Journal articles on the topic 'Hospitality – Religious aspects'

This paper examines Derrida's treatment of the quasi-transcendental structure of hospitality, particularly as it pertains to religious traditions, conceptions of human rights, and modern secularism. It begins by looking to the account Derrida presents in ‘Hostipitality’, focusing especially on his treatment of the work of Louis Massignon. It then proceeds to an exploration of Kant's concept of cosmopolitanism and some of its contemporary descendants before returning to Derrida's treatment of hospitality by way of his critique of this Kantian heritage. The paper argues both that religious traditions exhibit (though, perhaps, often not explicitly) the kind of structures of openness to difference to which Derrida's notion of hospitality refers, and that modern Western conceptions of secularism too easily preclude understanding and fostering those aspects of religious traditions which can contribute to more peaceful coexistence in pluralistic environments.

This article examines the hospitality practices of pro-migrant civil society organisations in Istanbul. Drawing from qualitative interviews, we focus on intersecting gendered, professionalised and faith-based aspects of pro-migrant activities and explore the ways that politically and morally charged ambivalences of hospitality practices are articulated and negotiated. Moreover, by contextualising Turkey’s religious and geopolitical particularity as a gatekeeper of Europe, we work with Derrida’s concept of plural laws to investigate hospitality practices towards refugees in Istanbul. Civil actors’ intentions and attempts to be good citizens, Muslims, and care providers expose the intimate aspects of hospitality – a segue into discourses of displaced subjects’ (gendered) deservingness. By portraying how macro–micro, global–local and public–private relations condition hospitality practices, we observe how globalisation is lived intimately, influencing perceptions of deservingness and the prioritisation of displaced subjects’ needs.

Abstract The presented paper focuses primarily on the tourism activities of teaching staff at universities and other research institutions. This applies in particular to travel during which the principal purpose is, inter alia, various exploratory internships, conferences, trips as a guest professor or a visiting professor under the auspices of the Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus programs. These peregrinations require extra effort, not only with regards to teaching and research duties, but also present opportunities to confront, test and evaluate one’s own research results and outlook with new listeners in new locations in different environments. This travel especially applies to the foreign environment, a situation that presents high degrees of professional, scientific and linguistic challenges, resulting in increased contributions and activity to the specific field of science. Regardless of the workload and the difficulties of the discussed travel, such travel can also bring about much personal satisfaction: a) due to a sense of a well done job as a result of meeting expectations of the employer and the host placed on the 'messenger of science' and b) due to the pleasure associated with those tourist experiences having autotelic and pragmatic (instrumental) overtones

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the ways in which religious tourism in India fosters religious tolerance. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a conceptual apparatus derived from the basic structure of religious tourism comprising motivation, journey and destination, to understand various aspects of tolerance. Tolerance, with the implicit meaning of diversity and pluralism, is examined at two levels – intra-religion and inter-religion – using field investigations from three Hindu pilgrimage sites, namely, Vrindavan, Tuljapur, Shegaon and review of one Muslim site called Ajmer Sharif. These sites exhibit a range of combinations, sectarian traditions within Hindu and their interactions with others, including Muslims and foreigners. Findings – Each of the sites provides different sets of opportunities for the “others” to get exposed to religious and cultural aspects. It is found that tolerance within the Hindu sects and with non-Hindus from other religious faiths is a function of their engagement with cultural performances and participation in the religious tourism economy in a pilgrimage site. Originality/value – On a broader level, this paper argues that conceptualising tolerance within a social and cultural sphere helps in a better understanding of tolerance and identifying areas within religious tourism where it can be promoted. A conscious effort to promote tolerance through religious tourism will add value to religious tourism and help it thrive.

The participation of women in the hospitality industry is crucial. This research is conducted to explore factors that prevent female students from studying hotel management as a major at the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality in the University of Jordan, located in Jordan. These factors include the financial aspects, cultural and social standpoints, religious perspective, and geographical reason. A total of 200 questionnaires containing 24 items was used to collect information from bachelor students at the University of Jordan-Aqaba. Results of the current study revealed that all the above barriers are applied to high levels in which the range of the mean score is 3.49-3.82. This study shall provide important feedback to decision-makers to encourage the female students further in studying hotel management degree specifically in Aqaba city.

Food is one of the main requirements of human being. It is flattering for the preservation of wellbeing and nourishment of the body. The food of a society exposes its custom, prosperity, status, habits as well as it help to develop a culture. Food is one of the most important social indicators of a society. History of food carries a dynamic character in the socio- economic, political, and cultural realm of a society. The food is one of the obligatory components in our daily life. It occupied an obvious atmosphere for the augmentation of healthy life and anticipation against the diseases. The food also shows a significant character in establishing cultural distinctiveness, and it reflects who we are. Food also reflected as the symbol of individuality, generosity, social status and religious believes etc in a civilized society. Food is not a discriminating aspect. It is the part of a culture, habits, addiction, and identity of a civilization.Food plays a symbolic role in the social activities the world over. It’s a universal sign of hospitality.[1]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss various aspects of the development of the places of apparitions and miraculous images, motives and behavioral characteristics of pilgrims coming to the miraculous places of the Virgin Mary in Lithuania. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews literature about miraculous events and presents miraculous places in Lithuania (apparition places of the Virgin Mary and sites of miraculous images). Various classifications are applied. Pilgrims ' motivation and behavioral aspects are analyzed based on the quantitative survey. Findings – The research showed that the main motives of religious pilgrims visiting miraculous places were asking for God’s grace, health, expressing gratitude to Jesus or Virgin Mary as well as spiritual quest and renewal. These places attract pilgrims who want to solve different problems in their life or to recover from illnesses. Religious pilgrimage has different forms and rituals, and constitutes different models of the specific behavior. During the journey, pilgrims perform various religious practices such as praying, singing hymns, kissing the relics, etc. The grouping of devotional rituals performed during the pilgrimage and at the destination place is presented. Originality/value – The paper is important to the researchers of pilgrimage and religious tourism. For the first time, miraculous places of Lithuania are analyzed in the broader international context. Classifications of the miraculous sites indicate various aspects of the development of these places. Motives and behavioral characteristics of pilgrims enable to better understand the multidimensional reality of religious pilgrimage.

The hospitality and tourism sector is considered the backbone for economicgrowth, especially in developing countries. However, this thriving sector is particularly vulnerable to naturaland human-made disasters. This study assesses the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-2019) pandemic in India’s hospitality and tourism sector by addressing essential aspects such as current conditions and challenges as well as future perspectives. The secondary research methodology has been applied for the research. For data collection, the secondary data has been collected through literature, journal articles, government documents, etc. The research findings show that COVID-19 in India has significantly affected the hospitality and tourism sector. Global and domestic tourists have canceled their programs to visit the natural, historical, religious, and cultural sites. The flight tickets and the hotel reservations have been canceled. A significant number of workers in the sector have lost their jobs. This pandemic has affected the economy of the country as well as the well-being of the individuals to a large extent. As the intensification of the COVID-19 is being thought to cause a long-term impact, this study could be relevant to the decision-makers in regards to the crucial task of reviving the sector.

Migrant workers are marginalized and suffering people in Taiwan at present-day. There are discussions about issue of migrant worker from economical, legal, political and cultural perspectives, but rarely from religious aspects. In this paper, the author intends to approach it from the aspect of contextual theology. Firstly, the author would analyze the marginalized situations of migrant workers in Taiwan. In a sense, they are what contextual theologian identified as marginalized and suffering people or so called “minjung.” Secondly, the author would observe how Christian churches and institutes respond to the plight of migrant workers by practicing missio Dei. Thirdly, the author would reflect the theological meaning of migrant workers by interpreting the biblical texts and the parable of Jesus concerning the kingdom of God, and point out to do justly, to be compassionate and to practice hospitality to migrant workers are imperative of social ethics of Christians at present-day.

Purpose While former literature has shown that people have a strong tendency to seek religious support during difficult times, knowledge gaps exist in how the mechanism of religiosity works to support employees’ mental status and performance. Therefore, based on self-categorization theory, this study aims to examine the effects of employees’ intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on building their mental toughness and mindfulness and the further formation of employees’ political skills. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 404 full-time hotel employees working in 34 hotels in Turkey during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in spring 2020. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the proposed hypotheses. Findings Results of this study show that intrinsic religiosity improves employees’ mental toughness, while extrinsic religiosity enhances employee mindfulness. Additionally, both mental toughness and mindfulness help employees to develop political skill. Research limitations/implications This study enriches knowledge to workplace religiosity literature and expands the research scope of religion-related research in hospitality and tourism literature. Future studies are recommended to consider religious heterogeneity and longitudinal design. Practical implications To foster employee mental well-being, hotel firms should create a religious-friendly workplace and develop religion-friendly policies. Opportunities should be created within hospitality organizations for employees to develop and use their political skills in needed work aspects. Originality/value The findings of this study contribute to valuable theoretical and practical implications. To the best of the knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to study hotel employees’ religiosity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A practical and theoretical account is presented of an ongoing adult psychotherapy group that has met weekly for over 2 years at the Atlanta Counseling Center. As co-therapists, the authors have developed a psychological and spiritual perspective of their experience, drawing upon the thinking of object relations theorists (e.g., Winnicott), group therapists (e.g., Yalom), and theologians (e.g., Bonhoeffer and Nouwen). The central theme is the rediscovery of Christian community through the establishment of a hospitable holding environment where hostility can be transformed into hospitality and alienation into hope. Included are practical aspects of beginning and maintaining a group in a private practice selling and discussion of the uniqueness of group therapy that is “Christian.”

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how motivation aspects including expected organizational rewards (EOR) and enjoyment in helping others (EHO) drive umrah travelers’ participation. Furthermore, it verifies the effect of umrah travelers’ participation on loyalty and assesses the perceived value and umrah travelers’ satisfaction emerging in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The survey uses the purposive sampling method. Data analysis uses confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling with a total sample of 438 umrah travelers. Findings The results show that EOR and EHO affect umrah travelers’ participation; umrah travelers’ participation has a direct effect on umrah travelers’ loyalty; and all the relationships between umrah travelers’ participation, perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty are significant. Originality/value This study contributes to the theory of religious tourism particularly in identifying the motivation aspects as the antecedents of umrah travelers’ participation beyond religiosity. Furthermore, this study provides the theory of umrah travelers’ participation and loyalty and proposes that perceived value and satisfaction emerge in this relationship.

<div><p class="Els-history-head">This study was conducted to analyze the anatomy of a religious conflict in particular related to the conflict of the Ahmadiyya in Sukabumi and religious conflict resolution particularly in Sukabumi Ahmadiyya with sociological approaches as a means of mediation. The election is carried as a sociological approach to settling the conflicts which are selected based on a variety of considerations that the approach that has been done by the parties to put forward more mediator the legal aspects, the results are less effective. Legal approaches in religious conflicts in Sukabumi constellations into two mutually contradictory sides between the religious law is seen as the absolute power of God by positive law which was seen as the result of human which sometimes in disregard of religious fanaticism by. This study uses a qualitative method and a case study approach based on Cresswell's theory. The results showed that 1) the anatomy of the Ahmadiyya religious Congregations conflict happening in the Sukabumi can be seen from the cause of the onset of the conflict, the parties in conflict, the onset of the conflict, and the impact of the onset of the conflict. Impacts of the onset of the conflict, namely suspicion between the more powerful group, the two groups feel aggrieved at each other, the loss of religious tolerance and community, the destruction of the unity and the unity of the community, regional development is hampered. (2) religious conflict Mediation between Ahmadiyya Congregation with Non-Ahmadiyya in Sukabumi carried through; The formation of Team Handlers JAI by MUI, the Attorney, TNI, POLRI, Kodim Sukabumi, Socializing schools of true religion by MUI, Socialization harmony and unity of the nation by TNI AD, hospitality to the parties by Babinsa, Babinsa as mediators, conducting joint activities, the addition of the local Koramil post.</p></div>

Holy Week is one of the most important traditions in many parts of the world and a complex expression of cultural heritage. The main goal of this article is to explore which factors determine participation in Holy Week celebrations in the city of Palencia (Spain), measured through the number of processions attended. For this purpose, an econometric count data model is used. Variables included in the model not only reflect participants' sociodemographic features but other factors reflecting cultural capital, accumulated experience, and social aspects of the event. A distinction is drawn between three types of participants: brotherhood members, local residents, and visitors, among whom a survey was conducted to collect the information required. A total of 248 surveys were carried out among brotherhood members, 209 among local residents, and 259 among visitors. The results confirm the religious and social nature of this event, especially in the case of local participants. However, in the case of visitors, participation also depends on aspects reflecting the celebration's cultural and tourist dimension—such as visiting other religious and cultural attractions—suggesting the existence of specific tourism linked to the event. All of this suggests the need to manage the event, ensuring a balance is struck between the various stakeholders' interests and developing a tourist strategy that prioritizes public-private cooperation.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify customers’ perceived value constructs of shopping malls from the perspective of Muslim shoppers and to develop items for measuring these constructs, empirically validate the scale, and carry out an initial investigation of the effect of these dimensions on behavioural outcomes. Design/methodology/approach By means of a multi-dimensional procedure on a sample of 329 Muslim mall shoppers in the UAE, the authors have developed a scale of measurement of these shoppers’ perceived value of malls through grouping 30 value items into eight dimensions. Findings The study constructed and validated a scale of perceived value of malls taking into consideration the mall shopper’s religion (i.e. Islam). The authors name this new scale Muslim MALLVAL. This scale demonstrates that, like any other shoppers, Muslims who shop in malls assess the shopping experience through both cognitive and affective values in addition to the Islamic value of the mall. The study in addition reveals that the dimensions of Muslim MALLVAL have significant positive influences on behavioural outcomes such as willingness to continue shopping and recommendation of the mall to others. Research limitations/implications This study is carried out on Muslim shoppers in the UAE context. However, the authors urge other researchers to replicate the study and get replies from different countries and in particular to use the measures developed in this study to test their robustness. Practical implications Muslim mall shoppers evaluate not only the traditional aspects of mall value but also the religious identity related aspects that contribute to the value creation. Therefore, mall developers and managers who target Muslim shoppers (residents and/or tourists) should create and maintain the appropriate shopping environment for Muslim shoppers. Originality/value This study is the first to provide an integrative scale for the perceived value of shopping malls from the perspective of Muslim shoppers.

The main purpose of our paper is to highlight the interplay between the demands of the workforce market from Hunedoara County and the competences of graduates from The Economy of Trade, Tourism and Services (ETTS) Bachelor study programme. As far as the methodology of the paper is concerned, we used a qualitative description approach that comprises manifold aspects: the statistical analysis of trade and tourism branches from the V West Region in correlation with the labor market; job opportunities analysis before and after the pandemic; cognitive and behavioral competences achieved by graduates from the ETTS programmeme in order to become well trained specialists in their area of interest. The results of our investigations led us to the following conclusions: the pandemic brought about continuous oscillations in the trade and tourism labor markets in such a way that, having skills in both fields, graduates from the ETTS programmeme could get compensation of the declining trend of available jobs in the hospitality industry by the increase of vacant jobs within the the online commerce; on the other hand, Hunedoara Conty – an area with various types of tourism – mountain, historical, religious tourism etc. – has witnessed an upsurge in the number of tourists in spite of the pandemic.

In the tourism and hospitality industry can be distinguished seven tourist service fields: the natural, cultural, historical, event, recreational, mythological, service, anthropological. At the modern tourist industry developing level exists a special opportunity to pick out the new tourist service fields types. Rostourism developed several programs, connected with difference tourist field aspects development. It allows the tourist amount in Russia increasing, in particular, in Moscow region, due to inner tourism developing. In the Moscow region it is possible to develop various types of tourism, such as winter, summer, child, adventure, ethnographic, floristic, ecological, and religious and photo tours. The modern concept of the Moscow region development provides the priority points of tourist attraction and tourist resources of destinations in the region development. In the Moscow suburbs are determined 12 “tourist attraction points”, named &#34;12 pearls suburbs.&#34; The tourist field in Moscow suburb needs a development of such tourist field service parameters like: transport infrastructure; accommodation facilities; catering and trade and ctr. Russian and foreign tourists in the priority points of the Moscow region needs to develop attractive tourist routes, package offers tour programs and excursions. Aimed at the Russian and foreign tourists attraction to the Moscow region priority points, it is necessary to develop the special tourist routes, tourist programs and excursions.

This study explores the impressions of the 19th century travelers on the nature of Turkish and Greek Cypriots by focusing on their relationships with each other, their personal characteristics, and their attitudes towards foreigners and visitors. Since the focus of the study is the nature and culture of the Cypriots, Cypriots' characteristics, distinctive features, attitudes towards travelers, moods and mindset are presented comparatively in the light of travelers’ reflections in their written accounts. The data were elicited from primary and secondary sources. Primary sources in this context refer to the published books of the 19th century travelers to Cyprus while secondary sources constitute the studies on the issue in the relevant literature. All books written by travelers to Cyprus in the 19th century were perused to find the data related to the nature of Cypriots and their characters over a period of a year. The collected data were then coded and classified to reveal the themes, namely hospitality, friendliness, family loyalty and docility. Being a type of content analysis, conceptual analysis was conducted in data analysis. Since almost all studies on the 19th century Cyprus travel literature are related to the political and religious dynamics of 19th century Cyprus, this study is thought to fill a gap in the relevant literature by shedding light on the socio-cultural aspects of Cyprus. The results revealed that the Cypriots were quite hospitable towards the travelers since the travelers acknowledged that they felt properly welcomed. Friendliness, helpfulness and docility were found to be other features exhibited by Cypriots in the traveler accounts. The other highly praised characteristic was found to be devotion to home and family.

The current study is based on the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia. Kingdom’s tourism industry earnings from international travelers and tourism services are poised to hit SAR80 billion in 2015. The tourism industry in Saudi Arabia has witnessed an increasing level of growth in recent years and is seen to continue this trend moving forward. The industry has undergone a major transformation led by the commitment to upgrade the Kingdom’s infrastructure as well as improving its hospitality sector. Religious tourism is the main attraction for inbound tourists and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, the government has taken steps to increase domestic tourism and persuade potential outbound tourists from vacationing abroad. However, large investment in the sector is required to bring these ambitious plans to fruition. The tourism sector comprises only 2% of government funding compared to the industrial sector. In this report random sampling was used as it is the best known form of probability sample. Pilot study was conducted by taking convenience sampling. To find the quantitative analysis SPSS 18.0 software is used. In this report factor analysis is used for the reliability test of the questionnaire. Chi-Square test is used for comparing the collected data with the desired data from the certain hypothesis on the other hand Pearson Correlation is used to measure means of a statistical test. The study evaluates the services provided to the tourist visiting the kingdom and at the same time it measures the satisfaction level of the tourists. The report is based on primary and secondary data for the primary data the questionnaire was used and being distributed to the tourists visiting the kingdom. Five hypothesis was proposed and are being analyzed using Chi – Square test and correlation test. The current study states that there are several variables, where excellent satisfaction is being rated by the tourists where as there are several factors where the authority needs to pay importance, which is mentioned in detail in this report. The outcome of this report also suggests some major policy recommendation by which convenience, excellence and comfort could be given to the tourists visiting the kingdom.

Abstract This paper provides a discussion on various aspects and features of the concept of the social sciences of sport. The concept originated recently and was formulated in 2007 during the preparations for the establishment of the International Society for the Social Sciences of Sport. The Society, however, was not formed until the beginning of 2009. Among other things, the concept includes such academic disciplines and fields as sport sociology, sport philosophy, sport psychology, sport pedagogy, the history of physical fitness, sport and Olympism, sport politics and the international conditions of sport, sport economics, sport organizations and management, the social and cultural foundations of tourism and recreation, the social relations regarding training and sport tactics, as well as the humanistic theory of martial arts. The author presents a growth in interest of different social aspects and issues of sport at the beginning of the twentieth century. He indicates the significant development of sport during the second half of the last century, especially towards its end and at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The social sciences of sport was also underlined as the reason for the creation of a new, dynamically developing cognitive paradigm. According to the Author, it is mainly connected with the institutional and functional, organizational and methodological conditions of the social science of sport which specifically complemented the educational and research standards for the academic community around the globe. The Author emphasizes the social sciences of sport’s distinctive and autonomous part in sport science due to its specific and detailed merit-related issues and methodological foundations. He also stresses that not only does natural science (particularly biological science) play an important role in sport science, but also that the social science of sport has a vital and fundamental value in it. In his opinion, natural (biological) science in relation to sport refers mainly to one person’s organism, whereas social science refers, for the most part, to the axiological, cultural, symbolical, esthetic, ethical perception of physical exertion. Moreover, research conducted in this field encompasses the professional, pragmatic, utilitarian, cathartic, escapist, ludic, hedonistic, epistemological and recreational aspects of differently perceived professional sports or sport for all. The Author points out that the amount of available courses - lectures, classes, seminars - in the field of social sciences themselves, as well as in the social science of sport, is being gradually reduced, which undoubtedly lowers not only the knowledge, but also the perception, interpretation, explanation and comprehension of sport in the context of the humanistic approach. Furthermore, he indicates this trend’s influential role in the development of common-sense thinking, which makes opinion-forming and valuable comments on the subject of sport undergo cognitive deformations. He points out its negative influence on the listeners, audience and fans’ consciousness, opinion and attitude, as well as on the interpretative context of the observed events - not only ones associated with sport, but also those happening beyond it, for instance in social, family, peer, professional, political and religious life.

Considering the educational value of the category of „hospitality”, I made attempts to a critical reflection on this issue in recent Polish literature for the young audience. The analysis has been subjected the prose in which the issue of hospitality takes on different meanings. First of all is mentioned of hospitality in dimension of culinary and sociosociable, in the sense of kind treat the „food and drink” (the most common understanding of hospitality, when care of the our neighbor is expressed through common eating the prepared food). Secondly is mentioned of hospitality in dimension of family, in the sense of hosting adult children. In this dimension I drew attention to first difficult relationship with the adopted child, when parents start by hosting it, to create a common nest. There is also one more understanding of hospitality, very timely in the current socio-political situation, the intensifying law concerning ethnic and religious minorities in Western Europe, the understanding of hospitality in aspect of cultural, the hospitality to the „other” – culturally different.

Abstract Women occupied a central place in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century transatlantic Quakerism. They acted as prophets, missionaries, authors and spiritual leaders of their communities. Recent scholarship has offered important insights into the unparalleled public roles available to women within the early Quaker community. But little is known about the networks of hospitality that developed across the British Atlantic that made itinerant missionary service possible. The generosity of countless female Quakers to unknown “Friends” remains an underexplored aspect of early Quaker history. Using printed spiritual testimonies and correspondence exchanged between Quaker missionaries and their female hosts, this article shows how ministers were “sustained” during their travels. Active religious service did not have to equate to ministerial work, and networks of female hospitality provided an important accompaniment to the national and transatlantic Quaker mission.

AbstractThe hermeneutic wager described in Richard Kearney’s Anatheism seems to share a number of characteristics with both agnosticism and other postmodern religious wagers. All these approaches maintain a certain epistemological humility with respect to what we can and cannot know about God. Nevertheless, the anatheistic wager includes an existential aspect that risks commitment even in the uncertainty of epistemological uncertainty. The fivefold motion of imagination, humility, commitment, discernment, and hospitality circumscribes a wager that is neither the blind leap of fideism nor safe assurance of certainty.

Purpose This conceptual paper aims to contribute to the growing literature around the “politics of heritage” by focusing on India which has a multifaceted society with several layers of religious culture and history. Design/methodology/approach The work is based on an extensive review of the literature and philosophical discussions relating to the politics of heritage tourism and the political dimensions of nationalism and ethnicity from an interdisciplinary perspective. Findings The main purpose of this conceptual paper is to develop hypotheses. Hence, the study asks: How does postcolonial India reconstruct its past and how are religions represented as part of the national image and for the purpose of tourism promotion? How tourism and religious heritage support a broader secular dreamscape of harmonious cultural nationalism in India? Considering all allegations for supporting the Hindutva movement (who considers Hinduism to be the source of India’s “essential” identity and believes it alone can provide national cohesiveness) by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India, it is worth examining if there are any subtle changes to the tourism agenda created by the new government and the ambivalence surrounding it. Is there any place for the “foreigners” (Muslims and Christians) in Hindutva political ideology? Future scholars can analyze how tourism promotional material represents three major religions in the country by the current Indian Government (i.e. BJP) in its official tourism website: www.incredibleindia.org. This will take “politics of heritage” studies to a different trajectory, as analysis of web media has emerged as a critical medium in understanding numerous social processes. Research limitations/implications The paper draws on a wide range of seminal work by scholars of nationalism and ethnicity over the past few decades, but it cannot be comprehensive. Originality/value The paper’s originality lies in its novel approach to an understudied aspect in tourism studies (i.e. politics of heritage) and providing suggestions for future research.

This study focuses on a particular aspect of the Translation Studies orDirāsāt al-tarǧamah, i.e. the ethics of the translator.Starting from the analysis of concepts like “cultural otherness” or “linguistic hospitality”, theorized by Antoine Berman, Lawrence Venuti and Paul Ricoeur, and concerning the translator’s process of mediating between languages and between cultures, it will be taken into account the specific case of a muslim traveller and interpreter, Aḥmad ibn Qāsim al-Ḥaǧarī al-Andalusī (d. 1051/1641), author of theKitāb Nāṣir al-dīn ʿalà l-qawm al-kāfirīn, who was asked, by a Christian authority (the Archbishop of Granada), to translate some Arabic manuscripts.In such a context, the act of translating highlights not only the problem of hermeneutics and inter-religious dialogue, as interpretation of a different text and a different faith’s language, but also the problem of ethic relationships inherent in encounteringthe Other.

Pushkar fair have been an integral part of social and cultural aspect for Pushakr residents. As it is worldwide famous fair, from different part of world people belongs to different religion, cast and creed come here and become the witness of this religious and mythological fair. As many people from different region and religion Pushkar fair has become the social and cultural association point. The visitor or the pilgrims who come here has different opinion regarding this social amalgam. The main aim of this study is to investigate and analyzed influence of this fair on society in respect of cultural and social development. The primary data for this study was taken through open ended interview by researcher to pilgrims.

As a professor of theology with expertise in interreligious issues, I designed a January Term course on Hinduism set in south India. The course met liberal arts requirements and was designed for predominantly upper Midwestern students with Catholic and Protestant backgrounds. The focus was not on major sites but on meeting people in the countryside. Also, the course moved traditional learning and pedagogy into a living space by staying for six nights, during the Pongal harvest festival, in rural homes in Tamil Nadu. In terms of academics, the course was originally designed to focus on asceticism, the worship of Shiva, village goddesses, and the role of hill shrines in Tamil Nadu. The students would learn about these topics directly through the town, its inhabitants, and nearby religious sites. I did my best to prepare students for the experience, utilizing interviews, orientation sessions, on-site orientations, and assigned readings. My plans and preparations might seem to have been good, but at the midpoint of the course, on the first day in the small town, the program ground to a halt. Many students were emotionally devastated by the level of poverty. In this context, my lectures on asceticism, Shiva, goddesses, and hill shrines rang hollow and empty. Instead, the minds of the students were flooded by a host of other issues, including poverty, race, class, gender, environmental pollution. Although initially devastated by poverty, the students were quickly drawn into the life of the town. After only two days many frowns and tears turned into smiles. They were drawn in by the hospitality, the highly relational nature of the Tamil people, the exuberance and color of the Pongal celebrations, and the town’s rituals. Religion was a main facet of the experiences of the students, and this was key in terms of transforming their stay into a positive one, but my lectures on Shiva nevertheless rang empty. The students were experiencing a different aspect of the religion than what I had learned about in graduate school or was prepared to teach. Westerners tend to think of Asian religions in terms of meditation, asceticism, and philosophy, but the students were experiencing religion in terms of family intimacy, obedience to the elders, and hospitality to the stranger. I later found that the sixth century Tamil classic, the Tirukkural or “Holy Speech,” addresses the experiences of the students. The text gives instructions on how to live a virtuous life, and it discusses two main lifestyles, those of the ascetic and the householder. The former pertains to material that I was prepared to teach and the latter to the world my students were experiencing. There were a variety of lessons which the students, and students in future years, learned from the lifestyle of a Hindu householder. Lessons they wrote about in their journals included generosity to outsiders and guests, valuing family relations, that great joy can exist in the midst of poverty, and that Americans value individual choice, whereas Indians value collective decision making.

“Education is the basic tool for the development of consciousness and the reconstitution of society” -Mahatma Gandhi. In Kerala formal and higher education started much earlier than rest of the Indian states. Educational initiatives made the state the most literate one and placed it as well ahead in gender and spatial equity. During the initial phase of educational expansion, education got its prominence for its intrinsic worthiness and played the role of enlightenment and empowerment. Kerala has occupied a prominent place on the educational map of the country from its ancient time. Though there is no clear picture of the educational system that prevailed in the early centuries of the Christian Era, the Tamil works of the Sangam age enable us to get interesting glimpses of the educational scene in Tamilakam including the present Kerala[i]. The standards of literacy and education seem to have been high. The universal education was the main feature of sangam period. 196-201 Evolution and Growth of Cyber Crimes: An Analys on the Kerala Scenario S S KARTHIK KUMAR Crime is a common word that we always hereof in this era of globalization. Crimes refer to any violation of law or the commission of an act forbidden by law. Crime and criminality have been associated with man since time immemorial. Cyber crime is a new type of crime that occurs in these years of Science and Technology. There are a lot of definitions for cyber crime. It is defined as crimes committed on the internet using the computer as either a tool or a targeted victim. In addition, cyber crime also includes traditional crimes that been conducted with the access of Internet. For example hate crimes, telemarketing Internet fraud, identity theft, and credit card account thefts. In simple word, cyber crime can be defined as any violence action that been conducted by using computer or other devices with the access of internet. 202-206 Myriad Aspects of Secular Thinking on Malayali Cuisine SAJITHA M Food is one of the main requirements of human being. It is flattering for the preservation of wellbeing and nourishment of the body. The food of a society exposes its custom, prosperity, status, habits as well as it help to develop a culture. Food is one of the most important social indicators of a society. History of food carries a dynamic character in the socio- economic, political, and cultural realm of a society. The food is one of the obligatory components in our daily life. It occupied an obvious atmosphere for the augmentation of healthy life and anticipation against the diseases. The food also shows a significant character in establishing cultural distinctiveness, and it reflects who we are. Food also reflected as the symbol of individuality, generosity, social status and religious believes etc in a civilized society. Food is not a discriminating aspect. It is the part of a culture, habits, addiction, and identity of a civilization.Food plays a symbolic role in the social activities the world over. It’s a universal sign of hospitality.[i] 207-212 Re-Appraising Taxation in Travancore and It's Caste Interference REVATHY V S Travancore , one of the Princely States in British India and later became the Model State in British India carried a significant role in history when analysing its system of taxation. Tax is one of the chief means for acquiring revenue and wealth. In the modern sense, tax means an amount of money imposed by a government on its citizens to run a state or government. But the system of taxation in the Native States of Travancore had an unequal character or discriminatory character and which was bound up with the caste system. In the case of Travancore and its society, the so called caste system brings artificial boundaries in the society.[i] 213-221 Second World War and Its Repercussions: Impetus on Poverty in Travancore SAFEED R In the first half of the twentieth century the world witnessed two deadliest wars and it directly or indirectly affected the countries all over the world. The First World War from 1914-1918 and the Second World War from 1939-1945 shooked the base of the socio-economic and political structure of the entire world. When compared to the Second World War, the First World War confined only within the boundaries of Europe and has a minimal effect on the other parts of the world. The Second World War was most destructive in nature and it changed the existing socio-economic and political setup of the world countries. 222-

This volume, written by scholars in Middle Eastern history, addresses thehistory of charity in the Middle East, including its meanings, conceptions, practical patterns, motivations, and the ways of institutionalization andidentifying its “deserving” beneficiaries throughout the last 14 centuries. Itis addressed to academic readers interested in Middle Eastern history or incharity in a universal sense.One aspect of charity dealt with throughout the book is that of motivation.It turns out that besides adhering to general Islamic principles, motivationsof enhancing one’s prestige and social clout have played an importantrole as well. Michael Bonner points out in his chapter, “Poverty and Charityin the Rise of Islam,” that generosity in pre-Islamic and early IslamicArabia was clearly linked to competition for political and social prestigeamong tribal leaders. However, he does not adequately clarify these practices’role in the emergence of the Islamic charitable tradition. In “Charityand Hospitality,” Miri Shefer describes how prominent individuals in theOttoman Empire enhanced their own prestige by founding hospitalsthrough the establishment of awqaf. Likewise, Ottoman sultan AbdülhamidII sponsored numerous charitable projects in order to enhance his own publicimage as a caring and fatherly benefactor toward his subjects, as NadirÖzbek describes in “Imperial Gifts and Sultanic Legitimation during theLate Ottoman Empire, 1876-1909.”Beth Baron and Kathryn Libal, authors of “Islam, Philanthropy, andPolitical Culture in interwar Egypt,” and of “The Child Question,” respectively,shed light on the emergence in Egypt and Turkey, during the first halfof the twentieth century, of motivations informed by various philanthropists’(either Islamist or secular) ideological commitment to the well-being of thenation as a whole. They also describe how this commitment translated itselfinto civil society activism and public debates in both countries.Another relevant aspect is institutionalization. Possibly, the earliest formof institutionalized charity in Islamic history is the collection and distributionof zakat. Timur Kuran distinguishes, in his “Islamic Redistributionthrough Zakat” (see the section “Instrument of Modern Redistribution?”) the“proceduralist” from the “situationist” approach toward this basic Islamicduty. The former approach denotes a strict application of specific rules fromthe Islamic sources, regardless of the concrete situation at hand, while thesecond refers to a flexible implementation of general religious principlesbased on the current situation ...

<p><em> Implementation of religious teachings, especially in the field of ceremony (yajna) there is a difference between one area to another. The difference is based on local traditions cultural and Hindu culture develops in conformity with the natural enviroment. Nyangling ceremony in Tirta Empul Temple in Banjar Kederi, Singapadu Kaler village, Sukawati District Gianyar regency. Nyangling ceremony is unique because in the ceremony Nyangling using rice means, the rice is then purified with holy water contained in Tirta Empul Temple. Based on the above background, then the formulation of the issues to be discussed include: (1) How is the procession of Nyangling Ceremony, At Tirta Empul Temple in Kederi street, Singapadu Kaler village, District Sukawati Gianyar regency? (2) What is the function of Nyangling Ceremony, in Tirta Empul Temple, Banjar Kederi, Singapadu Kaler Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency? (3) What Is Philosophical Of Nyangling Ceremony Tirta Empul Temple, Banjar Kederi, Singapadu Kaler Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency.</em></p><p><em></em><em>Based on data analysis it can be concluded (1) Nyangling ceremony procession is a series of ceremony gods yajna. Place of execution at Tirta Empul Temple Banjar Kederi, Singapadu Kaler Village, Sukawati District Gianyar Regency and led by Dewa Mangku Tirta .. (2) Nyangling ceremony has various functions that are the function of religious system, social function, function of cultural preservation, aesthetic function. (A) The function of the Religious System is a spiritual aspect which can not be attained. (B) Social Function as a unifying tool for the achievement of a properous society, and cultive a sense of togetherness. (C) Cultural Preservation Function, Nyangling Ceremony Represents the culture of the Banjar Kederi, Singapadu Kaler Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency, which is sacralized as a vehicle for preserving Balinese art and culture. (D) Aesthetic function is found in the community movements of Kederi street walking looks neat rows of time walking towards Tirta Empul Temple and sound to the hymn accompanied by gambelan . (3) It should be observed from its meaning, namely: (a) The philosophical meaning of Nyangling ceremony in Tirta Empul Temple, Banjar Kederi, Singapadu Kaler Village is to purify the means of rice to be used at the time of piodalan and offer various means of upakara / banten as a form of our devotion before God . (B) The meaning of balance and harmony in the Nyangling ceremony is seen at the time of the ceremony since its preparation, procession and execution. Members of the community Banjar Kederi, Singapadu Kaler Village help each other based on the heart and hospitality during theNyangling ceremony took place. (C) The Purification of the Nyangling Ceremony is contained in the holy tirtha which is requested to purify the means of the ceremonial rice and the bodies of its worshipers.</em></p><pre><em> </em></pre>

The author describes the rapidly developing tourism industry in Uzbekistan. The country purports to become one of the most frequented tourist attractions in the world, as attested to by its many achievements. Since 1993, the country has been a member of the UN World Tourism Organization. The author dwells on the results of tremendous work on the overhaul of the tourist industry, transport and hotel infrastructure. The country has also seen the development and perfection of the appropriate legal framework and new national terminology standards. The author points out that the establishment of programmes for the development of tourism opportunities in various regions of Uzbekistan is ongoing, whereby nearly 450 projects are planned. The regions work upon development of agri- and ecotourism. The measures on simplification and bringing to the world standards the visa process and registration of foreign citizens became highly important for Uzbekistan. The author concludes that such measures have resulted in an increase of number of tourists by 32,7 percent, as compared with the previous year. The export of tourist services has increased by 18,3 percent. According to the author, the main attractions of Uzbekistan for foreign tourists are peace, stability, the atmosphere of mutual respect and welfare; the resources available allow developing all kinds of tourism. Nowadays, Uzbekistan can boast about business, recreation, historical and architectural, folklore and ethnographical, religious and other kinds of tourism. The author emphasizes ecotourism is an important direction. Uzbekistan is a nice place for randonneurs, fans of bicycle touring, etc. The author pays attention to relations between Uzbekistan and Ukraine. It is said that the two states are in search of new forms of cooperation, with Ukraine being a tourist partner of Uzbekistan. The author also describes the cognitive aspect of the aforementioned tourism, namely about peculiarities of Uzbek families. Respect for elder people, tea ceremony as an element of hospitality, rules of etiquette while staying in an Uzbek house, and interesting traditions all serve to multiply the desire to visit the sunny Uzbekistan. Keywords: the Republic of Uzbekistan, tourist sphere, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), UNESCO World Heritage, Uzbekistan-Ukraine relations.

Multi-religious places of worship are a continuous phenomenon in the history of religions from Antiquity to the present day, despite all concrete differences. Analysing a very well-documented example from late Antiquity, Mamre (today Rāmat al-Khalīl) in Palestine (Hebron/al-Khalīl), this article discusses and refines the theoretical concept of “spiritual convergence” developed by Benjamin Z. Kedar. By applying differentiated analysis criteria recommended by Dorothea Weltecke, it also examines the influence of economic interests, political power, concepts of purity, and aspects of time, as well as symbolic and narrative interpretations of the place, in order to explain why spiritual convergence took place at this location for at least five hundred years. The thesis is put forward that it is not only the peripheral location or lower symbolic importance that favoured the side-by-side cult at Mamre, as Ora Limor stated. Even more important for the successful sharing of that holy place was the limit of festivals to one per year and the narrative and symbolism linking the place of Mamre with the virtue of philoxeny and hospitality. This enabled the religious authorities to tolerate and perhaps even promote multireligious coexistence—especially as this was to the economic benefit of the region and thus of all ethnic and religious groups. Based on the detailed case study on late antique Mamre, the article also inquires which methodological findings and questions can be applied to other shared holy places. The emphasis lies on the interplay between building activities, ritual performance, and symbolic interpretation in constructing and sharing holy spaces.

The aim of this article is to contribute to the academic discussion on the inter-linguistic translation of the Christian message in the public sphere. There seems to be consensus amongst academic public theologians and social philosophers such as Habermas about the importance of translating religious language in the public sphere. Views differ, however, on the manner of translation. Five key aspects of Ricoeur’s paradigm of translation are discussed and offered as a framework for the academic discussion in public theology on the translation of the Christian message in the public sphere. It is argued that notions such as the tension between faithfulness and betrayal, the illusion of the perfect translation, striving for equivalence of meaning, the importance of the desire to translate, the work of translation and linguistic hospitality offer insight in the complexity of the translation task as well as its ethical nature.

The narrative in Genesis 18:1–15 deals with God’s visit to Abraham at Mamre. The general tendency in the interpretation of this narrative is to focus on Abraham’s hospitality. It is usually interpreted as an example of his righteousness, in line with Hebrews 13:2, or with the test motive of the Greek myth of the birth of Orion. These interpretations, however, seem to be in conflict with the narrator’s own theological views.This study, therefore, attempts to explore the view point of the author of the Fellowship Narrative (Gn 18:1–15) within the context of the larger Abraham narrative (Gn 11:27–25:11). The method used for the investigation is mainly that of narrative criticism. Attention is paid to the narrator’s various literary skills: ‘linking structure with preceding episode’ (Gn 18:1a), the ‘sandwiched structure’ of the larger context (Gn 18:1–21:7), the unique plot sequence, as well as repeated clue words and phrases (such as ‘laugh’, ‘Sarah’ and ‘this time next year’). These literary aspects are used by the narrator to depict the faithfulness of the Lord who fulfils what he promised. The conclusion of this study overturns the traditional interpretations of the Fellowship Narrative.

The South African-Dutch research group responsible for this article started its activities in 2012 by looking at religious tolerance (in education) as a means of addressing the tendency for religious intolerance, extremism and fundamentalism. While (teaching in) tolerance seemed to be a promising way to counter religious intolerable behaviour, some shortcomings also became apparent. For example, the concept of tolerance includes an aspect of passivity towards others who adhere to another religion. The concept also does not appear to be able to respond to attitudes and values such as respect, human rights and diversity. Accurate investigation of this problem, both conceptually and empirically, led to the understanding that hospitality is a concept that embodies more active adaptation to those who are different (including religious). Hospitality, therefore, seems to be a more promising concept than tolerance for reducing religious tension between individuals and groups. The inner contradiction discovered by Derrida in the notion of hospitality does not detract from the concept of being defined from a Biblical point of view. Hospitality can also be taught to young people. Although there are no formal provisions for hospitality in the national curricula, an analysis of the Dutch and South African national curricula shows that there is room for hospitality education.

Purpose Tourists often travel to different tourism destinations in advancing the knowledge of diverse cultures, environments, history and social aspects. The purpose of this study is to explore tourists’ perception of halal tourism and its impact on word-of-mouth towards halal tourism destinations. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach was applied in this study. Data were collected via 375 survey questionnaires and were analysed using partial least square method. Data were collected from Malaysia’s capital city and tourist spots in Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital city in Putrajaya, and several cities in Selangor, the richest state in the country. Findings The findings revealed that trip quality has a higher significant impact on satisfaction and trip value. The perception of a halal tourism destination is found to have a significant influence on satisfaction and trip value. Trip value is significantly related to satisfaction but not associated with word-of-mouth (WOM). Satisfaction of tourists has a significant impact on WOM towards travel destinations. Research limitations/implications This study comes up with a novel understanding of the theory of tourism practices by estimating non-Muslim tourists’ perception and its significant influence of WOM towards tourism destinations. The results of this study are significant to industry practitioners, policymakers and marketers in promoting halal tourism. The results of this study provide useful insights for Malaysia’s tourism industry, particularly for the tourism marketing in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya cities as tourist destinations. Practical implications This study comes up with a novel understanding of the theory of tourism practices by estimating non-Muslim tourists’ perception and the influence of WOM towards tourism destinations. The results of this study are significant to industry practitioners, policymakers and marketers in promoting halal tourism. Originality/value This study examined the potential impact of non-Muslim tourists’ perception of halal tourism destinations and their WOM for halal tourism destinations.

AbstractEfforts to build research capacity and capability in low and middle income countries (LMIC) has progressed over the last three decades, yet it confronts many challenges including issues with communicating or even negotiating across different cultures. Implementing global research requires a broader understanding of community engagement and participatory research approaches. There is a considerable amount of guidance available on community engagement in clinical trials, especially for studies for HIV/AIDS, even culturally specific codes for recruiting vulnerable populations such as the San or Maori people. However, the same cannot be said for implementing research in global health. In an effort to build on this work, the Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning and University College London in the UK sought to better understand differences in beliefs, values and norms of local communities in Pakistan. In particular, they have sought to help researchers from high income countries (HIC) understand how their values are perceived and understood by the local indigenous researchers in Pakistan. To achieve this end, a group discussion was organised with indigenous researchers at Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning. The discussion will ultimately help inform the development of a cultural protocol for researchers from HIC engaging with communities in LMIC. This discussion revealed five common themes; (1) religious principles and rules, (2) differing concepts of and moral emphasis on autonomy and privacy, (3) importance of respect and trust; (4) cultural differences (etiquette); (5) custom and tradition (gift giving and hospitality). Based on the above themes, we present a preliminary cultural analysis to raise awareness and to prepare researchers from HIC conducting cross cultural research in Pakistan. This is likely to be particularly relevant in collectivistic cultures where social interconnectedness, family and community is valued above individual autonomy and the self is not considered central to moral thinking. In certain cultures, HIC ideas of individual autonomy, the notion of informed consent may be regarded as a collective family decision. In addition, there may still be acceptance of traditional professional roles such as ‘doctor knows best’, while respect and privacy may have very different meanings.

In the morning of 5 May 2014, over sixty people took their seats in the cosy conference hall of the Holiday Villa Beach Resort and Spa Langkawi, to witness the opening ceremony of the THIC 2014 on the theme: Dimensions of Sustainability in the Planning, Development and Management of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. The Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Rashidi Hasbullah, officiated at the ceremony and joined the conference Chair Dr. Shaharuddin Tahir in welcoming participants from over a dozen countries, mostly Malaysians, Indonesians and Thais, who were also collaborators in organising the meeting. As a display of regional fraternity, the Thai and Malaysian contingents took turns to entertain attendees with a repertoire of traditional dances. This social warm up was to be continued in the evening when UUM Dean of Tourism and Hospitality, Dr. Basri Rashid, played host at a dinner given by the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA). The theme on sustainability was a timely choice given the growing interest in Langkawi and the industry at large in green tourism and the issues of sustainability. Altogether, sixty-seven papers were presented but few addressed the theme explicitly. To be sure, most papers touched on aspects of tourism and hospitality management which were linked, directly or indirectly, to the general concept of sustainable development. Most of the papers that dealt with sustainability issues were contributed by tourism researchers and this preponderance was well reflected in the keynote addresses with three of the four papers focusing on tourism. The only keynote address from a hospitality perspective was a presentation by Dr. Yusak Anshori (Universitas Ciputra) who spoke on sustainable hotel business through environment friendly practices such as a ban on smoking and commercialised recycling of waste material. He observed that although there was a general skepticism if not rejection of the radical approach to ban smoking in the Surabaya Plaza Hotel while he was in charge, the management was able to secure ample sustenance from the segment of market that favoured a smoke-free facility. The three keynote papers that discussed sustainable tourism began with Kadir Din’s address which provided an overview of the concept, current thinking on the subject, and its application on the conference site, Langkawi Island. In his view, the three pillars of sustainability as commonly presented in the literature were arguably too general to capture the influence of context-specific features which may appear to be more localised such as location in areas prone to natural hazards, inept leadership, political instability and technological change. In the case of Langkawi, he considered resource limitations (water, space, power, food supply) to be possible impediments to sustainable tourism, besides a dozen other dimensions which may constrain the capacity of the island to cater to the needs of the visitor. The second address by Kalsom Kayat traced the evolution of the concept “sustainable tourism development” which was linked to the concept of balanced development as promulgated through activities organised by the Club of Rome in 1972. The concern with economic growth was whether it could be sustained in terms of the positive and negative consequences, inluding the impacts of development on the well being of future generations. A desirable model for community-based tourism would be a situation in which the entire community consisting of heterogeneous groups of stakeholders are empowered to plan for their own future with collective community welfare in mind. To do this, there must be appropriate policies, standards and institutional arrangements. As illustrations, Kalsom described examples from four different contexts in Thailand, Nepal, China and Fiji, which together presented a range of cases with different literacies, capacities and degrees of consensus in the community, indicating non-homogeneity among host stakeholders. Institutional support from the state is thus clearly needed to harmonise the needs of hosts and guests for now and the future. The next keynote speaker, Manat Chaisawat, is a familiar figure in the ASEAN tourism circle. His long established involvement in the tourism training gave him enough exposure to recall many regional pronouncements and institutional networks which were always promising on paper, but left much to be desired on the ground. Acharn Manat recounted many initiatives articulated in documents issued by the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) since the 1980s. These regional bodies organised meetings where roadmaps, blueprints and strategic development models were presented, but as the THIC 2014 conference participants were fully aware, there had hardly been much meat that could be appreciated on the ground other than the initiatives which arose from private enterprises. Manat and the other keynote speakers were fortunate to be able to enjoy gratis the luxury of lodging at the Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa where innovations towards sustainable hospitality were being experimented as he had happily complimented during his keynote speech. The beaches to the east of Frangipani were probably cleaner than Waikiki, thanks to the operator Anthony Wong who continues to pursue green hospitality as his lifelong corporate goal. My own quick stroll on the beach abutting the venue of the THIC 2014 conference however, revealed a contrasting situation. I saw site occupiers engaged in open burning at the edge of a beachfront property. Along the beach there were plastic and styrofoam litters that could be seen on the spot which was ostensibly one of the best beaches on the island. The idea of acquiring a strip for a pedestrian walk, in line with the Langkawi Blueprint initiatives was strongly opposed by the local community. In this sense, Kalsom was correct in the observation that there was rarely a consensus in the community but there must be a common understanding among locals, tourists and industry insiders, before any blueprint can be effectively translated into a harmonious management of the environment. Manat’s expressed desire to see the development of a sacred heritage trail in honour of an eminent Buddhist monk Luang Pu Tuad was understandable given his religious background. The challenge here, however, was how to persuade the host community to share his sentiment that such a trail which would circumambulate non-Buddhist areas would be for the common good. My own reaction, from the lens of a believer in the wasatiyyah (moderate) approach, was that it was a great idea. Discussing the subject after his presentation, I also raised the need to promote heroines Mok and Chan, the two Malay sisters who are valourised in a downtown statue, in honour of their contributions to the provincial government of Phuket during their war of liberation from Burma. The last time I met Manat was in Pusan (Korea) where we were guests of honour as founding members of the Asia-Pacific Tourism Research Association. I subsequently attended a tourism conference and later a meeting he organised in Phuket which allowed me the opportunity to visit Kamala Beach where Aisyah the descendent of Mahsuri lived. Such was my networking with an old scholar who is now in his seventies. As we parted with a big hug at the Padang Matsirat airport, my hope was that we will meet again, so that we can continue to “gaze across the cultural border” as I had written in a presentation entitled “Gazing across the border from Sintok” in a regional meeting of a similar kind, held both in Sintok and Haatyai several years ago. My desire is that such meetings will strengthen interest among researchers in Malaysia to look beyond the Malaysian context. In so doing, they will also be interested in looking beyond the confines of their own cultural sphere, to be in a position to know and eventually accept the other. For me, this is the only way forward for a harmonious, and through that, a prosperous Malaysia. At the risk of being stigmatized by Non-Muslim readers, I must confess that I am fully committed to Prophet Muhammad’s teaching that one should not subscribe to groupism or asabiyyah. This is the way forward for a sustainable Malaysian society. If we go by the theme of the conference, there seems to be little interest in interrogating any of the multifarious dimensions of sustainable tourism, not even in the three presumed pillars—economic, social and environmental. Looking at the key words of papers, only six of the sixty-three papers mentioned sustainable or sustainability and among them only three had mindfully used the term. When a series of announcement on the conference was made almost a year earlier the subscript was intended to draw a wide audience who would be in the position to share ideas on their respective perspectives on sustainable tourism development since the concept in the subscript can be read as a catch-all tagline intended to persuade prospective participants to attend the gathering. In this sense, the organisers had succeeded in securing that critical mass of some eighty attendees, but in terms of sharing ideas and networking on sustainable tourism and hospitality the THIC series must await many more meetings before this interest in grand ideas and frameworks can gather the momentum it deserves. To be sure, as Kalsom said of the non-homegeneity of the host community, there was a non-homegeneity of attendees, with some showing spirited interest in the sustainability theme while others were more interested in the experience visiting Langkawi, period. As the meeting came to a close with a brief parting message from the conference Chair Shaharuddin and Dean Basri, we were left with a measure of excitement–on the prospect of meeting again for the THIC 2015 in Surabaya. As I write this report, there was an announcement on TV on the discovery of debris from Air Asia carrier flight QZ 8501 which left Surabaya two days earlier. It left us ordinary mortals with a tinge of sadness, but now that more people know the city called Surabaya, we hope our prospective co-organiser at Universitas Cipura will rekindle the regional IMT-GT spirit that we have tried to build together in Phuket, Haatyai and Langkawi.