Can the Development of Religious and Cultural Tourism Build a Sustainable and Friendly Life and Leisure Environment for the Elderly and Promote Physical and Mental Health?

Abstract

From the perspective of satisfaction, physical and mental health, and re-travel, this study explored whether the development of religious and cultural tourism could construct a sustainable and friendly life and leisure environment for the elderly to promote physical and mental health. This research adopted a mixed method, collected 700 questionnaires, used SPSS 22.0 statistical software, and analyzed basic statistics, t-test, and PPMCC test. Then, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews, collected the opinions of six interviewees, and finally analyzed with multiple checks Law discussion. The results found that people of different genders and stakeholders had different opinions about DIY activities on leisure satisfaction, featured itineraries, relaxation areas, signs and instructions, community association and service center services, historical landmarks, and public transportation. They found people’s life satisfaction in physical and mental health was increased, their headaches or pressures on the top of their heads were relieved, backache problems were reduced, and they were no longer anxious and lost tempers. They had a greater willingness to revisit some places and share experiences. This study found significant differences among these topics (p < 0.01). Women, residents, and tourists had different opinions. In addition, although the natural environment landscape and feelings have the greatest influence, the better the physical and mental health was improved, the better the willingness to travel. However, the more perfect the local construction and development, the less favorable to attract people to engage in leisure activities or tourism consumption.

Suggestions on Relieving Physical Anxiety of Medical Workers and Improving Physical and Mental Health Under the COVID-19 Epidemic—A Case Study of Meizhou City

“…Through the perception of leisure satisfaction, we can find the changes in personal leisure satisfaction after medical staff engage in swimming (36). Finally, the physical and mental health perception can be used to understand the improvement of personal physical and mental health after medical staff engages in swimming (37)(38)(39). These answers can be corroborated by participants' feelings (34,40,41).…”

“…Although the impact of participating in tourism activities during the epidemic has also been discussed (33,36,43,44), methods to improve people's health benefits have also been proposed, such as Qigong (6), intermittent fitness exercises (7), mountain climbing (4), and jogging (8). More recently, related impacts of leisure, travel, living and working environment, physical and mental health have also been discussed (36)(37)(38), as well as environmental risks, satisfaction, and physical and mental health issues (40,41,45). However, the researchers found that swimming was not discussed as a topic, and the environmental risks, physical anxiety, leisure satisfaction, and physical and mental health perceptions of healthcare workers engaged in swimming in SARS-CoV-2 settings.…”

Moderating Effects of Religious Tourism Activities on Environmental Risk, Leisure Satisfaction, Physical and Mental Health and Well-Being among the Elderly in the Context of COVID-19

“…With the evolution of time, these religious sites and historical relics have become tourist sites with historical, cultural, and tourism values [ 20 ]. Thus, religion is a kind of representation of human civilization with local cultural and historical significance and rich in leisure and tourism resources [ 21 ]. It can be a motivation for people to engage in leisure or tourism activities, sightseeing, site visit, worship, study, and meditation [ 22 ], and has the functions of boosting the confidence of the masses, reducing their anxiety [ 23 ], and achieving healthy social development [ 24 , 25 ].…”

“…On the other hand, studies have shown that there are differences between the expected effects of decision-making and the actual effects [ 20 , 21 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Different environments and human or non-human factors may cause this difference [ 21 , 38 ].…”

“…On the other hand, studies have shown that there are differences between the expected effects of decision-making and the actual effects [ 20 , 21 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Different environments and human or non-human factors may cause this difference [ 21 , 38 ]. Furthermore, it takes time to solve these questions, and only participants with practical experiences and perceptions are able to provide the right answers [ 20 , 39 ].…”