‎7th International Pre-Conference on Tourism and Spirituality held in Qom ‎

Rasa – The seventh international pre-conference on “Tourism and Spirituality” was held in the ‎presence of experts at al-Mustafa Open University.‎

News ID: 442067

Date: 14 December 2018 - 10:28

RNA – The seventh international pre-conference on Tourism and Spirituality with the ‎approach of “Tourism and Spirituality in Religion” was held al-Mustafa Open University in ‎Qom.‎

At the meeting, Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Mahdi Hoseyni, the head of al-Mustafa Open University, ‎while appreciating the deputy of research and the educational department of Cultural ‎Management, emphasized that the study of tourism and spirituality was a new subject, which ‎was based on the religious recommendations, especially the religion of Islam, because in the ‎Holy Quran, God Almighty frequently refers to the issue of ‘travelling over the land’ and asks ‎mankind to traverse this path by thinking and contemplation, and naturally, if tourism ‎involves contemplation and thought, it will lead to spirituality.”‎

He referred to the activities of al-Mustafa Open University and said, “al-Mustafa Open ‎University has formed an academic and educational department for cultural management and ‎one of the goals of this department ‎is to provide the necessary training to interested people ‎in all countries.”‎

Dr. Hoseyni added that at master’s level, al-Mustafa Open University teaches cultural ‎management, which has eight sub-categories, including Islamic tourism. Plans to provide a ‎PhD degree in this field are also provided and will be done after the Ministry of Science, ‎Research and Technology has issued a permit.‎

He said that al-Mustafa Open University’s long-term courses in the associate’s, ‎undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels are held in seven languages, Arabic, Persian, ‎English, Urdu, Azeri, Turkish, and French and the most popular languages is Arabic. For the ‎short-term courses, five other languages have been added to the above languages.‎

Dr. Hoseyni emphasized that approximately 3,000 people are being taught in the Persian ‎language because the Persian language is an important tool in the field of spiritual tourism.‎

Dr. Imani, the academic director of the International Conference on Tourism and Spirituality, ‎also said that the present meeting at al-Mustafa Open University is the seventh pre-‎conference on “Tourism and Spirituality” and said, “The issue of tourism and spirituality in the ‎current environment of the country is an important issue because with the welcoming of ‎some of the industry of tourism, we [the experts of the conference] can specify a path that ‎tourism is in line with the values of the country.”‎

Dr. Peyman, the chairman of the conference’s executive committee, also offered his ‎appreciation for the participation and welcoming of the academic institutes of the Islamic in ‎regard to the subject of Islamic tourism and emphasized that the conference “Tourism and ‎Spirituality” could have a very effective role in introducing Iran and Shi’ism, as well as fighting ‎the negative propaganda of the enemies in this regard.‎

The topics discussed at the Tourism and Spirituality conference were presented by experts ‎and included:‎

“Travel and Spirituality in Pre-Islamic Religions” by Dr. Mahdieh Shahrabi

‎“Pilgrimage and Tourism in Religions” by Dr. Mohammadi

‎“The Function of Travel and Escape from the Environment of Spirituality in the Realization of ‎Mystical Perfection” by Dr. Imani ‎

It is worth noting that today’s meeting, the seventh academic pre-conference of the third ‎international conference on Tourism and Spirituality. The first round of this conference was ‎held in 2015 and the second round was held in 2016 with the support of the University of ‎Science and Culture in Tehran. ‎

The third session of the conference will be held in cooperation with the World Shi’ah Studies ‎Assembly, Jami’at al-Murtadha, the Ahlul-Bayt World Assembly, the Cultural Organization of ‎Qom Province and al-Mustafa International University.‎

The topics of the third conference on Tourism and Spirituality will include: ‎
‎“Spirituality: A Way Toward the Realization of Sustainable Tourism,” “Philosophical ‎Foundations and Human Excellence in Tourism,” “The Foundations of Psychology and ‎Spiritual Health in Tourism,” “The Foundations of Sociology and Social Interaction in ‎Tourism,” The Basics of Aesthetics, Culture, Art and Architecture in Tourism” and “The ‎Fundamentals of Planning, Economics and Management in Tourism.” ‎

Rasa News Agency

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