Spiritual Tourism and its Contribution to Psychological Wellness in the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

The ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic have manifested adversities not just to the physical health of the people but have severe consequences on their psychological well-being. The earlier research bespeaks the ministration of spirituality and religion in the life of a psychologically troubling human as an efficient way of adding to their coping mechanism. In the same vein, the restorative powers of tourism have been widely recognised. The research aims to examine the psychological and emotional consequences of the pandemic and its associated measures, such as confinement, social distance, and mobility restrictions, on the people. Further explores the effect of the pandemic on travel intentions and motivations, with particular attention to tourism for spiritual purposes. The ontology of critical realism was effectively adopted for this qualitative study. Thirty-six travellers were interviewed through purposive sampling to understand the nature of the destination the tourists will opt for after the pandemic and their motivation behind the travel. The authors created a phenomenological connection between a person's well-being and spiritual tours. A gap is filled in the literature on the inclination of tourists towards spirituality and will further lay premises for the discussion on the rise of spiritual travel after calamities.