The Emergence of a New Religious Travel Segment: Umrah Do It Yourself Travellers (Diy)

Abstract

This research examines the rise of a new religious travel segment – the Umrah Do It Yourself (DIY) travellers. While Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, Umrah is a minor Muslim pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any time of the year, while still playing a crucial role in the completion of Hajj rituals. In the past, Umrah was managed by an authorised travel agent, who makes all the necessary pilgrimage preparations, from flights to trip itineraries. Recent years have seen an upsurge in travellers who prefer not to utilise the services of such agencies, but instead, to make their own arrangements. The decision by the Saudi Arabian government to launch a Tourist e-Visa in September 2019 has opened a window of opportunity for the legalization of Umrah DIY journeys. The objectives of this study are (i) to explore the travel motives that contribute to the success of the Umrah DIY, and (ii) to explore the factors that support and facilitate the decision for the Umrah DIY. The data were obtained via 20 semi-structured interviews with Umrah DIY travellers. The findings show that flexibility, spirituality, and budget have a crucial impact on travel motivation. Additionally, the findings suggest that information sources, travel quality, companionship/new friendship, and familiarity facilitate the choice of Umrah DIY travel. This research contributes to the growing scholarship on the Muslim travel market beyond Hajj and to studies on independent religious travel. Findings provide an opportunity for suppliers and industry participants to understand the travel motives of this new segment as a basis for producing relevant religious tourism products and services.

Sociodemographic relationships of motivations, satisfaction, and loyalty in religious tourism: A study of the pilgrimage to the city Mecca

“…However, the pilgrimage to Mecca takes two forms: Hajj and Umrah. The Hajj takes place in the last month of the Islamic calendar, and it is obligatory for every Muslim once in life, whereas the Umrah is performed at any time of the year [ 19 , 20 ]. During the visit to Mecca, Muslims pray in the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) and visit religious sites such as Safa and Marwa Mountain in order to pray, find peace, happiness and follow Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) on his last visit to Mecca [ 21 ].…”

A New Approach to the Spatialization of Religion: Changes in the Spatial Distribution of Religious Institutions in Debrecen (Hungary) between the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century and 2023

“…The other main area of research is the study of the spatial distribution of religious institutions, with particular attention paid to the geographical features of the settlements and focusing on the most important buildings used for religious purposes (churches, mosques, synagogues). Studies on the spatial structure of medieval towns have shown that these buildings, and in larger towns the central units (Christian religion-cathedral, Islamic religion-central mosque), were predominantly located in the central parts of the settlements, in order to meet the need for easy accessibility (Atikah et al 2022;Bitušíková 2022;Hronček et al 2022;Neumannová 2022;Sági 2022;Sjoberg 1955); this was observed both in the case of Christian churches (e.g., Nicholas 2003;Ballard 2005) and Islamic mosques (Ehlers and Floor 1993;Kheirabadi 2000). Furthermore, however, it has also been highlighted that smaller sub-centres were established in larger cities, of which church complexes constituted a substantial part (Gutiérrez 2015;Burtenshaw et al 2021).…”