| dc.description.abstract | Religious tourism plays an important part in the history of tourism development. People visit religious sites with
different motivations. Previous studies have examined different experiences of tourists from pilgrims to secular
tourists and this pilgrim-tourist debate is built upon a specifically eurocentric construction of the pilgrim. Limited
studies have examined the religious tourist typology in polytheistic society. To address this issue, this study
explored the rites of the Welcome Royal Lord Festival in the town of Donggang, Taiwan as the research context.
The findings support the proposition that different types of visitors, who are predominantly pilgrims and secular
tourists exist. Significantly, the study revealed four distinct tourist groups in a polytheistic context; namely,
“Sacred Pilgrims,” “Believers,” “Experience Companion” and “Secular Polytheists.” In addition, these four types
of tourists have differences in terms of satisfaction, participation behaviors, perception of cultural authenticity,
and sacred place attachment. Conflicts between tourism development and religious sustainability may occur
among different types of tourists. The findings may have a significant value for event management as it offers a
reference for seeking to sustain religious culture and develop tourism attraction in a destination. | vi |
