Travel in trouble: Examining travel resilience in pilgrimage tourism

Abstract

This study develops a conceptual model demonstrating the impact of spiritual adherence on travel resilience in pilgrimage tourism. The study also investigated the role of religious leaders and stress-coping mindsets in helping pilgrims overcome stressful situations during their travels, leading to successful resilience strategies when the pilgrims return home. Data were collected from pilgrims who participated in pilgrimage during a crisis in Ethiopia, Africa. A two-step structural equation modeling procedure was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses, including a mediation and moderation-mediation path analysis. The study found that a stress-coping mindset partially mediates the role of spiritual adherence on resilience. Additionally, spiritual leadership strengthens the relationships (direct and indirect, through a stress-coping mindset) between spiritual adherence and resilience. The findings explained the role of spiritual adherence in the resilience of the pilgrims, along with the influence of a stress-coping mindset and spiritual leadership. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.