محمدحسین ایمانی خوشخو

Nowadays, when excessive attention to the material issues and the homogeneity of societies does not meet the rebellious and human spirit, and amid successive runs, it seems that man is looking for a destination other than bread and shelter, a higher excuse to survive. The need to discover the truth and meaning of existence compels man to glorify his immaterial and spiritual dimension by seeking the path of cognition. Understanding spirituality and its history is a significant concept worth exploring from a social and personal perspective. This research was done using the qualitative grounded theory method to present the idea of spirituality in tourism, relying on Eastern philosophy and international codes of ethics, and performing different techniques such as studying various texts and using the expert’s opinion. The results of this research can be interpreted in such a way that the individual  dimension includes: internal and mystical connection, human interaction in the universe and superior power, guiding principles in understanding truth and meaning of life, and social dimension including each person's cognitive system and its impact on man's attitude and perceptions of his life and behaviors, determining the tolerable capacity of the environment and environmental assessment, protection of cultural identity and indigenous subcultures. Recognition and perception of spirituality in tourism express spirituality, which is done by emphasizing self-creation and action related to the Creator of the world.  

It is truly undeniable that tourism is a system leading to epistemology and resulting in spiritual growth and excellence. The mission of the journey lies in its spiritual achievements and eco-lodges provide the potential context for mutual interconnections and gaining meaning and excellence. Therefore, lacking emphasis on spiritual potentials of eco-lodges in the accommodation sector is the main concern of this research. The present study aims to identify the factors influencing the landscape development of eco-lodges from the viewpoint of tourists to explain and analyze the realization of the spiritual landscape of eco-lodges via the perception of the eco-lodges’ landscape. The main concern of this qualitative research is seeking what a tourist sees, what he understands, how the type of accommodation would lead him from objectivity to subjectivity and ultimately, how the perception of the spiritual landscape from tourist’s view is. Answering research questions through the qualitative method with an interpretive approach and inductive strategy has been conducted by a semi-structured interview tool. Besides, the research data is gathered via two phases of coding the general concepts and classification of concepts based on the frequency. Lastly, the findings have been analyzed and interpreted through a conceptual framework. Based on research results, staying in eco-lodge causes leading resident tourist from objectivity to subjectivity and this is derived from perception of spiritual landscape. The components of the eco-lodges’ landscape adapting with three  parameters of spirituality in tourism, lead tourists to the perception of the spiritual landscape as well as the realization of the mutual understanding of nature and man in the journey and the achievement of the meaning and spirit through accommodation in eco-lodges.

Religious tourism is one of the world's most critical current types of tourism, especially in Islamic countries such as Iran, which has a high potential for development and progress in this field. However, the development of this type of tourism in our country is not restricted to only religious cities but includes other cities in Iran. With its religious-pilgrimage functions, Sari city in Mazandaran province provides an appropriate ground for developing religious tourism as one of the main forms of tourism. The present research first conducted a set of observations in the region after studying library documents using the field method. After analyzing data from the observations, research questions were evaluated by organizations, experts, and the local community. The results were quantitatively examined by SWOT analysis. Finally, according to extracted concepts from qualitative and quantitative analysis, a model for the development of religious tourism was obtained based on library and field studies using interviews and then evaluated by experts. Results show that religious places of Sari city aren’t on the list of development priorities. It presents a model for development in this region with more challenges. Therefore, the qualitative and quantitative analysis results of this research imply a very appropriate situation and a high potential for religious tourism, emphasizing Imamzadeh in Sari city.