Tourists' Harassment During Pilgrimage: A Case Study of TripAdvisor's Review for the Hindu Pilgrim Centers in India

Abstract

India is the birthplace of four major religions which are Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. It is a country where people of all religions live in peace and harmony. Many tourists experience different forms of harassment during their pilgrimage journey, for example, fleecing, extortion of money, harassment by beggars, persistence by vendors and priests, fraud, sexual harassment, and other unacceptable behaviors. In order to appreciate the extent of harassment encountered by tourists, an in-depth study was conducted on the reviews provided by tourists on TripAdvisor's (Indian) website. This study characterizes harassments through ethnographic research approach of published reviews. A total of 260 reviews of 28 top Hindu temples are considered for all the states and union territories where the top Hindu pilgrim centers are located, (excluding Nagaland) according to TripAdvisor. The concerned reviews are categorized and further investigated through a primary data collection in proportion with the reviews received in respective temple sites in the study. through structural equation modeling (SEM). Important factors have been identified for future policy issues and recommendations in these most crowded places with unique mass tourism practices.

Citation

Batabyal, D., Ray, N., Bag, S. and Nag, K. (2023), "Tourists' Harassment During Pilgrimage: A Case Study of TripAdvisor's Review for the Hindu Pilgrim Centers in India", Kumar, J., Bayram, G.E. and Sharma, A. (Ed.) Resilient and Sustainable Destinations After Disaster (Tourism Security-Safety and Post Conflict Destinations), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 139-156. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-021-720231011