A socio-cultural perspective on Yoga tourism

Abstract

Yoga has become an increasingly widespread activity, also becoming popular as a form of tourism. Many Westerners travel to the roots of yoga, to destinations in India where yoga originated in ancient times. In addition, yoga trips to other places around the world are joined by yoga practitioners. This is also the case in Turkey where yoga has become a well-known activity. Several kinds of yoga trips are arranged to mountains, valleys and forests around Turkey, or to destinations abroad. Despite the growing popularity of yoga tourism, there is a dearth of studies on this topic. Little is known about what motivates tourists to travel to a particular destination to practice yoga, and about the impacts that this activity may cause in receiving destinations. Therefore the purpose of this investigation is to bring light on yoga tourism practices. The focus is on the point of view of the yoga tourists, as the research aims to understand the motivations and expectations of these individuals and their perceptions concerning socio-cultural aspects of yoga tourism. The findings show that there are three types of yoga trips: (1) yoga focused, (2) cultural tourism focused, and (3) wellness focused. These trips show different emphases and varied experiences, including the way in which the participants interact with others and in particular with the local community. The research also identifies some issues related to the concern of the yoga tourists for socio-cultural aspects such as authenticity, especially in root of yoga destinations.