Anouk Lafortune-Bernard has just completed a PhD in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University. She is interested in the social and economic impact of cultural heritage, the balance between heritage conservation and development, and community engagement. Her PhD thesis analysed the development of Lumbini, Birthplace of the Buddha and UNESCO World Heritage Site and its impact on surrounding local communities. She has also been involved in several research projects led by Durham University’s UNESCO Chair, primarily at archaeological and World Heritage sites in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India. Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, UK, DL1 3LE, E-mail: [email protected]
Po-Hsin Lai is Senior Lecturer in Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research focuses on the dynamic processes of place meanings and landscape representations and implications for relevant stakeholders in the context of change driven by resource use activities such as tourism, outdoor recreation, mining, and urban sprawl, primarily in rural environments and protected areas. University of Newcastle, Newcastle Business School, University Drive, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia. E-mail: [email protected].
Yang Mu is a recent graduate (MES in Tourism Policy and Planning) of the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her research interest is on geography of sacred landscapes, with particular emphasis on local meanings and interpretations of cultural and spiritual landmarks, and their significance for tourism development in the Everest region of Nepal. E-mail: [email protected]
Joshua Nash is an islophilic generalist-cum-linguist working on the language of Pitcairn Island. He writes about ethnography, the anthropology of religion, architecture, pilgrimage studies, and language documentation. He has conducted linguistic fieldwork on Pitcairn Island and Norfolk Island, South Pacific, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, and in New Zealand; environmental and ethnographic fieldwork in Vrindavan, India; and architectural research in outback Australia. He was Associate Professor at Aarhus Institute for Advanced Studies, Denmark in 2018–2019. Associate Professor, Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark, and Post-doctoral Research Fellow, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia. E-mail: [email protected].
Sanjay K. Nepal is Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Canada. His specialty is in tourism and conservation geographies, primarily working in remote and peripheral locations including high mountains in the Nepalese Himalaya and the Canadian Rockies. University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. E-mail: [email protected].
Daniel H. Olsen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA. His research interests revolve around religious and spiritual tourism, heritage tourism, and the management of sacred sites, with secondary research interests in tourism in peripheral areas, and tourism and disabilities. He is co-editor of Religion, Tourism, and Spiritual Journeys (Routledge, 2006), Religious Pilgrimage Routes and Trails (CABI, 2018), and Dark Tourism and Pilgrimage (CABI, 2020), and has published over 50 journal articles and book chapters on religious and spiritual tourism. Department of Geography, 6–22 SWKT, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA, 84660. E-mail: [email protected].
Jahanzeeb Qurashi is a lecturer in Hospitality and Tourism at the University of Wales Trinity of Saint David, UK. He recently received a PhD in Tourism at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. He obtained his BA (Hons) degree from the University of Birmingham in Tourism and Business Administration, his first Masters degree in International Hospitality from the University of Birmingham, and a second Masters Degree (MBA) from University of Chester in Business and Marketing. He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in research methodology from the University of Central Lancashire, UK. He is also the author of several articles and book chapters. His interests include commodification of religious tourism, the experiences of pilgrims and tourists, destination management, contemporary hospitality, event management, the role of SMART media technologies in the tourism and hospitality sector, digital marketing of tourism, and heritage tourism. He is a member of the editorial board for the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage and a member of the Institute for Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. University of Wales Trinity of Saint David, Birmingham, UK. E-mail: [email protected].
Kiran Shinde teaches in the Planning program at La Trobe University, Australia. He does research in the field of religious tourism, and has published about 50 research articles relating to cultural heritage, religious tourism, policy analysis, and destination planning and management. His papers have appeared in high-ranking journals, including Urban Studies, Current Issues in Tourism, International Journal of Tourism Research, GeoForum, and Space and Culture. He has also contributed chapters in books published by Elsevier, Routledge, SUNY Press and CABI. He has presented research papers at conferences in Canada, Turkey, Australia, Portugal, Singapore, the UK, and the USA. He was invited by the UNWTO to contribute to the Bethlehem Charter on Religious Tourism. He is also on the editorial board of the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. Recently, he completed a UNWTO report on Buddhist tourism in Asia. He holds a PhD from Monash University, Australia, an MSc from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and an M.Tech from CEPT University, India. College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, La Trobe University, Australia. E-mail: [email protected].
Rajendra N. Suwal is an Ashoka Fellow and has extensive experience on the biodiversity of Nepal – especially on bird ecology, Sarus Crane Conservation, wetland development and ecotourism. He is interested in capacitating citizen scientists, promoting community conservation stewardship, community-based wildlife tourism, and designing sustainable finance mechanisms in protected areas, strengthening national economy and benefitting local livelihood. Deputy Director, Partnership Development, WWF Nepal, Kathmandu, 44600. E-mail: Rajendra.suwal@ wwfnepal.org; [email protected].
Kai Weise has been working along the Himalayas as an architect and planner over the past three decades. He has facilitated the establishment of management systems for World Heritage properties in Nepal, Uzbekistan, India, and Myanmar, including for Lumbini. He has been involved in the strategic response and rehabilitation planning after the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal and the 2016 Chauk Earthquake in Myanmar. President, ICOMOS Nepal, Kathmandu, E-mail: [email protected].
1 The Environmental Impacts of Religious Tourism
Kiran A. Shinde1* and Daniel H. Olsen2
1College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, La Trobe University, Australia; 2Brigham Young University
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Introduction
Like other tourism niche markets, the religious tourism market has increased over the past two decades, with sacred sites in all faith traditions receiving record