Spiritual journey to Hajj: Australian and Pakistani experience and expectations

Abstract

This paper explores and examines the interesting and important phenomenon of Hajj from a marketing strategy and ethnographic perspective. There has been little academic qualitative research from a marketing strategy perspective on Hajj (once a year Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca), examining the perceptions of Muslims going on this significant spiritual journey. This paper also attempts to contribute to the theory on spiritual tourism and journeys and the marketing of spiritual tourism, by focusing on Hajj as both an outstanding spiritual journey and a product/service. This paper is part of a wider research project conducted to study marketing strategies in spiritual tourism, and focuses on the outbound markets of Australia and Pakistan. The paper presents a qualitative study of the perceptions and attitudes of Muslims towards their journey of Hajj; the investigation is carried out from the perspective of two different and parallel cultures, i.e. Muslim Australians and Muslim Pakistanis. In order to gain a comparative perspective, this study concentrates on the attitudes of Pakistani Muslims residing in Pakistan and in Australia. The social surrounds of the two populations are further described within the contexts of East/West, individualism/collectivism, and free criticism/authority acceptance. The findings of the research were further dissected and analysed to segment the customers of Hajj and to propose more effective marketing strategies for Hajj in Australia and Pakistan. It was found that the use of modern marketing concepts and tools was very helpful in giving a better perspective of the enormous business aspects of Hajj. IntroductionThe Hajj is a very interesting and highly significant phenomenon for both Muslims and non-Muslims, both experientially for the former group but also academically for ethnography and marketing strategy scholars. A brief overview of the literature on the concept of spiritual tourism and journeys leads this study to a useful operational definition of spiritual tourism. The religious practice of Hajj is discussed from the literature (where available), and then Hajj is analysed with reference to this given definition of spiritual tourism. The theoretical focus of this paper lies in the discussion of the philosophy of Hajj as a spiritual journey and the expectations and experiences described by two groups notably similar as well as different.Significant literature is available on the non-business details of Hajj, its religious importance and the process and rituals involved. Some researchers have worked over the years, based on their personal understanding and experiences, and from a more sociological perspective, on the difference between the processes and logistics of Hajj.

Teenagers Perception of Halal Food as an Option for Culinary Tourism

“…In addition, they knew that halal food is healthy. This is in accordance with the result of research showing that 75% of Moslems choose to consume halal food when traveling due not only to religious guidelines, but also to the perception that halal food is healthier, cleaner, and tastier [21].…”

“…Halal food is no longer a regional practice confined only to Moslem nations. It is now a legitimate international requirement and an essential element in the halal hospitality sector [21]. 75% of Moslems choose to consume halal food when traveling due not only to religious guidelines but also to the perception that halal food is healthier, cleaner, and tastier [22].…”

Muslim world and its tourisms

“…The hajj is a journey that creates a shared understanding of the core of Islam across age, gender, social status, and race (Metcalf, 1990). Studies of particular groups such as women (Asbollah et al, 2012) or Australian and Pakistani pilgrims (Haq & Jackson, 2009) during hajj emphasise spiritual discovery as the predominant outcome. As well, pilgrimage has been studied to provide evidence of concepts such "communitas" (Turner & Turner, 1978) and "the gaze" (Urry, 1990).…”

Islamic spiritual tourism: an innovative marketing framework

“…The emergence of new social and environmental factors has triggered the need for innovative marketing, directing this study towards an innovative concept in tourism marketing (Shetty, 2013). Muslims travelling for Hajj, Umrah, Rihla or Ziyara are qualified as spiritual tourists if they travel with the intention of spiritual development Wong, 2011, 2010;Haq and Jackson, 2009). This paper has attempted to further narrow down the categorisation of an Islamic spiritual tourist.…”

“…Hajj is the compulsory pilgrimage to Makkah once a year on specific dates, while Umrah is pilgrimage to Makkah that can be performed anytime of the year (Haq and Jackson, 2009). A Muslim's religious adventure in search of wisdom, knowledge, trade or health is called as Rihla (Kessler, 1992).…”