An Analysis of the Relationship between Pilgrimage and Tourism Using a Holistic Approach Based on the Narration of Travelogues

Mashhad is characterized as a “pilgrimage” city since it daily receives pilgrims from different cultures, all of whom intend to travel to Mashhad to attend the holy place of the Razavi shrine. Therefore, the concept of “pilgrimage” is the most central concept that comes to mind when the name of Mashhad is heard. The importance of the concept of pilgrimage in Khorasan goes back to the historical background of the presence and martyrdom of Imam Reza (AS). On the other hand, the concept of tourism has been introduced as a new phenomenon in today’s world. In recent decades, with the emergence and prosperity of the modern concept of tourism, one of the controversial issues in the city of Mashhad has always been the relationship between pilgrimage and tourism, their contradictions, or compatibility. This issue is so important that sometimes it even causes a serious dispute over the naming of city signs and symbols as a pilgrim’s guide or a traveler’s guide. Proponents of tourism cite several reasons, including high economic return. However, the proponents of pilgrimage raise the issue of identity concerns. This study attempts to examine the relationship between pilgrimage and tourism using a holistic approach. For this purpose, first, a brief review of the basics of the concepts of pilgrimage and tourism was presented, and then travelogues were analyzed as historical sources, to achieve a comprehensive narrative of events and discover the relationship between pilgrimage and tourism. The result shows that the concept of pilgrimage and tourism in Mashhad are not two competing concepts, rather based on analytical findings from travelogues of Mashhad, Pilgrimage is always the main function and the side activities are in line with it. Thus, these two concepts not only do not contradict each other, but if we understand their relationship correctly and apply this understanding in establishing the relationship between the elements of the city landscape, they will be complementary to each other.