The Role of Cultural Routes in Sustainable Tourism Development: A Case Study of Syria’s Spiritual Route

Abstract

Cultural routes and associated cultural tourism are innovative, broadly networked, and designed tourism systems that serve multiple purposes. Cultural routes had become a tool for maintaining destinations and promoting tourism simultaneously. This study assesses the potential of cultural routes in rebuilding Syria's dire tourism infrastructure situation after the war. The aim is to examine whether the "Spiritual Route" proposed by the Syrian Ministry of Tourism has the potential to attract tourists and reinstate itself as a sustainable route generating benefits for all stakeholders. The purpose is to determine the potential the "Spiritual Route" has for tourism and how it may attract people. Data has been obtained from a literature review and reconstructed from interviews and information from tourism databases and concerned personnel on its history, geography, and potential as a sustainable culture. The results from a SWOT analysis and the literature review revealed that the "Spiritual Route" has the potential to become a primary tourism attraction for a wide audience. This can be achieved by linking the tangible heritages of different geographical areas if planning and development are appropriate; however, the current internal situation of the war is a substantial hindrance. These principal findings can contribute as a valuable review in highlighting key limitations to be dealt with by decision-makers of Syria's "Spiritual Route" and others working on similar cultural routes in postwar Syria.

The Spiritual Path of Pilgrimage Tourism for Sustainable Development: Case-Desa Astana-Cirebon, Indonesia

“…Cultural Routes not only provide creative activities and learning media, but they also maintain sustainable tourism [6]. In literature, the walking paths that is associated with religion values towards Islamic pilgrimage sites is pilgrimage tourism [14].…”

“…This phenomenon supports the statements of ref. [6] that spiritual tourism has a multiplier effect on economic growth. The growth of trade in spiritual tourism objects indicates the local economic growth of the surrounding community.…”

“…The growth of trade in spiritual tourism objects indicates the local economic growth of the surrounding community. Cultural Routes not only provide creative activities and learning media, but they also maintain sustainable tourism [6]. Niezgoda and Bartosik found that the type of tourism can be built on the basis of economic, geographic, demographic, psychological and socio-cultural criteria [18].…”

“…Development of tourism routes, stimulating opportunities for the development of small-scale indigenous tourism projects in less developed areas [3]. Research on the "Spiritual Route" has been carried out by Dayoub et al [6] for the Case of the State of Syria. The research objective is for a sustainability strategy.…”

Exploring Transnational Advocacy Networks for Environmental Sustainability

“…As suggested by Dayoub et al [8], environmental conservation has been a vital topic for many businesses. Theories must follow the direction of trying to integrate social, cultural, sustainable, and economic factors.…”