Spiritual and Religious Tourism

Ruth Dowson (Edited By) With over 25 years' experience in events delivery, in public and private sectors, since 2007, Ruth has taught events management. Her PhD study is on the role of events in church culture. As an events practitioner, Ruth developed considerable leadership expertise and has over 25 years' experience in events delivery in the UK, in both public and private sectors, having managed thousands of events, including 11 years managing a venue. In 2007, Ruth moved into teaching events management at the UK Centre for Events Management, and became a level leader, with pastoral responsibility for Level 5 and later for final year students. She led the successful development and delivery of the online Masters Course in Events Management in 2008, as well as being Course Leader 2009-2011 of the BA (Hons) Conference & Exhibition Management, Course Leader of the BA (Hons) Events Management, and HND Events Management 2011-2014. Ruth is a priest in the Church of England, and her PhD studies focus on the role of events in church culture.Jabar Yaqub (Edited By) M. Jabar Yaqub is a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK. His MSc thesis, undertaken at Sheffield Hallam University, investigated motivations of pilgrims that attended the annual pilgrimage of Hajj. He has extensive personal experience in travelling to sacred sites, including Makkah and Medina to conduct the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, and also several other sites in the Middle East. His academic qualifications are in international events management. His research interests are in mega and major events, religious tourism and religious events.