Top Ten Religious Travel Trends

In recent years the religious tourism and hospitality marketplace has evolved from a rather obscure niche market into an attention-grabbing, $18-billion global industry. Indeed, faith-based travel today is in the midst of a remarkable growth spurt.
International travel by Americans for religious purposes has doubled over the past five years and according to a recent study by Menlo Consulting, this trend is expected to continue for another five years. Destinations such as Israel, Jordan and Palestine enjoyed some of their best tourism years ever in 2008. European pilgrimage sites such as Lourdes (France) witnessed a record-breaking number of visitors. Many destinations, attractions and events in North America also experienced a year of growth in faith-based tourism.
What can we expect in 2009 for the religious travel and hospitality marketplace? Consider the top 10 trends:
1.    More tour operators will debut religious travel programs. In the past five years, formal religious travel programs have been introduced by large tour operators like Trafalgar Tours, Mayflower Tours (Faithful Holidays) and the Globus family of brands. The National Tour Association (NTA) has seen its member tour operators increase their religious programs; 35 percent of them now offer religious tour product. More operators will roll out (and/or expand) religious travel programs in 2009.
2.    More travel agencies will become involved in selling to religious groups and travelers. The increase in tour operators offering religious programs (see previous trend) will result in a greater number of travel agents entering the faith tourism marketplace because there is more product available to sell.

3.    Cruise lines will devote more efforts and products towards the faith-based market. Cruise companies are major beneficiaries of the recent growth in religious tourism, and more faith-based groups are choosing cruising as their preferred choice of a “fellowship vacation.” Companies such as Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Monarch Classic Cruises and Steps of Paul Coastal Cruises have recently debuted or expanded ports of call in the Holy Land.
4.    Missionary travel and volunteer vacations will continue to surge in popularity. The number of people taking a “vacation with a purpose” has doubled in the past five years to two million Americans. One of the major drivers of this marketplace in the coming years will be travel agents. Although agents have traditionally steered clear of selling this type of vacation, more of them will begin offering missionary travel and volunteer vacations due to increased assistance from wholesalers such as MTS Travel, Raptim Travel and Lifetree Adventures.
5.    Tourist offices/boards and convention and visitors bureaus will devote more resources and personnel towards developing the faith-based travel market. As religious group travel and events continue to develop into a vital source of new revenues and visitors, we’ll see a growing trend of destination management organizations hiring a specific person or setting up a department to oversee the religious market. One model is the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, which has a dedicated director of religious travel in Linville Johnson. A second trend will include CVBs and regional tourist offices devoting more resources towards attracting and developing not only the religious conventions and meetings market but the fast-growing leisure group travel market as well.
6.    Monasteries and retreat guesthouses will welcome an increase in visitors. As 2009 will be a year most likely filled with uncertainty and increased anxiety across the world, many people will be searching for a place that provides solace and serenity. As a result, monasteries and retreat guesthouses are gearing up for a possible record-setting number of visitors; about 2.5 million North Americans embark on a retreat each year. To meet the growing demand, more publications are coming out on places of solitude and inspiration. This includes my guidebook, Europe’s Monastery & Convent Guesthouses: A Pilgrim’s Travel Guide (Liguori Publications).
7.    Religious tour operators will expand their product offerings into leisure travel. Many leading religious tour operators in North America have developed stellar reputations for their expertise in pilgrimage travel; these include companies such as 206 Tours, Group IST (Journeys Unlimited and Regina Tours) and Unitours. In 2009 and beyond, we’ll see religious tour operators expanding their leisure product offerings, from cruising and local getaways to faith-based attraction visits, African safaris and volunteer vacations. In summary, we’ll see more religious tour operators debut leisure travel programs – and we’ll see more of them cross-sell their various religious and leisure travel products.
8.    Attractions will further customize their products, services and sales/marketing efforts to the religious market. Museums, amusement parks and theaters already welcome religious groups. However, many such attractions take the market for granted and do little to further draw people of faith. As the potential of the religious marketplace becomes more apparent, we’ll begin to see a change in how attractions cater to faith-based groups.
9.    Religious groups will continue to gather – no matter what the year ahead brings. If there is one tradition that cuts across all religions, it is this: people of faith like to gather. To look at it another way, “community” lies at the very core of many faiths and religions. For this reason, it comes as no surprise that the religious market represents about 16 percent of the meetings industry and is estimated to be twice the size of the business meetings market. According to the Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA), the religious meetings market has grown from 4.4 million attendees in 1994 to an estimated 15 million attendees today.
10.     Churches and faith-based organizations will launch travel programs in ever-increasing numbers. Approximately 50,000 of the 400,000 churches and religious organizations in America possess some kind of travel program. One of the hottest trends in faith communities is the hosting of a travel program (also known as “travel ministry”). There is much greater awareness in religious circles about the benefits of combining faith, fun and fellowship through travel. This awareness is being driven by expanded media coverage on the topic, growth of religious travel guidebooks, and the increase in travel companies marketing and selling directly to churches and faith-based organizations.

Kevin Wright Bio
A 16-year veteran of the travel industry, Kevin J. Wright is the founder and president of the World Religious Travel Association (religioustravelassociation.com). In fall 2008, WRTA organized the first international trade show and educational conference for the faith travel industry.