Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for a Competitive Edge in Religious Tourism

Abstract

Religious tourism, among the most rapidly expanding segments of global travel, showcases numerous religious destinations filled with potential to strengthen this form of tourism. For an example, India is incredibly diverse country when it comes to religious tourism, boasting a rich tapestry of religious traditions and sites that attract millions of pilgrims and tourists from around the world each year. The adoption of technology in religious tourism presents both benefits and challenges. The approach taken in this study involved qualitative research techniques for data collection, incorporating a descriptive design. The target audience was the tour guide, devotees, monks, and priest. Purposive sampling was used to choose 50 participants. A thematic evaluation was conducted by initial information collected through individual inquiries, group discussions, and field research and additional data sourced from various papers. It investigates the challenges faced by religious sites, in implementation of technological innovations like sensitivity to religious differences, preservations of sacred spaces, cultural and linguistic diversity, financial constraint, infrastructure and connectivity, resistance to change, ethical considerations, privacy, and security. Furthermore, the chapter explores the perceived benefits that technology brings to religious tourism, including enhanced visitor experiences, language translation and interpretations, improve access to information, enhance navigation and way finding, increased engagement with spiritual heritage, preservation and conservation, and economic benefits. Therefore, the tourism stakeholders should be integrated together to use potentials; solve challenges through examining opportunities for ensuring religious tourism.