HOLY LANDS: SCOPING THE NEXUS BETWEEN HERITAGE, PILGRIMAGE AND DIASPORA IN INDIA

圣地：探讨印度遗产、朝圣和侨民之间的联系

• 批准号: AH/T004940/1
• 负责人: Robin Coningham
• 金额: $ 4.62万
• 依托单位: Durham University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT004940%2F1
• 关键词: HOLY; LANDS; SCOPING; NEXUS; BETWEEN

Pilgrimage is recognized as one of the fastest growing motivations for travel globally, with more than 600 million 'spiritual voyages' undertaken annually, with half of these occurring within Asia. 'Spiritual Voyages' include local and regional pilgrimages, but also large-scale gatherings, including the Kumbh Mela, which had an estimated 120 million devotees in 2019. While tourism among diaspora communities was encouraged through the 'Incredible India' Program (USAID 2010), diasporas occupy a complex ground between international and local tourism/pilgrimage. Indeed, in India, diasporas have yet to have their socioeconomic impact recorded or benchmarked. This is a particular challenge as diaspora communities are not recorded separately in current Indian government tourist metrics and statistics (Ministry of Tourism Report, Government of India 2018). Such assessments are critical as diaspora pilgrims/tourists are less likely to utilise the same businesses/hotels/restaurants/travel companies as international tourists (USAID 2010). They may also have distinct impacts on economies that are not yet being recognized in traditional measures. For example, it has been asserted that while diaspora may not spend as much money as foreign tourists, their expenditures are potentially more likely to go directly towards local producers and businesses, which may in turn have greater social and economic benefits for local resident communities (USAID 2010). Recording and benchmarking this impact is key as it has been identified that the benefits of large-scale infrastructure projects and initiatives to promote international pilgrimage and tourism within Asia have been restricted, and often do not reach as many resident communities associated with cultural heritage sites as originally envisaged (Coningham and Lewer 2019). To bridge this conceptual and quantitative gap, an expert research network of academics and practitioners will develop a north-south-south partnership to identify the potential socio-economic impacts of diaspora tourism and pilgrimage for sustainable and inclusive development, as well as enhanced protection of cultural heritage. Whilst recent projects have begun to address how the collection of data on social and economic impacts of pilgrims and tourists at major pilgrimage sites can identify socio-economic benefits, the network and its shared toolkit will build on this legacy by developing a framework to scope and identify the potential impacts of diaspora communities at heritage sites. This will be based on relevant economic indicators, such as income, employment and business opportunities, and social indicators, such as education level, social cohesion, capacity strengthening, improvement of infrastructure and services. This will be achieved through the scoping of available quantitative data, such as questionnaires of diaspora visitors, local residents and local businesses including tour operators; visitor book data; site management records, as well as qualitative data, such as semi-structured interviews with site managers, community stakeholders. The network will thus scope gaps and develop a method for identifying and assessing this data, and providing a benchmark that can then be developed into long-term monitoring of the impacts of diaspora communities. Focusing on sites that are under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India in Gujarat, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, the team will undertake its initial scoping activities at major religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, in addition to other religious groups and communities who utilize these sites.

朝圣被认为是全球增长最快的旅行动机之一，每年有超过 6 亿人次的“精神之旅”，其中一半发生在亚洲。 “精神之旅”包括地方和区域朝圣，也包括大型集会，包括大壶节，2019 年估计有 1.2 亿信徒。同时，“不可思议的印度”计划鼓励侨民社区旅游业发展（美国国际开发署，2010 年） ，侨民在国际和当地旅游/朝圣之间占据着复杂的地位。事实上，在印度，侨民的社会经济影响尚未被记录或衡量。这是一个特殊的挑战，因为印度政府当前的旅游指标和统计数据中没有单独记录侨民社区（印度政府旅游部报告，2018 年）。此类评估至关重要，因为侨民朝圣者/游客不太可能像国际游客一样使用相同的企业/酒店/餐厅/旅游公司（USAID 2010）。它们还可能对传统衡量标准尚未认识到的经济产生独特影响。例如，有人断言，虽然侨民可能不会像外国游客那样花那么多钱，但他们的支出可能更有可能直接流向当地生产商和企业，这反过来可能为当地居民社区带来更大的社会和经济效益（美国国际开发署 2010）。记录和衡量这种影响是关键，因为已经发现，大型基础设施项目和促进亚洲境内国际朝圣和旅游业的举措的好处受到限制，而且往往无法惠及与文化遗产地相关的那么多居民社区。最初的设想（Coningham 和 Lewer 2019）。为了弥合这一概念和数量上的差距，由学者和从业者组成的专家研究网络将建立南北伙伴关系，以确定侨民旅游和朝圣对可持续和包容性发展的潜在社会经济影响，并加强对文化遗产。虽然最近的项目已开始解决如何收集主要朝圣地朝圣者和游客的社会和经济影响的数据，以确定社会经济效益，但该网络及其共享工具包将在此基础上建立一个框架，以范围和范围为基础确定侨民社区对遗产地的潜在影响。这将基于相关的经济指标，如收入、就业和商业机会，以及社会指标，如教育水平、社会凝聚力、能力加强、基础设施和服务的改善。这将通过确定可用定量数据的范围来实现，例如对侨民游客、当地居民和当地企业（包括旅行社）的调查问卷；访客名录数据；现场管理记录以及定性数据，例如与现场经理、社区利益相关者的半结构化访谈。因此，该网络将缩小差距并开发一种方法来识别和评估这些数据，并提供一个基准，然后可以将其发展为对侨民社区影响的长期监测。该团队将重点关注古吉拉特邦、喀拉拉邦和北方邦印度考古调查所管辖的遗址，除其他宗教传统外，还将针对印度教、佛教、伊斯兰教、犹太教和基督教等主要宗教传统开展初步范围界定活动。使用这些网站的团体和社区。