Free Chapter―Professor M.S. Rao’s Book “Spiritual Tourism: Tourists First, Tour Operators Second, And Destinations Third”

Dear friends,

I am excited to share with you that I have authored a book on spiritualism and tourism and it is tentatively titled, “Spiritual Tourism: Tourists First, Tour Operators Second, And Destinations Third” Chip Conley, Founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and Fest300 and Strategic Advisor for Airbnb has written a foreword for this book. Here are the details about the book with a free chapter. I would appreciate if you could share your thoughts about this book on social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About The Book

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” ―Mark Twain

This book shares the author’s four decades of experience as a traveler and his passion for traveling when he served in the Indian Air Force. It explains spiritual tourism, explores mindfulness, and outlines types of traveling. It differentiates between a tourist and a traveler. It offers tips to travel safely. It connects traveling with leadership and decision-making. It implores everyone to travel in their lifetime to understand themselves and empathize with others to build a compassionate world.

This book outlines spiritualism, mindfulness, leadership, and lifestyle. It is a short course on spiritual tourism, adventure, traveling, and trekking. You can easily toss the book into a briefcase or purse and read here and there as time allows. It is a quick reference guide for all learners, leaders, travelers, and spiritual seekers.  

1 – Introduction

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.” —Saint Augustine

I joined the Indian Air Force in February 1982 and I have been traveling throughout my life. I volunteered to travel in the Indian Air Force as I enjoyed traveling thoroughly. I was ordered within a short duration to pack my luggage to travel to unknown destinations due to service exigencies. I was eager to travel while serving. In fact, I was born to travel. I traveled to many parts of India in Mi-17 Helicopter because I was posted in a Helicopter Unit. I enjoyed immensely meeting new people and trying a variety of local foods. Although life was challenging in the service I enjoyed traveling. After leaving the service, I traveled with my wife and children to many parts of India. Every year, we planned and traveled to different destinations despite meager financial resources. It was a great experience traveling entire India. I traveled to other parts of the world especially Sri Lanka, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia. I had the privilege of visiting Char Dham (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath) in May 2019. During the pilgrimage, an idea flashed in my mind to author a book on spiritual tourism.

What is Spiritual Tourism?

Spiritual tourism is to travel to find purpose and meaning to your life. It elevates your physical, mental, and emotional energies. It develops, maintains, and improves your body, mind, and spirit. In a nutshell, it connects your body, mind, and soul. Hence, spiritual tourism can be defined as traveling on pilgrimage to acquire enlightenment, entertainment, and education to leave your footprints and take your memories back to your home by expressing your gratitude to God.

Spiritual tourism is not connected with any specific religion. It is different from religious tourism. Spiritual tourism is to connect your body, mind, and soul while religious tourism is to seek blessings from God based on your religious faiths and beliefs and attain salvation. Spiritual tourism is a broader perspective than religious tourism. Religious tourism is a subset of spiritual tourism.

The Significance of Spiritual Tourism

Spiritual tourism falls in the services sector. It increases employment opportunities and contributes to a nation’s GDP growth. There are innumerable advantages of spiritual tourism. It brings inner peace and happiness. It provides purpose and meaning to your life. It encourages local cultures and their traditions. It protects their natural gifts, talents, and arts. With the rapid growth in technology, there is more disturbance to locals and natives. But with increased spiritual tourism, there are opportunities to protect the nature and the natural talents of local communities.  

The local communities are fortunate to see various people and observe their cultures, and customs by staying in their native places. They feel empowered because they take pride in their cultures and customs. They become more interested to protect their history, traditions, and environment. They become more engaged and integrated with mainstream society.

Spiritual tourism encourages foreign investment indirectly as tourists bring foreign exchange. However, there are several demerits with spiritual tourism. It increases sexual exploitation and crimes. It destructs nature and disturbs the ecology. Overall, the merits outnumber the demerits. Hence, spiritual tourism must be encouraged to enhance empathy, compassion, peace, and prosperity.

Conclusion

There is a growing number of employees globally going for spiritual vacations. It helps them reflect and acquire peace, solitude, and relaxation. It improves their decision-making and leadership abilities and skills.

You are blessed with one life and you must lead a part of your life spiritually to overcome challenges. To conclude, everyone must proceed on a spiritual tour to understand themselves and empathize with others to build a compassionate global society.

Note: Here is the link to purchase my bestselling book ‘21 Success Sutras for CEOs: How Global CEOs Overcome Leadership Challenges in Turbulent Times to Build Good to Great Organizations’ http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Ceos-Rao/dp/162865290X

Life is great!

Professor M.S. Rao

Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India

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