Therapy, Spirituality, and Spiritual Well-being: A Qualitative Study of Holy Places Tourists

Traveling for health is one of the goals that can drive people to travel. Nowadays, pilgrimage plays a significant role in the therapy and spiritual well-being of people. Therefore, the present study aimed to study that how spiritual well-being is achieved through going on pilgrimage to holy places and how it affects all dimensions of one's life.

The current qualitative research was conducted using the ethnographic method to fulfill the purpose of the study. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 female tourists. Purposive sampling was performed by referring to the pilgrimage sites in Shiraz, Iran. The collected data were analyzed based on the content analysis technique.

The results of the present study indicated that pilgrimage constitutes eight organizing themes: discovery of the existential meaning, sense of place, spiritual action, emotionalism, connection, miraculous treatment, renewal and remembrance, and purposefulness. In the end, the global theme was seeking treatment through spiritual means.

Understanding the relationship between therapy, spirituality, and spiritual well-being and sacred places can promote a different insight, helping us to provide solutions for the treatment and improvement of believers and even non-believers. Believers are in search of meaning and seek spiritual well-being. By visiting holy places, they strengthen their hope, faith, and sense of purposefulness, as well as improve their psychological and mental health. Accordingly, nowadays, most people seek spiritual therapy to restore their spiritual well-being.