Tourism, Heritage and Pilgrimage : The Case of Haifa's Bahá'í Gardens
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Journal of Heritage Tourism (Clevedon, Eng.) 1 ISRAEL, 32-50Abstract: This paper examines the tourist experience of the Bahá'í gardens in Haifa, Israel. The authors use Cohen's typology and Smith's continuum model to examine visitors and perceptions at the site. The study emplys participant-observation, archival documents, informal and unstructured interviews with Bahá'í volunteers, tourists and guides, and empirical observationof the landscape and practices of visitors. As the garden is experienced as both secular and religious, two very different experiences exist. The contemporary nature of the gardens makes them distinct but also ambiguous because the boundaries are unclear.
This paper examines the tourist experience of the Bahá'í gardens in Haifa, Israel. The authors use Cohen's typology and Smith's continuum model to examine visitors and perceptions at the site. The study emplys participant-observation, archival documents, informal and unstructured interviews with Bahá'í volunteers, tourists and guides, and empirical observationof the landscape and practices of visitors. As the garden is experienced as both secular and religious, two very different experiences exist. The contemporary nature of the gardens makes them distinct but also ambiguous because the boundaries are unclear.