Places for the practice of Spiritual Tourism: what is the relationship between spirituality and nature?

Abstract

Tourism in search of spiritual oneness with Nature is considered to be one of the new trends in tourism. Thus, the objective of this article is to contextualise research into Spiritual Tourism and to understand its relationship with Nature. Initially a review of the literature was carried out to find academic papers on this topic and to identify the relationship between the segment and nature, with subsequent analysis using the IRAMUTEQ® software. In total 92 scientific papers were identified, 26 countries studied, with the country most studied as India, followed by Peru and Indonesia, with Brazil, Kazakhstan and Thailand in joint fourth place. It is concluded that this segment depends implicitly on a close relationship with nature, since natural environments provide spiritual experiences. In addition, Spiritual Tourism has the potential to contribute to the sustainability of tourism, through conservation of nature and heritage.