Traveler Motivation and Destination Loyalty: Visiting Sacred Places in Central Asia

Liza Rybina,Timothy Lee

doi:10.3390/tourhosp2010001

Abstract

Visiting sacred spaces is becoming a growing trend in tourism in the Central Asian region. Sacred sites are said to have the power to heal the body, enlighten the mind, and inspire the heart. This study explored the motivations for visiting sacred spaces among tourists from three Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The study used a sequential mixed methods research design. In the first stage, a general list of motivations was produced, based on the analysis of 14 semi-structured interviews. The second stage quantitative survey was conducted with a sample of 211 tourists from Central Asia. Data collection took place during tours to sacred sites in the city of Turkestan in South Kazakhstan. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and regression analysis. The relationships between motivation factors and destination loyalty were tested. The results show that among the five motivational factors identified in this study, only three (Spiritual and Religious Motives, Cultural and Historical Motives, and Wellness and Healing) have a significant relationship with sacred site destination loyalty. The remaining two factors (Nature, Fun, and Social Contact) have not been proven to have a significant relationship with destination loyalty. The study adds value to the literature on traveling to religious sites, especially those in formerly atheist countries, and provides recommendations to practitioners and policymakers to enable them to develop a niche tourism area by segmenting tourists’ motivations and destination loyalty in their sacred places. It also contributes to the diversification of tourism products in those destinations that have historical religious heritage resources.

Highlights

Academic studies on religious tourism are growing exponentially [1]; there is limited literature on traveling to religious sites in formerly atheist countries
(p. 30), this study focused on the sacred places of the city of Turkestan within the Muslim and nomad traditions of the people living in Central Asia
The Stage One final sample consisted of four tourism industry experts and ten tourists who visited at least one of the sacred sites in the Turkestan area

Summary

Introduction

Academic studies on religious tourism are growing exponentially [1]; there is limited literature on traveling to religious sites in formerly atheist countries. And religiously motivated travel has become popularized and widespread in recent decades [2,12,20]. The popularity of religious travel to sacred places occurs because of religious motives and because of modern secularizing trends, such as cultural pluralism, post-industrialism, and scientific rationality [25]. These trends have led to the decreased significance of religion and have even changed the use of the word “religion” to mean a more privatized and pluralized experience, where “spiritual” and “religious” are separate [19,26]. People who consider themselves spiritual would not necessarily see themselves as religious [27]

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