Religious tourism in MidAranye Seta Tankian, general manager of St Gregory travel agency from Attica(Tamora), speaking about religious tourism in MidAranye “Your Imperial Majesty, Your Royal Majesties and ladies and gentlemen, I am the general manager of St Gregory travel agency and I am here to talk to you about a sector that is perhaps overlooked: religious tourism. It is overlooked not because it is small or not growing but because those that take part in such activities tend to be more discrete about it. You don’t raise as much buzz with a pilgrimage to Mausoleum of Alya as you would do with going to a Lodjan resort.
According to some sources, more than
200 million people go on pilgrimages each year alone and bring in between 100-300 bln dinars/USD in revenue each year. So as you can see these numbers aren’t exactly small. Now MidAranye is fortunate to have some of the most important
religious sites in Mundus. I think everyone knows about Jerusalem which is so important for many of the monotheistic faiths of Mundus; however I would also like to present some of the others that MidAranye is blessed to have. All of them have millions of pilgrims each year. I have placed them in no particular order. This is not a “top” best religious sites, these are places which are considered holy by their believers and such approaches of the subject in terms “top” is not respectful or appropriate:
Imam Ali Mosque in the federated kingdom of Altai, Empire of Tamora. It is one of the most important holy sites for the Islamic faith after the ones in Abydos. There are approx. 50 million Muslims in MidAranye alone and approx. 80 % of them are in Tamora. There are however large Muslims communities in Abydos, Zimalia, Noobia, Phuebra and New Derusmia and pilgrims from these countries and others also come and visit this religious site.
Anahita Shrine in Ipsus, the Emirate of Royal Seleucid. It is the most important holy site of the Anahitaist faith. A faith that is the second most numerous one in MidAranye and numbering almost 90 million believers. The number of faithful outside of MidAranye is not known exactly but is quite small.
Khemnen Palace, in the Kingdom of Clysperis. It is the most important holy site of Kemetic Orthodoxy, one of the most ancient faiths of Mundus and numbering approx. 30 mil adherents in MidAranye alone. While there are communities outside MidAranye, the exact number is not known but is rather small.
Mausoleum of Alya Safavid, Mother of the Nation in the Imperial Enclave, Empire of Tamora. It is the most important religious site for the Manist faith, which is the most numerous faith in MidAranye numbering 150 million believers. Manism also has a small presence outside MidAranye in Vaguzia, Quintelia, Phuebra and others, numbering some 15 million people.
But religious tourism is not important just for the spiritual and the monetary sides but also because it helps promote a truthful image of the MidAranye region. These religious sites bring in millions of people to MidAranye and the pilgrims are perhaps the best ambassadors for the host countries and the region as a whole.
But while I talked extensively about pilgrimages I have to also mention briefly another important part of religious tourism: religious cruising which although a niche is becoming increasingly popular among many religious like Islam, Christianity, Manism, Judaism and others.
Examples of rules in a Manist religious voyage All our studies say that religious tourism in MidAranye is likely to continue to increase in the future and let me present the main arguments for that assessment. First, Mundus is religious and recent trends show that nothing is changing in that regard, so pilgrims from outside MidAranye are likely to continue to come. Second, a large part of the Muslim and Manist believers outside of MidArnaye are in countries that are developing: Zimalia, Phuebra, Noobia. As people in these countries will see their standard of living increase, more of them will be able to afford a pilgrimage to MidAranye. Thirdly, new religious sites have appeared and more are planned. The Royal family of the Emirate of Royal Seleucid has
announced that they will build a new major Anahistaist temple near Volos in Tamora. Furthermore, there is already under construction a
557 feet Anahitaist temple, probably the largest in Mundus. These temples will help increase religious tourism.
In the case of the Manist faith, the tragic incidents that lead to the death
Dilara as well as the fact that the Church of Mani has raised her to the status of martyr, has transformed the Mausoleum of Martyrs in Djerb in a major pilgrimage site for Tamorans. And perhaps surprisingly, many of those going in pilgrimage there are not of the Manist faith as I can personally attest from organizing many pilgrimages for our customers.
Mausoleum of Martyrs in Djerb, Imperial Enclave, Empire of Tamora
In conclusion, I believe that religious tourism is a great opportunity for the region that brings in economic benefits and atracts people that appreciate the immense cultural and religious heritage of MidAranye. It is for this reason that I ask the sovereigns and the people with power present here today to consider facilitating as much as possible the issuing of visas for tourism.
Thank you so much.”