1. INTRODUCTION :

Tourism is considered to be a sacred journey (Sharpley and Sundaram, 2005). India is considered as a spiritual Disneyland among tourist across the world (Lingam,2016). India is home to several spiritual gurus and branch of knowledge like Patanjaliyogapeeth, Sahaja Yoga, Sathya Srisai, Osho, Sri Sri Ravishanker to name a few. Focusing on tourism, Rahul Sankrityayan, in his essay Athato Ghummakkad Jigyasa highlighted the importance of travel. He described travel as a means to earn knowledge. India is a destination that has come to epitomise the spiritual touristic experience (Mehta, 1990; Brown, 1998; Sutcliffe, 1998) since 1960s.

Religions originating in India, be it Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism or Buddhism, have a vibrant culture and spiritual philosophy, thus providing excellent opportunities for pilgrimage tourism (Prasad, Raja, & Rani, 2015). India is a home to rich culture and legacy. Pilgrimage tourism is an important sector in socio-economic development (Vijayanand, 2012). Developing countries are recognizing the tourism sector's potential contribution to national development goals, particularly by creating employment opportunities, stimulating small businesses and reducing poverty (Conrad and Barreto, 2005).

The need of building “Brand India” with a special focus on Spiritual Tourism was recognized by HonourablePrime Minister of India, therefore opinions were invited from the countrymen to develop spiritual tourism in India (through Government of India website) which recorded a total submission of 318 responses. Government of India has selected 12 cities for development under spirituality based on their rich heritage and cultural history. Among several states, UP is the only state with two selected cities – Mathura and Varanasi. Therefore it was important to study that to what extent these initiatives by government can successfully promote tourism in Uttar Pradesh.The problems faced by tourists can reduce the impact of these initiatives. So, a gap analysis was done using primary and secondary data and the problem was presented in a holistic way to view the complete picture.

1.1 Meaning of Spiritual Tourism

The term “spiritual tourism” is largely unheard of in both the academic literature, yet more people visit Mecca, the Vatican and Jerusalem per year than attend the World Cup (Haq & John, 2006). Spiritualism is more than just religion. Spirituality, according to Brown (1998),‘has become a dominant feature oflate twentieth-century life: a symptom of collectiveuncertainty’. Similarly, but in the specificcontext of tourism, MacCannell (1973) suggests that, as a response to the perceivedinauthenticity of modern societies, touristshave become secular pilgrims searching for theauthentic. Tourism, particularly religious tourism, has along history in India; ‘if travel and tourism areways of enlightening the spirit, they havebeen practised for centuries in India, whosepeoples have long expressed a common senseof community in organized religion’ (Singh,2001).

1.2 Importance of India as a Spiritual tourist destination

India believes in the philosophy of Atithi Devo Bhavah which means that 'The guest is God'. In words of Osho,“India is a university of meditation for centuries”. Spiritual tourism is an important component of an Indian tourism industry as India is a land of spiritualityendowed with many places of worships, pilgrim centers and religious monuments etc. (Jesurajan & Prabhu, 2012). Practically, all religions – Hindu, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism have their major and minor pilgrimage centers in different parts of the country (Vijayanand, 2012). The main cause of increased spiritual tourist in India is accredited to the increasing mental strain of the people, as a result, people are looking for solace in spiritual reading, meditation and moments of divine ecstasy(Rana, 2015). It has been found that celebrity impact the tourism to a large extent. Dormehl (2015) reported statement of Mark Zuckerberg that he was suggested by Steve Jobs to make a spiritual pilgrimage to India when he was in dilemma about future plans of Facebook.

1.2.1 Importance of U.P. as a Spiritual tourist destination

UP has been ranked 3rd in terms of tourist visited India in 2012(KPMG, travel tourism Sector report, 2012) and ranked 1^st among the northern states.U.P. holds the highest number of Tourist visitors amongst northern states accounting to 170 million tourists (refer Figure 1). This share registered a growth of 7.7% from 2008 to 2012. In terms of market share, U.P. holds rank 1^st(refer Figure 2). Government of India has identified 12 spiritual cities across the nation for development under PRASAD Scheme (refer Table 2 ) out of which 2 cities belong to UP. UP is also known to be the destination to one of the wonders of the world- the Taj Mahal. Therefore U.P. was selected as area of study.

Table 1: Studies related of Spiritual Tourism

Area of Study	Study	Major Findings
Spirituality (Yogic Tourist Perspective)	Rana, 2015 (Rishikesh)	There are problems regarding the availability of telecommunication facilities near tourist spot.
Tourist Guide	Rana, 2015	-It is concluded that tourist guides are not easily available at every tourist /spiritual spot. -Tourist are unhappy with the information facilities in Rishikesh.
Transportation	Rana, 2015	Foreign tourist are unsatisfied with the availability of conveniences in Rishikesh
Hygiene	Rana, 2015 Jesurajan and Prabhu, 2012	-Most of them are dissatisfied with hygiene in spiritual places. -Respondents are strongly satisfied with the hygiene in their rooms.
Pilgrimage Tourism	Vijayanand, 2012	Pilgrimage tourism has a positive economic, socio,cultural,economic impacts.
Spiritual Tourism Tamil Nadu	Jesurajan and Prabhu, 2012	Visitors are satisfied with peaceful atmosphere they experience and the friendliness of the local people, they are dissatisfied with the basic infrastructure like sanitation and drinking water facilities, lack of cleanliness and exploitation by the local vehicle operators.
Religion Tourism	Sharpley,and Sundaram, 2005	Tourists motives and hisexperience, and satisfaction of spiritualism.
Spirituality (As a marketing tool by ramdev)	(Kumar, Jain, Rahman, and Jain, 2014)	Spirituality can be used as a tool for promoting organic foods and ayurvedic medicines.

2.4. Objective

The main objective of the study were following-

1. To identify difficulties faced by Tourist during spiritual tourism in UP.

2. To identify the Tourist expectations during spiritual tourism in UP.

3. To summarize various government policies in support of Tourism in UP.

4. To uses systems thinking to analyse the problem in a holistic way using causal loop diagram and stockflow.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The research design selected for study is Phenomenonlogy (Onwuegbuzie, 2007). Phenomenology is a school of thought that emphasizes a focus on people's subjective experiences and interpretations of the world. That is, the phenomenologist wants to understand how the world appears to others. Convenience and Snowball sampling techniques were used for selecting the respondents. Both Primary and Secondary data was collected to fulfill the purpose of the study. The secondary data pertaining to the policy and initiatives of government was collected from Government of India, UP Government and Make in India website. The primary data was collected using Semi Structured Self administered questionnaire which was a mix of both closed ended and open ended questions.The primary data was analysed using IBMSPSS 22 and MS Excel 2007. According to India Tourism Statistics 2008, Ministry of Tourism report, only 2% of visitors were foreigners while 98 % constituted of domestic tourist. So the data was collected from domestic tourist. Content analysis was performed to analyse open ended questions.Simple percentage analysis, mean and skewness technique have been employed for the purpose of analyzing the data. Further Causal loop diagram and Stock flow are presented to provide a holistic view of the problem.

4. RESULTS:

4. 1 Secondary data Analysis

4.1.1 Central Government Initiatives

25 Sectors have been identified for out development under the Make in India campaign. Tourism and hospitality is an integral pillar of the ambitious project Make in India and it has to eventually emerged as a leading growth engine of the national economy, according to Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP, tourism (Bureau, 2015).

According to the government website on make in India, tourism contributed about 6.88 % of India’s GDP during 2012-13 and contributed about 21.07 billion USD in foreign exchange earnings. There were 1290.12 million Domestic Tourist Visits during 2014 across 32 world heritage sites. 8.03 Million Foreign Tourist visited India during 2015. 21.071 Billion USD FEEs through tourism was recorded in 2015 registering a increment in growth of 4.1% Growth Rate over 2014. India is 15^th in the world in terms of International Tourism Receipts with a share of 1.62% of the world's tourism receipts. India offers geographical diversity, attractive beaches, 32 World Heritage Sites and 10 bio-geographic zones.

4.1.1.A. Initiatives by Government of India (At Central Level)

India has a diverse portfolio of niche tourism products – cruises, adventure, medical, wellness, sports such as Golf and Polo, MICE, eco-tourism, film, rural and religious tourism. Hotels with a project cost of INR 200 Crore or above are already included in the Harmonized Master List (HML) of Infrastructure. The MOF is constantly being pursued for inclusion of Hotels with project cost of INR 25 Crore to INR 200 Crore in the HML. The centrally funded scheme of Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD provide for introducing suitable Public Private Partnership (PPP) for improved sustainability of the projects. The Viability Gap Funding may be provided under the schemes in accordance with the relevant guidelines/instructions of the Government. The segment offers opportunities across various sub-segments such as timeshare resorts, convention centres, motels, heritage hotels and the like. Investment opportunities in the setting up of tour operations and travel agencies cater to burgeoning tourist inflow. 100% FDI is allowed under the automatic route in tourism and hospitality, subject to applicable regulations and laws. 100% FDI allowed in tourism construction projects, including the development of hotels, resorts and recreational facilities. International yoga day being celebrated at the tower of London speaks for itself.

4.1.1.A.1. PRASAD Scheme of Ministry of Tourism

Government of India has identified 12 cities under the PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive) by the Ministry of Tourism scheme namely-

Table 2 : Cities identified under PRASAD

City	State	City	State
Amaravati	Andhra Pradesh	Vellankani	Tamil Nadu
Gaya	Bihar	Puri	Odisha
Dwaraka	Gujarat	Mathura, Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh
Amritsar	Punjab	Kedarnath	Uttarakhand
Ajmer	Rajasthan	Kamakhya	Assam
Kanchipuram	Tamil Nadu	Vellankani	Tamil Nadu

To implement the PRASAD scheme a Mission Directorate has been set up in the Ministry of Tourism. The Budget provision of Rs.15.60 crore has been made in Revised Estimate (RE) 2014-15. For Development of basic facilities at Vishnupad Temple, Gaya in Bihar under this Scheme first installment of Rs.85.78 lakh has been released.

4.1.1.A.2. HRIDAY Scheme

The Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme aimed at preserving and revitalizing the soul and unique character of the heritage cities in India, has been approved by the Ministry of Urban Development. The criterion for selection of these cities is their rich heritage and cultural history.

4.1.1.B.1. Initiatives by Government of U.P. (At State Level)

The state government of UP have laid a strong emphasis on development of religious tourism in UP Tourism Policy, 2016. The policy aims at the following-

1. Strengthening and Up gradation of civic amenities and facilities at religious tourist destinations across the state.

2. Strengthening the facilities at religious destinations will be done developing management trusts on the lines of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

3. The private sector shall be encouraged to participate towards creation of accommodation facilities at religious destinations.

4. With the help of local bodies regular cleanliness drives shall be ensured at religious destinations

5. Creation of Tourist Facilitation Centers will be done to enhance the visitor experience at religious destinations. These centers shall ensure centralized booking facilities, tourist information, food etc. Such centers shall be set up in the upcoming 10 years at Vrindavan, Vindhyachal, Ayodhaya, Naimisharanya, Varanasi etc

6. A brand image for Uttar Pradesh shall be built which shall highlight the elements of U.P. that distinguishes it from the rest of India and promote its image as a destination offering a wide range of experiences.

4.1.1.B.2Tourism activities promoted by UP Govt. under Tourism industry

Development of Hotels, Motels and Restaurants, Heritage Hotel, Wayside facilities on National Highways or State Highways wherein restaurants and parking are available, Tourist resort/tourist village, Theme Park, Amusement park and Water parks, Nature Walk, City Walk, Heritage Walk, Cycle Tours etc., Production and marketing of traditional crafts and other artwork, Work related to maintenance of cultural, and historical heritage, Promotion to establishment and runningof museums, Tourism/ Hotel Management Institutes, Tourism activities related to environment conservation/ jungle safari/ jungle lodge etc, Homestay scheme (Bread and Breakfast), Organizing and development of Adventure activities such as – trekking, rock climbing, water sports, boat race, skating, fishing, aero sports etc, Package tours, conducted tours, Caravan, cruise boats, Yatch, house boats and establishment of boats clubs, Establishment and operation of ropeway, Yoga, Ayurveda and Naturopathy institutes, Travel agent/Tour Operation Company, Operation of helium and hot air balloon, Activities in Rural tourism, Spa and health resorts, MICE convention center (minimum area of 10,000 sq ft).

4.2. Primary Data Analysis

The primary data was analysed using IBM SPSS20 and MS Excel 2007. Only those responses were analysed who have visited to a spiritual place leading to 70 usable questionnaires. The variables were analysed using mean score. The data was measured on 5 point likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (5) to Strongly Disagree (1). The chronbach’s alpha crossed the threshold limit of 0.7 (=0.79). The open ended questions were analysed using content analysis techniques.First the data was coded and then screening was done to check for any missing values. Since the data was collected online and the responses were made mandatory, so there was no missing data problem. The reverse coded questions were treated. All the respondents have visited a spiritual destination in U.P like Ayodhya, Mathura, Vrindavan, Banaras, Pariyar, Bithoor etc. 60 % of the respondents said that their expectations were met during their visit. Also71% respondents showed an intention to visit spiritual place soon in UP again. Howsoever certain problem areas were identified which are described in Table 5 and Table 6. The respondents felt that the biggest problem in spiritual tourism was nuisance of beggars with least agreement (Mean=0.71) and highly positively skewed which means that more respondents were towards the disagreement. The second problem was highlighted as overcharging by Priests (Mean=1.71) and the data was positively skewed. The other problems that showed serious concern were Lack of Hygiene and Poor Medical Facility. However the respondents seemed to be satisfied with the Transportation facilities and Information availability. The respondents did feel safe and felt less corruption at spiritual destinations.

Table 4. Descriptive Statistics of variables under study

Problem Areas	Mean	Std Dev	Skewness
Corruption	3.86	1.06	.37
Information Availability	3.71	1.07	.34
Safety	3.42	1.39	-.56
Transportation	3.42	.73	-.10
Accommodation	3.23	.59	.11
Medical Facility	2.21	.90	-.42
Hygiene	1.91	.83	-.37
Security	1.80	.79	-1.13
Priest nuisance	1.71	1.79	.35
Beggars nuisance	.71	1.11	1.78

Table 5. Motives and Expectations during Spiritual Tourism in U.P.

Attractions for Spiritual Tourism

Expectations during Spiritual Tourism

Expectation met?
(Yes= 60% ), reasons if No

1. Decorations

2. Architecture

3. Creativity

4. Spiritual Environment Chants of Lord

5. Prasad

1. Cleanliness and Hygiene

2. Prasad

3. Peaceful/ Calm Environment

4. Less Crowd and no equality for all

5. Chantings of God

6. Giant Statues of God

7. Conveyance charges should be same for tourist(NRI response)

8. Convenience

1. Most temples are dirty

2. No peacefullenviorment

3. So much rush in temples,

4. Except janambhoomi no security arrangements in temples for tourist.

Table 6. Problems faced by Tourist while Travelling in U.P.

1. Traffic congestion

2. Dirt and pollution

3. Unhygienic toilets

4. Huge crowd during holidays and weekends

5. Long queue, hawkers and crowd

6. Narrow roads

7. No proper sewage system

8. Rikshaw puller, auto, taxi charge high fare from tourist outside temples

9. Pndey(Priest) who call themself as yaduvanshi force tourist to give money as daan(Charity).

10. Hundreds of beggars outside each temple, forcefully begging money from tourist

Explanation

This causal model can be explained as follows.

A. Causal Loop 1

Government Initiatives ->(+) Infrastructure->(+) Information availability->(-)Corruption->(-)Tourist Problems

The higher amount of money Government will invest in infrastructure, the higher will be Information availability, higher the information availability, less will be corruption, Less will be corruption less will be tourism Problems.

B. Causal Loop 2

Government Initiatives -> (+) Infrastructure-> (+) Medical Facility ->
(-) Tourist Problems

The higher amount of money Government will invest in infrastructure the better will be Medical Facility. If the Medical facility will improve, the Tourists will suffer less problems.

C. Causal Loop 3

Government Initiatives -> (+) Infrastructure-> (+) Priests nuisance-> (-) Tourist Problems

Governments initiatives will improve the infrastructure like placing of hoardings, opening of Tourist help centres. The higher amount of money Government will invest in infrastructure, the higher will be Education, Less will be Priest nuisance, leading to Less Tourist Problems.

D. Causal Loop 4

Government Initiatives -> (+) Infrastructure-> (+) Security-> (+) Safety-> (+) Tourist Satisfaction

The higher amount of money Government will invest in infrastructure, the better will be Security, Better Security will lead to better safety which will increase tourist satisfaction.

Causal Loop 5

Government Initiatives -> (-) Tourist Problems->(+) Tourist satisfaction->(+) Attractiveness of Tourist place -> (+) Spiritual Tourism ->(+) Employment opportunity->(+) Profitability -> (+)Higher government investment and more Employment->(-) Beggars nuisance ->(+) Tourism attractiveness

Government investments will reduce tourist problem, this increases tourist satisfaction, which will increase attractiveness of tourism spot, which increase spiritual tourism, which will increase employment opportunity, that increases profitability, which leads to more investment of government. More Employment opportunity will reduce beggars nuisance and increase tourism attractiveness.

Causal Loop 6

Government investments will reduce tourist problem, this increases tourist satisfaction, which will increase attractiveness of tourism spot, that will increase crowd, that increases need for crowd management and reduces hygiene, increasing the investment.

4.3.3. Stock Flow

This stock flow diagram represents the two sides of the Tourism in U.P. Tourism in U.P has been treated as stock and there are inflow (left) and outflow (right) towards it. The inflow shows the government efforts towards increasing the spiritual Tourism in U.P. while the outflow shows the problems that decrease the tourism. In order to meet the government’s objectives, the inflow should be higher than outflow. The inflow shows the positive reinforcing loop while the outflow shows the negative or the balancing loop. The virtuous loop should be strengthened to improve the Tourism in U.P.

5. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:

Finally, given the context of this research, some of the findings were, perhaps, predictable.Some of the major findings regarding the problems faced by the tourists include: lack of cleanliness, beggars nuisance, lack of sanitary facility and exploitation by taxi and vehicle operators as found by previous studies (Jesurajan & Prabhu, 2012). There is a need, therefore, for further similar research in a variety of other destinational contexts. Nevertheless, this paper has gone some way to providing a foundation for that work.Suggestions were taken from respondents that how experience of spiritual tourism in India (UP) can be further improved to bring it on world map:

1. Cleanliness should be maintained.

2. Increasing hygiene and providing free wi-fi to the tourists.

3. Make accessibility easy and create awareness about diverse spiritual places.

4. A trust should be made for temples and proper security guidelines should be followed.

5. Sewage system should be made proper.

6. Food inspection team should check restaurants for proper food handling and cleanliness.

7. Cleanliness, medical and other facilities like security should be maintained.

6. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH:

This study has contributed in identifying the problems of tourist while travelling in UP however it has certain limitations. Firstly, The sample size used is quite small, hence lacks adequate statistical power. Secondly, the selection of sampling is non random which adversely affects generalizability.The research can be further expanded by doing ethnographic studies as there is difficulty in capturing of lived experiences as the direct link between experience and text is problematic.

7. REFERENCES:

Bureau, T. F. (2015, August 25). Tourism can be the biggest integrator of Make in India. Retrieved August 04, 2016, from http://www.tourismfirst.org/tourism-can-be-the-biggest-integrator-of-make-in-india

Dormehl, L. (2015, September). Steve Jobs told Mark Zuckerberg to make a spiritual pilgrimage to India. Retrieved from http://www.cultofmac.com/390447/steve-jobs-told-mark-zuckerberg-to-make-a-spiritual-pilgrimage-to-india/

GOI. (n.d.). 10 measures to make India the hub fro Spiritual Tourism. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from www.mygov.in: https://www.mygov.in/task/10-measures-make-india-hub-spiritual-tourism/

Haq, F., and John, J. (2006). Exploring Consumer Segments and Typologies of Relevance to Spiritual Tourism.

Jesurajan, S., and Prabhu, S. (2012). Dimensions of spiritual tourism in tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu in India - A critical Analysis. Business Intelligence Journal, 5 (2).

Kumar, V., Jain, A., Rahman, Z., and Jain, A. (2014). Marketing through spirituality: A case of Patanjali Yogpeeth. Procedia , Social and Behaviour Sciences , 481-490.

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Prasad, C. B., Raja, S., and Rani, M. R. (2015). A Study on Pilgrims’ Satisfaction with Special Reference to States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. IJEMR, 5(8).

Rana, V. (2015). Motives and Experiences of Foreign (Yoga and Spiritual). International Journal for Research in Education (IJRE), 4 (1).

Sharpley'R., and Sundaram, P. (2005). Tourism: A Sacred Journey? The Case of Ashram Tourism, India. International Journal of Tourism Research , 161-171.

Vijayanand, S. (2012). Socio-Economic Impacts in Pilgrimage Tourism. Zenith International Journal of Multidiscipllinary Research Vol. 2 Issue 1, January 2012, 2 (1).

Received on 16.06.2017 Modified on 25.06.2017

Int. J. Ad. Social Sciences. 2017; 5(2):51-60.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2679.2017.00004.4