Religious tourism

All tourists and travellers have their reasons to go on a journey. Some want to explore the world, others want to escape daily life. And then there are some who travel to seek a religious experience. Jordan has many biblical sites (such as Mount Nebo, Bethany Beyond the Jordan), and is increasingly marketed as a destination for religious tourists. Omar, our guide, told us he sometimes accompanies groups of religious tourists through Jordan. But what drives these tourists?

We visited Mount Nebo, once at the end of a pilgrim's route from Jerusalem. Pilgrims making this trip today could also be considered as performing 'dark tourism', since they perform tourism in an area of ongoing socio-political conflict.[1] The interior of the newly built church was being renovated, so the church was closed, but the view from the mountain was beautiful.

Figure 1: Mr. Mkhjian talking about the Baptismal Site [Photocredit to Jos Kanning]

The next day we visited the Baptismal Site, located on the east bank of the river Jordan. On our way we passed military checkpoints, which gave me a sense of fear and excitement. Similar experiences have been found by Buda.[1] There we met Rustom Mkhjian, the deputy head of the site. He gave us a tour around the archaeological site, telling us about the history of the place, and about his own life. It was interesting to see the response of the group to Mr. Mkhjian. The group hung on the lips of him and payed close attention to what he told. What was it that caused this?

Other students also noticed this, and after he had to go to his next appointment, a small discussion arose. People were very sympathetic with him, because of his passion. It was his passion in his work at the Baptismal Site, on which he had devoted a part of his life. He had manage to create an affect on the whole group, and I felt sad when he had to leave us.


[1] Dorina Maria Buda, Affective Tourism - Dark routes in conflict, Routledge, 2015