the desire to visit places that inspire an individual’s belief system and to meet with people that share the same faith. Our study aims to understand the faith-based activities and religious centres in Anaocha Local Government Area (LGA) of Anambra State, Nigeria that could be harnessed for tourism development. Four months of ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in the area to identify the important religious and cultural sites. Shrines/deities, groves, cultural centres and mythical lakes were identified as places of religious worship which could be harnessed for tourism development. Unfortunately, these sites are still not harnessed for tourism, though tourists still visit them for various religious purposes. The study concludes that the local people should be sensitised to the tourism potential of these sites, while government and other stakeholders should create an enabling environment for tourism development to thrive in the area.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publisher:	Technology University. Dublin
Copyright:	© 2020 International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/57485

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