HOLY LANDS: SCOPING THE NEXUS BETWEEN HERITAGE, PILGRIMAGE AND DIASPORA IN INDIA

朝圣被认为是全球增长最快的旅行动机之一，每年有超过6亿次“精神之旅”，其中一半发生在亚洲。“精神之旅”包括当地和地区朝圣，也包括大规模的聚会，包括大壶节，2019年估计有1.2亿信徒。虽然通过“不可思议的印度”方案（美援署，2010年）鼓励侨民社区的旅游业，但侨民在国际和当地旅游/朝圣之间占据着复杂的地位。事实上，在印度，侨民的社会经济影响尚未得到记录或基准。这是一个特殊的挑战，因为印度政府目前的旅游指标和统计数据中没有单独记录散居社区（印度政府旅游部报告，2018年）。这种评估至关重要，因为散居国外的朝圣者/游客不太可能像国际游客那样使用相同的企业/酒店/餐馆/旅游公司（美援署，2010年）。它们还可能对传统计量方法尚未确认的经济体产生明显影响。例如，有人断言，虽然侨民的消费可能不如外国游客多，但他们的支出可能更有可能直接用于当地生产者和企业，而这反过来又可能为当地居民社区带来更大的社会和经济利益（美援署，2010年）。记录和衡量这种影响是关键，因为已经确定，在亚洲促进国际朝圣和旅游的大规模基础设施项目和举措的好处受到限制，而且往往没有达到最初设想的与文化遗产地相关的居民社区（Coningham和Lewer 2019）。为了弥合这一概念和数量上的差距，一个由学者和从业人员组成的专家研究网络将建立一个北南南伙伴关系，以确定侨民旅游和朝圣对可持续和包容性发展以及加强文化遗产保护的潜在社会经济影响。虽然最近的项目已开始探讨如何收集关于朝圣者和游客在主要朝圣地点的社会和经济影响的数据，以确定社会经济效益，但该网络及其共享工具包将在这一遗产的基础上，制定一个框架，以确定散居社区在遗产地点的潜在影响。这将以收入、就业和商业机会等相关经济指标以及教育水平、社会凝聚力、能力加强、基础设施和服务改善等社会指标为基础。这将通过对现有的定量数据进行范围界定来实现，例如对散居国外的游客、当地居民和包括旅游经营者在内的当地企业的问卷调查;游客登记簿数据;景点管理记录;以及定性数据，例如对景点管理人员和社区利益攸关方的半结构化访谈。因此，该网络将缩小差距，制定一种方法，以确定和评估这一数据，并提供一个基准，然后可将其发展为对散居社区影响的长期监测。该小组将重点关注古吉拉特邦、喀拉拉邦和北方邦属于印度考古调查局管辖范围的遗址，并将在印度教、佛教、伊斯兰教、犹太教和基督教等主要宗教传统以及利用这些遗址的其他宗教团体和社区开展初步范围界定活动。

Pilgrimage is recognized as one of the fastest growing motivations for travel globally, with more than 600 million 'spiritual voyages' undertaken annually, with half of these occurring within Asia. 'Spiritual Voyages' include local and regional pilgrimages, but also large-scale gatherings, including the Kumbh Mela, which had an estimated 120 million devotees in 2019. While tourism among diaspora communities was encouraged through the 'Incredible India' Program (USAID 2010), diasporas occupy a complex ground between international and local tourism/pilgrimage. Indeed, in India, diasporas have yet to have their socioeconomic impact recorded or benchmarked. This is a particular challenge as diaspora communities are not recorded separately in current Indian government tourist metrics and statistics (Ministry of Tourism Report, Government of India 2018). Such assessments are critical as diaspora pilgrims/tourists are less likely to utilise the same businesses/hotels/restaurants/travel companies as international tourists (USAID 2010). They may also have distinct impacts on economies that are not yet being recognized in traditional measures. For example, it has been asserted that while diaspora may not spend as much money as foreign tourists, their expenditures are potentially more likely to go directly towards local producers and businesses, which may in turn have greater social and economic benefits for local resident communities (USAID 2010). Recording and benchmarking this impact is key as it has been identified that the benefits of large-scale infrastructure projects and initiatives to promote international pilgrimage and tourism within Asia have been restricted, and often do not reach as many resident communities associated with cultural heritage sites as originally envisaged (Coningham and Lewer 2019). To bridge this conceptual and quantitative gap, an expert research network of academics and practitioners will develop a north-south-south partnership to identify the potential socio-economic impacts of diaspora tourism and pilgrimage for sustainable and inclusive development, as well as enhanced protection of cultural heritage. Whilst recent projects have begun to address how the collection of data on social and economic impacts of pilgrims and tourists at major pilgrimage sites can identify socio-economic benefits, the network and its shared toolkit will build on this legacy by developing a framework to scope and identify the potential impacts of diaspora communities at heritage sites. This will be based on relevant economic indicators, such as income, employment and business opportunities, and social indicators, such as education level, social cohesion, capacity strengthening, improvement of infrastructure and services. This will be achieved through the scoping of available quantitative data, such as questionnaires of diaspora visitors, local residents and local businesses including tour operators; visitor book data; site management records, as well as qualitative data, such as semi-structured interviews with site managers, community stakeholders. The network will thus scope gaps and develop a method for identifying and assessing this data, and providing a benchmark that can then be developed into long-term monitoring of the impacts of diaspora communities. Focusing on sites that are under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India in Gujarat, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, the team will undertake its initial scoping activities at major religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, in addition to other religious groups and communities who utilize these sites.