Religious Tourism Analysis

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of the study
Religious tourism is one of the earliest forms of tourism. The idea of the religious pilgrimage begins almost with the dawn of humanity. Almost since the dawn of history human beings have travelled to holy sites. Owing to this fact it show that religiosity has become one of major contribution in Muslim Economic country. Besides that it has a significant influence on people's attitudes, values and behaviours at the level of both the individual and society (Mokhlis, 2009). According to (Eid, 2013; Zamani- Farahani & Henderson, 2010; Zamani-Farahani & Musa, 2012) religiosity is known as one of the most important cultural forces and key influences on behaviour. Ateeq-Ur-Rehman (2010) did mention

Often described as a ‘melting pot’ of races, religions and culture, the population consists of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians and scores of tribal communities. In terms of tourist arrivals, Malaysia has been the top most Muslim tourism destination in the world, having Indonesia and Singapore as its top market countries (Dinar Standard and Crescentrating LLC, 2012). Culture and subculture are the central issues in any consumer behaviour research. Thompson andTambyah (1998), Shawand Clarke (1998) and Schouten and McAlexander (1995) identified culture as the main external factors that shape consumption behaviour of

Accordingly, any Muslim that does not actually live in that holy city needs to conduct tourism activities to fulfill his/her Shari’ah requirements. Furthermore, millions of Muslims travel to the holy city of Makah every year to perform Umrah (Jafari and Scott 2013). Furthermore, Quranic evidence (Islam’s holy book) has been presented regarding the vital importance of travel. The Holy Quran explains in Surat Al-Ankabout (literally, The Spider): “Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation: for Allah has power over all things” (Surat Al-Ankabout, verse number 20).” Therefore, based on this quote from Qur’an, Muslims are encouraged to do so for historical, social, and cultural encounters, to gain knowledge, to associate with others, to spread God’s word, and to enjoy and appreciate God’s creations (Timothy and Olsen 2006