Religious or faith tourism finds people travelling in groups or alone on a pilgrimage, leisure or missionary purposes. India plays host to the worlds largest form of religious tourism, the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage attracts over 100 million pilgrims a year. Religious tourists from North America alone contribute $10 billion to the industry.

With the advance in technology over the year’s pilgrimages are far easier for modern pilgrims than they were in the past. The most holy sites visited are; the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the Holy Shrine of Lady Fatime Masuma in Qom, the Great Mosque of Mecca, the Holy Shrine of Imam Hoseyn in Karbala and St. Peters Basilica in Rome. Studies have shown that at least 2.5 million people visited Karbala on the day of Arbaeen. People make these pilgrimages to appreciate their religion through a real experience, to connect with the centre of their religion and to feel secure about their beliefs.