The Role of Islamic Civilization in Development of Tourism in Religious Destinations (Case of Qom)

Visiting cultural and historical destinations is one of the largest, most pervasive, and fastest growing trends in tourism industry. It is well known that bothtangible and intangible legacies of Islamic civilization have created a great potentialto develop religious heritage tourism in religious destinations of Iran. The holy city of Qom, which embodies a large range of Islamic heritage, is one of such destinations able to foster tourism.This study reviews the role of Islamic civilization in tourism development and identifies factors affecting it in Qom. The research is of survey type and questionnaires were distributed among the tourism experts of Qom. Results approved all the predefined indexes. Factors of Islamic civilization that affect tourism development in Qom, are the following respectively:pilgrimage places, spiritual ambiance, Islamic traditions, being historical, Islamic museums, sacred natural sites, Islamic monuments, Islamic culinary traditions, Islamic arts and crafts, Islamic performing arts, Islamic music,Islamic medicine, Islamic literature and poets, and Islamic traditional sports.Since, both tangible and intangible legacies of Islamic civilization were proved to have influence on the development of religious tourism destination of Qom, the author suggested that Islamic intangible heritage should be promoted and developed alongside other Islamic tangible masterpieces.