Marketing Kerala in India as God's Own Country! for tourists' spiritual transformation, rejuvenation and well-being

Abstract

Abstract Due to the increasingly hectic pace of living with high stress levels, individualistic lifestyles and the loss of traditional community structures, the pursuit of true meaning in life has become imperative in today's world. This has led to the emergence of the rapidly growing ‘wellness industry’, in which spirituality is embedded. While much has been written, work on spiritual tourism has yet to generate any sustained interdisciplinary critical inquiry in tourism studies. Taking the case of Kerala in India, this study explores how this destination is marketing itself as God's Own Country! for tourists' spiritual transformation, rejuvenation and well-being. Kerala emphasizes the term 'wellness tourism' to differentiate itself from the poverty-stricken and chaotic tourism destination image of India. The unique experiences promised to tourists at this destination – for example, the opportunity to ‘cleanse one's mind, body and soul’ – has been integrated into a broader strategy of wholeness. Although tourism scholars have commented on the importance of spiritual tourism, they have ignored the importance of Western celebrity influence on Western spiritual tourists' decision making behavior and overall touristic experiences. This study offers a new dimension in wellness and spiritual tourism, and hopes that future tourism scholars sharing such an interest will be encouraged to conduct similar, much-needed analyses elsewhere.