Uluslararası İnanç Turizmi ve Hoşgörü Konferansı 2013

Each year millions of people are travelling throughout the world for different purposes. Faith-based visits to holy sites and sacred places are the oldest and most common type of travel in human history and this type of tourism is increasing its share in the sector. Motivations behind religious tourism may depend on many reasons: searching for truth and inner peace, enlightenment, an authentic relationship with the divine, satisfaction of the spiritual or material needs. Considering the multi-religiosity in the world and spreads of the religions, travelling to the religious sites may generally require visiting the other countries. The spiritual journey may also result in an interaction with “the other” and may change the perceptions of pilgrims, tourists and local people .

Undertaking such visits and journeys generally requires serious thinking and planning, as well as economic means and travel arrangements. Regarding the seasonality of the religious activities, the sustainability of this type of tourism is also very important for the local people.

With the aim to discuss various aspects of the religious tourism, the International Conference on Religious Tourism and Tolerance (RTT2013) will be held in Konya, Turkey on 9-12 May, 2013. Convening the RTT2013 in Konya also carries an important message, as the city hosts Mevlâna Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, well-known in the West as Rumi, a very prominent Sufi thinker and famous poet (d. 1273), whose teaching fosters respect among humanity, love of God, and religious tolerance, inspiring today’s multi-cultural societies .

Konya, therefore, is the best place in Turkey to host this important International Conference on Religious Tourism and Tolerance, aiming at interconnecting tourism with religion and other inter-disciplinary subjects.

The language of the conference is Turkish and English. Turkish and English presentations will run in parallel sessions.

The invited keynote speakers will devote their presentations on latest theoretical developments and practical observations on tourism, religion, pilgrimage and tolerance around the world as reflected in various civilizations. This academic gathering and professional activity is intended to facilitate and promote the means of communications and cooperations among the conference participants.

We are looking forward to your active participation.

The RTT2013 will focus, among others, on the following topics:
◦ New directions in religious tourism
◦ Motivations behind religious tourism
◦ Pilgrimage, tourism and dialogues of cultures
◦ Management of international pilgrimage travels
◦ Sustainability of religious tourism
◦ Clustering in religious tourism
◦ Religious festivals and tourism
◦ Religious tourism and inter-cultural tolerance
◦ Perceptions of “the other” in religious tourism
◦ Guidance for faith-based tourism
◦ Protection of and respect for the places of worship
◦ Socio-cultural impacts of religious tourism
◦ Environmental impacts of religious tourism
◦ Economic aspects of religious tourism
◦ Mapping the holy routes
◦ Diaspora and religious tourism
◦ Cultural diplomacy and religious tourism
◦ Religious diversity and tolerance
◦ Disability and religious tourism
◦ Management and maintenance of sacred sites
◦ Spiritual dimensions of a religious journey
◦ New directions in marketing of religious destinations
◦ Holy sites for different beliefs in Anatolia
◦ Sacred foods and drinks & religious dietary issues
◦ Role of religious tourism in conflict resolution
◦ Commercialization of sacred places
◦ Holy sites in a neo-liberal world

Asst. Prof. Dr. Abdurrahman DİNÇ

E-mail : rtt2013@konya.edu.tr
Mobile Phone :+90 532 768 80 85
Fax : +90 332 236 21 50

Instructor Murat KOÇYİĞİT
E-mail : rtt2013@konya.edu.tr
Mobile Phone : +90 545 335 27 06
Fax : +90 332 236 21 50