Top 10 Religious Travel Trends
In recent years the religious tourism and hospitality marketplace has evolved from a rather obscure niche market into an attention-grabbing, $18-billion global industry. Indeed,
faith-based travel today is in the midst of a remarkable growth spurt.
International travel by Americans for religious purposes has doubled over the past five years and according to a recent study by Menlo Consulting, this trend is expected to continue for another five years. Destinations such as Israel, Jordan and Palestine enjoyed some of their best tourism years ever in 2008. European pilgrimage sites such as Lourdes (France) witnessed a record-breaking number of visitors.
Many destinations, attractions and events in North America also experienced a year of growth in faith-based tourism. What can we expect in 2009 for the religious travel and hospitality marketplace? Consider the top 10 trends:
More tour operators will debut religious travel programs. In the past five years, formal religious travel programs have been introduced by large tour operators like Trafalgar Tours, Mayflower Tours (Faithful Holidays) and the Globus family of brands. The National Tour Association (NTA) has seen its member tour operators increase their religious programs; 35 percent of them now offer religious tour product. More operators will roll out (and/or expand) religious travel programs in 2009.
By Keven J. Wright
For full article please click here
Courtesy of leisuregrouptravel.com
Chitra Mogul
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
AirlineRatings reveals world's safest airline rankings for 2026
Vietnam warns airlines of possible flight reductions amid jet fuel shortages
Fliggy opens AI-powered travel bookings and developer tools