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World Religious Travel Expo Sets Precedents
Published on: November 5, 2008
The inaugural World Religious Travel Expo and Educational Conference concluded Saturday claiming a number of firsts. The tourism minister of Palestine made her first foray into a North American trade show, marketing holy sites such as Bethlehem and Nazareth; participants from 30 countries on six continents gathered for the first large-scale gathering to promote and develop the $18 billion worldwide faith tourism industry; and WRTA announced that its second annual expo would be held next November in conjunction with the 2009 National Tour Association (NTA) annual convention.
“Faith tourism is no longer a niche, but a full-blown industry,” said Kevin Wright, president of the World Religious Travel Association (WRTA), host of the event. “The tremendous response from global tourism leaders and organizations to our first trade show and conference clearly demonstrates that our partners around the world are committed to developing and promoting meaningful products and services that meet the needs of today’s faith-based travelers.”
Destinations, tour operators, cruise lines, attractions, hotel properties, travel suppliers and a host of other providers and planners from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe and the Holy Land were represented at the event. Keynote speakers included Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, minister of tourism and aviation, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism; Akel E. Biltaji, Jordan’s ambassador-at-large for tourism and special advisor to King Abdullah II; Maurice Zarmati, president, Costa Cruise Lines; and Steve Born, vice president, Globus Family of Brands. Other special guests included Dr. Khouloud Daibes, minister of tourism and antiquities, Palestine; David Pereira Catarino, mayor of Ourém (Fatima), Portugal; and Arie Sommer, tourism commissioner for North and South America, Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT).
During a panel Friday moderated by Malia Asfour, director of the Jordan Tourism Board of North America, Palestine’s Daibes and Israel’s Sommer explained that the Holy Land has welcomed travelers for more than 2,000 years and hospitality lies at the core of the region’s heritage. Both officials also stated that 2008 is serving as one of the best years ever on record for visitors to the Holy Land. Asfour, who has promoted Jordan to North Americans since 1998, called the panel groundbreaking because it marked the first time that officials from all areas of the Holy Land -- Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt -- have come together to promote the region to the North American travel industry. Asfour noted that the WRTA Expo could mark the beginning of a new era of cooperation and promotion of the Holy Land to travelers from North America. More than 500 participants attended the event.
Vanderpool-Wallace, tourism minister of the Bahamas, reminded participants that his country was founded by people seeking religious tolerance and freedom, so it is only natural that faith-based travelers would be attracted to the people and culture of the Bahamas. The Caribbean nation, a popular destination for faith-based cruises and conferences, has the only tourism ministry in the world with a full-time religious travel department in North America, headed by deputy director Linville Johnson. Biltaji, often described as the godfather of Jordanian tourism, shared an update on the Abraham Path Initiative, a route of tourism that retraces the journey made by Abraham (Ibrahim) through the heart of the Middle East some 4,000 years ago. Biltaji, a board member of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT), told the Expo audience that a walking segment of the Jordanian portion of the path (near the ancient birthplace of the prophet Elijah) is complete. A film on the project can be viewed at www.abrahampath.org/video_friend.php. The network of trails is scheduled to open slowly over the next several years. Biltaji explained that such an undertaking needs the support of the entire global faith tourism industry. The Mexico Tourism Board, which estimates that religious travel will account for 20 percent of its 2008 foreign arrivals, presented a lively display of Mexican culture, history and religious products, including the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe, its most visited Catholic sanctuary, which drew more than 14 million visitors in 2006.
Next year’s Expo will be held in Reno, Nev., in conjunction with the annual convention of the National Tour Association (NTA). Currently, 35 percent of NTA operators offer religious tour products, and NTA and WRTA seek to expand the overall growth of faith tourism by bringing both memberships opportunities for education and professional development. The WRTA Expo is the brainchild of Wright, an award-winning author of several religious travel guidebooks who founded WRTA in January, 2007. His latest book, “The Christian Travel Planner” (released in 2008 by Thomas Nelson), is the most comprehensive guidebook ever published on faith-based travel. An updated version of his popular “Europe’s Monastery & Convent Guesthouses” was released Nov. 1 by Liguori Publications.
The WRTA Expo was the official kick-off of “The Year of Faith Tourism.” Serving as a special time set aside for the promotion of and participation in travel by people of faith, the purpose and goals of the yearlong celebrations and activities are to highlight a new era in faith tourism, increase the awareness of the personal and communal benefits of faith tourism, and contribute to the overall growth and health of the global economy, travel industry and individual travel providers. For more information, call 800-657-1288 or 360-778-3047 or visit www.religioustravelexpo.com or www.religioustravelassociation.com.
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