Segmentation of Religious Tourism by Motivations: A Study of the Pilgrimage to the City of Mecca

Abstract

The present study about the pilgrimage to Mecca aims to: (i) identify the motivational dimensions of the demand for religious tourism, (ii) determine the segments of the demand for religious tourism, (iii) establish the relationship between the segments and socio-demographic aspects, and (iv) establish the relationship between tourist segments and their satisfaction and loyalty in the religious tourism destination of Mecca. The research was carried out on pilgrims who had visited Mecca who lived in Bahrain, a country located on the Persian Gulf, where most of its population is Muslim. The sample consisted of 350 surveys obtained online. A factor and K-means clusters analysis were used to reduce and group the data. The results show three motivational dimensions: religious, social and cultural, and shopping. Additionally, there were also three segments of demand: the “Multiple motives,” with high scores in all the motivational variables, the “Passive tourists” with low levels of motivation and the “Religious,” with motivations in variables related to religion. The “Multiple motives” and the “Religious” segments had high satisfaction and loyalty levels. The results will serve as guides for the management of religious destinations and contribute to the academic literature on this subject.

1. Introduction

Traveling for religious purposes is not a new phenomenon, and it is considered the oldest type of tourism [1]. This is because of the social and cultural changes that have occurred during the past decades, including transport and globalization development [2]. Religious tourism is the type of travel associated with religious reasons and spiritual growth [3]. In Islam, religious tourism surpasses the visit to Mecca for Hajj or Umrah; however, it includes ziyarat, meaning visits to shrines and old mosques such as the shrines in Iraq and Iran [4].

Religious tourism can be investigated in terms of four essential concepts: motivation, demand segmentation, satisfaction, and loyalty, and the interrelationship between them. Motives imply the purposes of visiting these sacred places and previous studies have divided motives into two types. Push factors are the forces that make tourists travel, and pull factors are the attributes of the destination that attract tourists [5]. Satisfaction in religious tourism is defined as the feeling that occurs when a traveler makes a positive evaluation or feels happy with their traveling decision [6] whereas loyalty is defined as the desire to revisit a travel destination. It is characterized by positive word of mouth and being satisfied with a positive experience [7]. Finally, segmentation is defined as the strategy applied to identify the type of groups, to provide better travel packages, and to develop efficient marketing plans for a specific area [8].

The holy city of Mecca is considered the most sacred city where the Ka’bah, which is the house of God, is the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad and where he commenced his prophethood. Furthermore, it should be visited by Muslims to perform the Hajj and Umrah. The Hajj is considered the fifth pillar of Islam. It is performed compulsorily once in the life of a Muslim during a specific tile of the Islamic calendar. On the other hand, Umrah is performed at any time of the year [9].

The city of Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia near the port city of Jidda. The holiest site within the city of Mecca is the Great Mosque (Masjid al-Haram), where the Black Stone is placed beside other sacred sites. Hajj and Umrah occur in the Great Mosques as Muslims have circumambulated around the Kaaba. It also contains Maqam Ibrahim, where Ibrahim stood while building the Kaaba. Furthermore, Muslims have to walk between the mountains of Safa and Marwa during Hajj and Umrah as attribution to Hajar when she ran out of water during the absence of Ibrahim to fulfill the demand of God. Finally, the Hira’a Cave is where the Prophet Muhammad first received the revelation from God by Angel Gabriel [9].

In the context of religious tourism, previous findings that have analyzed the motivations and segmentation of demand as a subject for academic research are still rare. Currently, no studies have been found that analyze motivational segmentation in the Muslim religion; thus, there is a gap in visiting this Islamic site. This research analyzes the pilgrimage to Mecca as the central place of visitation of the Muslim religion; therefore, the present study has the following objectives concerning the pilgrimage to Mecca: (i) identify the motivational dimensions of the demand for religious tourism, (ii) determine the segments of the demand for religious tourism, (iii) establish the relationship between the segments and socio-demographic aspects, and (iv) establish the relationship between tourists’ segments and their satisfaction and loyalty in the religious tourism destination of Mecca. The results will serve the administrators of religious destinations to develop plans for the benefit of sustainable development and private companies when developing products according to the demand found. Furthermore, this study also contributes to expanding the scientific literature on religious tourism and its pilgrimages.

2. Theoretical Framework

2.1. Motivations in Religious Tourism

Religious tourism is a type of tourism as old as religions have existed on this Earth that took the form of a Pilgrimage [10]. It has grown and developed during the past centuries according to changes in society, culture, economy, science, and technology [11]. Religious tours involve visits to churches, temples, museums, monasteries, shrines, and mosques. Furthermore, these tours allow tourists to participate in rituals and ceremonies and to buy religious souvenirs from these sacred sites [12]. Having enough knowledge about those motives can help improve the services provided to those tourists by both the government and the private sector [13].

Religion is considered an essential element of culture and is linked to different elements of people’s lives. For example, religion influences food, drink, dress, social and political views, travel motivation, and behaviors. Those behaviors include travel patterns, seasonal demands, and transportation choices [14]. According to Terzidou, Scarles, and Saunders [15], religious tourism is defined as travel for religious or spiritual purposes and for the view of religious monuments. Additionally, nowadays, health and safety are an essential part of daily life in places of worship; therefore, organizers need to establish clear safety policies [16].

The primary determinant of religious tourism is motivation. There are different theories and views about motivation concerning this type of tourism. For example, Battour et al. [17] and Terzidou [15] pointed out that tourists visit sacred sites because of both push and pull motivations. In push motivations, people are pushed by internal emotional factors such as gathering with family and friends, relaxation, sports, and enjoying nature. Pull motivations make people prefer one destination over the other when deciding to travel because of the destination’s attributes such as low travel costs or historical attractions. Another important theory regarding religious tourism motivations is the travel career ladder, based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, which proposes five levels of travel needs. These levels are psychological, security, relationship, self-esteem, and fulfillment to understand travelers’ motivations ([5] p. 7). These theories indicate that motivations are determinants for tourists to travel to religious sites.

A careful look at the previous literature about motivations of religious tourism showed that there are various motives for that kind of travel. For example, it is pointed out that people travel to sacred sites because they are motivated by the desire for having a spiritual experience, to gain a long-term positive impact, to spend a long time with family and friends, to participate in religious festivals, and to relax and visit historical and cultural places [18,19,20,21]. Similarly, other scholars ascertained that religious motives are the main inspiration for religious tourism, but they are accompanied by cultural and recreational or leisure motives [1,22]. Thus, it is apparent from the above discussion that there is no consensus among researchers about the motives of religious tourism.

In western societies, churches are visited for various reasons, not only religion. This stems from the idea that churches are considered cultural and historical places. For example, Ramírez and Fernández [12] found five different motives for visiting The Royal Monastery of Guadalupe, Spain. They are religious, cultural, environmental, social, and educational motivations. Some studies conducted in the UK showed that motivations for tourists to visit churches are historical and cultural rather than religious ones [23].

Similarly, it was found that the motives to visit Chichester Cathedral in England are historical, for seeing the architecture, and for curiosity and that they are more than spiritual reasons, such as finding inner peace and praying [24]. From the discussion above, it can be inferred that there are two types of motives to visit churches, namely, religious and secular motives (historical, cultural, and architectural).

Religious sites in Western culture also include routes and studies undertaken on religious routes have shown different results. Fernandes et al. [25] examined the motives to visit the Portuguese route of the Caminos de Santiago. They found that recreation and leisure is the first motive, followed by religious and cultural motives, curiosity, sport, and spiritual reasons. Conversely, Abad-Galzacorta et al. [1] investigated the motives for visiting the Ignatian Way, St. Ignatius Loyola’s birthplace. They found that the primary motive for visiting this route is religious while other motives are cultural, sport, and leisure. All in all, in Western culture, religious sites are not only limited to churches and they include other sacred sites such as religious routes, with people visiting these religious routes for leisure, culture, sport, and religion reasons.

The religious tourism in Islam is undertaken mainly to perform the rituals of hajj (that is performed one time in a person’s life and at a specific time of the year), and umrah (that is performed at any time of the year) in Saudi Arabia. Muslims also travel to the local and regional shrines of Prophet Mummed’s grandsons and companions, known as Ziarat, especially in Iraq, Iran and Egypt. Finally, there is Rihla, meaning travel to gain knowledge, wisdom, health, and trade [26,27]. The importance of travel in Islam stems from the verses of the Holy Quran. In the Surat Al Ankabout (The Spider) is an explanation of one of the purposes of travel and tourism that is contemplation. The verse says, “Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation: for Allah has power over all things’’ (Surat Al-Ankabout, 20). This verse asked people to travel around the world for the purpose of contemplating the creation of God [28]. Additionally, there is this verse, ‘‘Do they not travel through the earth and see what the end of those before them was?’’ (Surat Mohammed, 10), which means that Muslims should travel around this world for the purpose of learning about what happened to old civilizations through seeing their ancient monuments [27].

Generally, there are different motives for Muslims’ engagement in religious tourism according to those who visit nonreligious attractions (such as cultural sites), who enjoy Halal tourism or Islamic tourism (where things such as the provided services are aligned with Islamic values including Halal food), and those who are seeking knowledge and leisure, especially when that travel is accompanied by children [29]. In Islam, Muslim tourists’ pilgrimages to Mecca and Madinah in Saudi Arabia are for various motivations. The first motivation is to pray in The Great Mosque of Mecca (the Masjid al-Haram) and Al-Masjid an-Nabaw in Madinah, because travelers gain rewards such as the forgiveness of sins and protection from hell. “The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “Whoever performs forty salaat prayers in my Mosque, not missing one salaat prayer, he is granted exemption from the fire of Hell, and he shall remain free of hypocrisy”” [30] p. 99. Second, to find love, Muslims travel to Mecca and Madinah to show and express their love to God and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Third, Muslims travel to these sacred places to perform a pilgrimage, which allows them to show respect for other pilgrims who came to Mecca from different countries and ranks to perform Hajj and Umrah [25] In the same vein, some scholars argue that Muslims’ pilgrimages to Mecca is not limited to religious reasons but includes other motives such as receiving an offer of Halal packages to tourists [5]. The mentioned studies indicate that pilgrimage to Mecca has a multipurpose motive, ranging from religious to shopping and for leisure.

In terms of other religions, there are few studies available about visiting Buddhist sites. Piramanayagam et al. [31] identified three motives for visiting the Bodhgaya Buddhist site in India. Three religious motivational dimensions that were: (1) Religious beliefs, (2) quality of service, and (3) the history, architecture, and cultural aspects of religious sites. Furthermore, they ascertained that service quality is the most important motive for those tourists to visit this Buddhist sacred site. Another study about the motives for visiting Buddhist Mountain (China), conducted by Wang et al. [32], classified them into push motives, including religious beliefs and mental relaxation, and pull motives, including cultural enjoyment.

The above discussion about religious tourism motives has shown that scholars believe tourists have multiple motives for visiting sacred sites and that these motives range from religious to secular, including shopping, leisure, sight sighting, and enjoying time with family and friends.

The views above concerning the motives of religious tourism led to the first research question: RQ1. What are the motivational dimensions of religious tourism?

2.2. Segmentation in Religious Tourism

Recent studies have ascertained that market segmentation provides opportunities for tourism businesses to position themselves in the right way and to develop a long-term competitive advantage [33,34]. Moreover, Papastathopoulos et al. [35] ascertained that studying the demand segmentation of religious tourism, especially for Muslim tourists, will help to understand the needs of those tourists, to formulate more effective marketing strategies and to evaluate the promotional strategies applied for Muslim customers. Similarly, segmentation based on tourist motivations is vital in guiding marketers in the development of products, targeted promotions, and destination positioning [13]. Thus, the aim of the segmentation of religious tourists based on motivation is completed by grouping them according to their motives and characteristics, which helps to direct specific marketing strategies for each segment [36]. Scholars have recently begun defining the religious tourism market based on travel motivations rather than the activities people engage in and the places they visit during their trip [37,38].

There are few studies on demand segmentation among Muslim tourists. Papastathopoulos et al. [35] conducted a study on Muslim tourists in The United Arab Emirates and their study divided tourists into three segments. Segment one was the “utilitarian Muslim guests,” consisting of millennials with medium or low incomes, who were married and were long-stayers. Their preference for practical-oriented services characterized them. Segment two was called the “independent Muslim guests,” including Muslim tourists who did not want to pay extra for services. Most people in this segment were single, female, millennials who had an average or no income, and were well-educated, short-stayer students. Segment three was identified as the “leisure Muslim guests,” consisting of mainly married tourists with high incomes, millennials, and older long-stayers. A study conducted by Zoda and Zoda [39] investigated the segmentation of demand for pilgrimages to Sufi shrines in Uzbekistan and found that the market could be segmented into five groups of tourists. Those segments were (1) Muslim-Sufis whose traveling goal was to realize the Sufi rituals; (2) Muslim-non-Sufis, whose traveling goal was to visit Sufi shrines because they consider them as a part of religious ceremonies; (3) representatives of other religions, whose traveling purpose was to visit the shrines as a part of religious ceremonies; (4) scientists, intellectuals, researchers and educators, who visit shrines to study the Sufism philosophy; (5) other categories of tourists, who visit shrines inside other types of tourism.

Furthermore, according to a geographical basis, Zoda and Zoda [39] divided the tourists into two segments: (1) domestic pilgrims and (2) foreign pilgrims. Finally, in terms of gender, the tourists were divided into two segments: (1) pilgrim men and (2) pilgrim women. A continuous discussion of the demand segmentation of Muslim tourists showed that no one segment could apply to those tourists. Moreover, there were different groups of tourists from different areas of the Muslim world. In other words, the demand segmentation applicable in one area may not be applicable in another.

In the western part of the world, it is ascertained that the segmentation of religious tourism is important. Santos et al. [40] studied the visit of tourists to São Miguel Island in the Azores, Portugal, during religious festivities that take place five weeks after Easter. They identified three main segments of tourists: (1) the spiritual tourists, (2) the religious tourists, and (3) the moderately religious tourists. Another study conducted by Tkaczynski and Rundle-Thiele [41] researched visits to the Australian Christian music festival. The segmented tourists were based on the motivations of seeing bands, socializing with others, spending time with friends, and festival activities. The researchers identified four segments of the visitors: (1) working family visitors, (2) local young students, (3) working active campers, and (4) youth camper groups. These two studies demonstrate that no one set of segments can be applied to religious festival cluster tourists and the segmentation of these tourists depends on their motives, age, gender, employment, activities, accommodation, expenditures, and experience.

Other studies of the segmentation of demand in religious tourism have been held in events such as conferences or visits to religious islands. For example, a study segmented tourists attending a Christian leadership conference held annually in Brisbane, Australia. It identified five segments: (1) first time Sunshine Coast Baptist group attendees, (2) under 21 female Brisbane group attendees, (3) Moreton Region mixed denominational tourists, (4) highly motivated/ministry orientated Brisbane males and (5) experienced older northern Westerners [42]. The mentioned studies on demand segmentation concerning the motivation to visit religious festivals and events do not follow one specific system; however, they depend on the nature of the events or the festival itself and visitors’ characteristics. Nonetheless, most segments of visitors to sacred sites are identified as pilgrims and spiritual tourists.

Based on these arguments, the second and third research questions were proposed.

RQ2: Which are the main segments of tourists who visit Mecca as a religious tourism destination, considering their motivations?

RQ3: What is the relationship between the segments and the socio-demographic aspects of religious tourism?

2.3. Satisfaction and Loyalty in Religious Tourism

Satisfaction is an important key factor to market a destination successfully [43]. Siregar et al. [6] defined satisfaction as someone feeling happy or disappointed when comparing the performance of a product against the person’s expectations. Tourist satisfaction is essential in marketing travel destinations due to its relationship with the destination choice and the repetition of visiting sacred sites [44,45].

Thus, it is important to understand the relationship between the motives of religious tourism, satisfaction, and demand segmentation. For example, the satisfaction of tourists to religious sites is affected by the availability of accommodation, restaurants, shops, and people with good soft skills, such as hospitable and friendly staff [46]. In the same vein, the satisfaction of religious tourists is influenced by the availability of transport facilities, food accommodation, security, shopping facilities, personal safety, room decoration, and the religious ambiance in hotels (Kumar and Singh, [47]; Gupta and Basak, [48]).

A study of previous investigations shows the importance of the relationship between the motives of religious tourism and tourists’ satisfaction. For example, Battour et al. [17] ascertained those motivations are related significantly and positively to the satisfaction experienced by Muslim tourists visiting Malaysia. Another study by Ming et al. [49] found that satisfaction positively impacts religious tourists’ behavioral intentions. Similarly, Preko et al. [50] found that the push–pull motives of Muslim tourists in Ghana significantly impacted satisfaction.

Loyalty in religious tourism is represented by the visit suggestions made to other people and re-visiting intentions. For instance, Rybina and Lee [51] explored five motives to visit sacred places in Central Asia. Their motivations were spiritual and religious motives, cultural and historical motives, healing, nature fun, and social contact. Three of these motives (spiritual and religious motives, cultural and historical motives, and healing) had a significant relationship with loyalty to visit these religious places. In another study, Siregar et al. [6] found that Muslim tourists’ loyalty to Aceh significantly influenced motivation and satisfaction. Similarly, Verma and Sarangi [52] found that motivation to visit religious sites directly impacts the level of satisfaction and that satisfaction had a direct and positive impact on the loyalty to visit Kumbh Mela in India.

There is a scarcity of studies conducted on the relationship between demand segmentation, satisfaction, and the loyalty of religious tourists. Furthermore, the relationship among those variables is not clear; however, one can infer that segmenting religious tourism according to visitors’ demands aims to satisfy tourists’ spiritual and material needs. In the end, this will lead to tourists’ loyalty for visiting religious sites [41,42]; thus, there is an immediate need to investigate further the relationship between demand segmentation based on motivation, satisfaction, and loyalty among Muslim tourists to understand better and improve the religious tourism market.

Therefore, the fourth research question arose.

RQ4: What is the relationship between the demand segments of religious tourists and their satisfaction and loyalty?

3. Methodology

3.1. Study Area

Mecca is a Muslim’s most important city. It is located in the west of Saudi Arabia. Mecca is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) and where the Quran’s first revelation to the Prophet happened. Mecca is visited compulsorily to perform Hajj once in a Muslim’s life during the month of Dhu al-Hijjah. In addition, it is visited optionally to perform Umrah during any time of the year. Furthermore, Mecca houses important sites, including the Great Mosque of Mecca (the Masjid al-Haram), where the Ka’bah is situated, and Muslims must pray there. During the pilgrimage to Mecca, tourists can perform many activities and visit sacred, cultural, and historical places. Among the sites to visit in Mecca is The Mecca Museum, which contains a collection of pre-Islamic archaeological discoveries and Islamic art, including Islamic calligraphic holy verses (Figure 1).

Tourists can also visit the Al-Kiswah Factory (the Drape of Kaaba), where the drape covering the Kaaba was made. This drape contains Arabic Quranic verses and is made of pure black silk. To undertake shopping and leisure activities, visitors can visit Mecca’s many restaurants and shopping malls. One of those restaurants is the Paradise Restaurant which serves traditional food near Al Masjid Al Haram. Another restaurant is Al Tazaj, which has branches in Saudi Arabia and it is famous for its barbeque. In terms of shopping, visitors can shop in the Mecca Mall, which offers local and international brands (Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4).

Visiting the City of Mecca involves taking precautions in terms of medical precautions, safety and security. Medically, there are millions who visit Mecca during the year, and it is significantly crowded all the time; therefore, pilgrims are required to take care of their health in terms of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding contaminated water, avoiding insect bites and avoiding animals, especially during the outbreak of COVID-19. The authority of the Holy City of Mecca makes it necessary for pilgrims to take all required vaccines divided into routine vaccines, such as COVID-19, chickenpox, shingles, Diphtheria–Tetanus–Pertussis, and flu (influenza), and special vaccines that are especially required for pilgrims coming from specific areas famous for infections or for specific age groups (the elderly and children), which include Measles–Mumps–Rubella (MMR), Meningitis (Meningococcal disease), Measles, Typhoid, Yellow fever, Malaria and Hepatitis A and B [53]. In terms of safety and security, pilgrims have to check their visas and other documents before visiting and ensure they are up to date [54]. Moreover, the authority of Mecca has implemented checkpoints to prevent non-permitted entry to the city. There are also police officers in the Holy Grand Mosque to help pilgrims.

3.2. Survey, Data Collection, and Analysis

The present study raised the following objectives: (i) identify the motivational dimensions of the demand for religious tourism, (ii) determine the segments of the demand for religious tourism, (iii) establish the relationship between the segments and socio-demographic aspects, and (iv) establish the relationship between the tourists’ segments and their satisfaction and loyalty in the religious tourism destination of Mecca.

A questionnaire with three sections was devised for visitors over 18 years of age to achieve the study’s aim. The first section of the questionnaire inquired about the visitors’ socio-demographic characteristics. It consisted of 12 closed questions adopted from Lee et al. [55]. Section two consisted of 23 items about travel motivation adopted from Pillai et al. [56]. It used a 5-point Likert scale where 1 is not very important and 5 is very important. In addition, a Cronbach’s Alpha of the final motivation scale value reached 0.92, indicating a good internal consistency between all the scale elements. Finally, section three regarded satisfaction and loyalty. These two items were measured on a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 being not very important and 5 being very important, adopted from the study of Kim and Park [57].

The questionnaire was prepared in Google Forms. A pilot test was conducted to validate the questions and find errors. The survey was released via WhatsApp in Bahrain, a country found in the Persian Gulf. Most of its population are Muslims who had pilgrimaged to Mecca. The sample included 350 valid surveys. An infinite population was used, considering that there is no official number of tourists visiting Mecca. The collection period was from May to July 2021. A margin of error of +/− 5%, a confidence level of 95%, and a variation of 50% were proposed.

Once the data were collected during the field activity, they were organized, tabulated, and analyzed using SPSS V.26. First, a factor analysis was applied as a data reduction technique, which was necessary to explain the correlations between the observed variables. Additionally, a K-means cluster analysis, based on the distances between the factors in a set of variables, was used to group the cases. The link of the survey was distributed to the respondents during the period from May to July 2021 (namely, pilgrims who were requested to complete the survey). To ensure a high level of response rate, a few steps were adopted and these included gaining the cooperation of the staff of pilgrimage campaigns and pilgrims through constant reminders. The survey link was sent to each travel campaign group through their WhatsApp group account, with clarifications about the variables of the study for each travel campaign. The conditions were that the respondents had to be over 18 years old and had to have made the pilgrimage to the city of Mecca. The methodology applied in this study had some limitations including (1) only those who could go online to complete this online survey could participate and (2) the sample was only taken from Bahrain of Bahraini and multinational pilgrims, which makes it difficult to generalize the results of the study.

4. Results

4.1. Socio-Demographic Profile of the Sample

The sample for this study, conducted in Bahrain, included national tourists from Bahrain with 13.8% and foreign tourists with 86.2%. Europe was the location with the fewest tourists (1.3%), followed by Asia (4.4%), with the remainder of the sample coming from other continents (94.3%). Furthermore, 76.3% of the tourists were men, and 23.7% were women. In terms of marital status, 71.1% were married, while 16.9% were single. The majority of tourists (39.1%) were between the ages of 21 and 30, followed by those aged between 41 and 50. (29.2%). In terms of education, university students made up the largest group (60.7%), followed by tourists who had completed high school (29.4%). Private employees (44.3%) and state employees (44.3%) made up the majority of the sample’s occupations (29.7%). The majority of tourists (48.2%) had returned to the site for the second time, followed by those who had visited it more than four times (25.4%). They also wanted to travel with their families (76.8%) and their friends (14.8%). Most tourists stayed in the destination for four days and three nights (28.1%), or three days and two nights (29.1%). Meanwhile, 47.7% of tourists disclosed they had earned between USD 2001 and USD 2500, followed by tourists earning between USD 1501 and USD 2000 at 16.1%. Finally, 36.5% of tourists claimed to have spent between USD 60.01 and USD 90 per day, followed by those who spent between USD 30.01 and USD 60 per day, at 24%.

4.2. Motivations in Religious Tourism

A factor analysis was performed to reduce the data into a smaller number of factors and improve the interpretation of the results. The Varimax rotation method was used to order the factors according to the factor loadings. The factors found were represented by 82.92% of the total variance. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the factors was between 0.987 and 0.935. The factor loadings were between 0.507 and 0.939; therefore, all factor loadings were above the critical value of 0.50 suggested by Hair et al. [58]. The KMO index was 0.90, indicating a relationship between the variables. In addition, Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.05); therefore, the factor analysis model was adequate. The results are shown in

Table 1. Motivations in Religious Tourism (Factor Analysis).

Variable	Factor Loading	Variance Explained (%)	Cronbach’s α
Factor1: Religious		68.989	0.987
To seek peace	0.939
To appreciate/experience the grandeur of churches	0.936
To attend a religious festival	0.928
To relieve daily stress	0.916
To have the chance to see Mecca	0.912
To pay respect to the Saint’s relics	0.907
To relieve boredom	0.906
To escape from routine life	0.903
To seek spiritual comfort	0.889
To share the experience with other believers/pilgrims	0.873
For religious fulfillment	0.869
To experience the mystery of religion	0.867
To redeem myself	0.843
To experience the holy atmosphere	0.775
For a holiday	0.634
Factor 2: Social and cultural		10.157	0.83
To satisfy my curiosity	0.902
To experience a different culture	0.84
To fulfill a life-long desire	0.587
To appreciate and experience ancient architecture	0.523
To accompany friends or family	0.507
Factor 3: Shopping		3.776	0.935
To purchase religious items	0.848
To purchase local items	0.838
Cronbach’s α			0.92
Cumulative variance explained (%)		82.922

.

According to Table 1, the first dimension was called “Religious.” It was related to motivations about religious festivals, churches, religious observance, and paying homage to the relics of the Saint. This dimension included an explained variance of 68.99%, the most important motivational dimension concerning the other dimensions. It must be taken into account that the sample had a greater presence of foreign tourists, which shows their motivation for the religious dimension. On the other hand, the second dimension was called “Social and cultural” because it was related to the motivations for ancient culture and architecture and accompanying friends and family. This dimension had an explained variance of 10.16%. Finally, the third dimension was called “Shopping” because it was related to purchasing religious and local items. Shopping is important for pilgrims because it offers the opportunity for them to buy souvenirs for their family and friends, such as the Holy Quran, rosary, prayer mats, dates, Water Zamzam (that is, sacred water according to Islamic belief). This water has health benefits and therapeutic qualities because of its richness of minerals. The Zamzam Well, which dates back to the time of Ismail Ibn Ibrahim, may peace be upon them, is situated near the Holy Kaaba to the east by the courtyard of the Al-Haram Mosque (the Grand Mosque). Its story is related to Ismail (the son of Ibrahim) and when he was a baby sobbing and thirsty in the desert with his mother, Hajar, the well miraculously began to spout water. The Holy City is a perfect destination to find thawbs, abayas, hijabs, and other clothes from the Islamic world. Thawbs are long robes worn by both men and women. You can obtain good bargains for ready-made clothing, textiles, and custom tailoring in markets such as Souq Al Otaibiah.

This dimension obtained an explained variance of 3.78% and these results answer our first research question: What are the motivational dimensions of religious tourism? The main motivational dimensions in religious tourism are religious, social, cultural, and shopping.

4.3. Segmentation in Religious Tourism

A segmentation of religious tourism was carried out using the non-hierarchical K-means clustering method. The Kruskal–Wallis H index presented a significant difference between the groups with the motivational variables. The Mann–Whitney U index presented the significant differences for every two segments. The results are shown in

Table 2. Segmentation in religious tourism (K-means method).

Variables	Multiple Motives	Passive Tourists	Religious	H-Kruskal–Wallis		Mann–Whitney U
	1	2	3	Χ2	Sig.	Sig.
To seek peace	5.0	1.0	5.0	362.787	0.000	1–2, 2–3
To appreciate/experience the grandeur of churches	5.0	1.0	5.0	382.885	0.000	1–2, 2–3
To seek spiritual comfort	5.0	2.0	5.0	336.023	0.000	1–2, 2–3
To appreciate and experience ancient architecture	5.0	1.0	4.0	193.595	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To experience the mystery of religion	5.0	1.0	5.0	297.936	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To experience a different culture	5.0	1.0	2.0	284.411	0.000	1–2, 1–3
To attend the religious festival	5.0	1.0	5.0	362.568	0.000	1–2, 2–3
To share the experience with other believers/pilgrims	5.0	2.0	5.0	311.72	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To satisfy my curiosity	5.0	2.0	2.0	232.621	0.000	1–2, 1–3
To have a chance to see Mecca	5.0	2.0	5.0	325.646	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
For a holiday	5.0	1.0	4.0	202.507	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To accompany friends or family	5.0	2.0	4.0	132.665	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To escape from routine life	5.0	2.0	5.0	326.174	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To relieve daily stress	5.0	2.0	5.0	327.172	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To relieve boredom	5.0	2.0	5.0	326.578	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
For religious fulfilment	5.0	2.0	5.0	312.647	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To experience the holy atmosphere	5.0	2.0	5.0	271.217	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To fulfil a life-long desire	5.0	2.0	4.0	174.408	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To pay respect to the Saint’s relics	5.0	2.0	5.0	314.289	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To redeem myself	5.0	2.0	5.0	254.834	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To purchase religious items	5.0	2.0	4.0	141.33	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3
To purchase local items	5.0	2.0	4.0	158.925	0.000	1–2, 2–3, 1–3

.

According to Table 2, the segmentation found in the three segments was significant (p < 0.01). The first segment was called “multiple motives” because it had high scores in all motivational variables. Therefore, these tourists were motivated not only by religion but also by cultural, social, and shopping intentions. At the same time, the second segment was called “Passive tourists” because they had low motivations in all motivational variables; therefore, this was a segment with little motivation to visit. On the other hand, the third segment was called “Religious” because they had high motivations only in the religion-related variables; therefore, this was a segment motivated by everything related to religion and the sacred.

These results answer the second research question: Which are the main segments of tourists who visit Mecca as a religious tourism destination, considering their motivations? The results show the existence of the three segments in demand for religious tourism, namely, multiple motives, passive tourists, and religious.

4.4. Segmentation with Socio-Demographic Variables

A Pearson’s Chi-square test was used to find the significant socio-demographic variables between the segments. The results are presented in

Table 3. Segmentation and socio-demographic variables (Pearson’s Chi-Square).

Variable		Multiple Motives %	Passive Tourists %	Religious %	Total %	Chi-Square Test
Gender	Female	20.4	88.2	22.0	23.7	41,062: p < 0.01
	Male	79.6	11.8	78.0	76.3
Marital Status	Married	75.80	35.30	62,2	71.10
	Single	14.40	64.70	15.90	16.90	38,879: p < 0.01
	Other	9.80		22.00	12.00
Age	Less than 20	0.4	11.8		0.8	67,549: p < 0.01
	21–30	43.2	23.5	28.0	39.1
	31–40	20.0	17.6	26.8	21.4
	41–50	31.2	41.2	19.5	29.2
	51–60	1.1	5.9	8.5	2.9
	More than 61	4.2		17.1	6.8
Educational level	Primary	2.1		6.1	2.9	27,339: p < 0.01
	Secondary	24.9	41.2	42.7	29.4
	University	67.7	52.9	37.8	60.7
	Postgraduate/Master/Ph.D.	5.3	5.9	13.4	7.0
Occupation	Student	0.4	11.8	1.2	1.0	87,208: p < 0.01
	Businessman	4.9	5.9	19.5	8.1
	Private Employee	50.9	35.3	23.2	44.3
	Public Employee	30.9	23.5	26.8	29.7
	Pensioner	3.5		22.0	7.3
	Unemployed	7.0	23.5	4.9	7.3
	Other	2.5		2.4	2.3
How often have you visited Mecca?	Once	1.8	47.1	2.4	3.9	134,569: p < 0.01
	Twice	56.1	23.5	25.6	48.2
	Three times	23.9	23.5	18.3	22.7
	More than 4 times	18.2	5.9	53.7	25.3
Who do you travel with?	Alone	2.5		13.4	4.7	28,080: p < 0.01
	With your family	81.4	64.7	63.4	76.8
	With friends	12.3	35.3	19.5	14.8
	Others	3.9		3.7	3.6
How many days do you stay in Mecca?	1 day		5.9		0.3	83,739: p < 0.01
	2 days and 1 night	15.8	5.9	6.1	13.3
	3 days and two nights	29.1		11.0	24.0
	4 days and three nights	29.8	17.6	24.4	28.1
	5 days and four nights	12.3	17.6	11.0	12.2
	More than 5 days	13.0	52.9	47.6	22.1
Income level or monthly income	Less than USD 500	8.8	29.4	7.3	9.4	90,631: p < 0.01
	From USD 501 to USD 1000	1.1	17.6	1.2	1.8
	From USD 1001 to UDS 1500	1.4		8.5	2.9
	From USD 1501 to USD 2000	16.5		18.3	16.1
	From USD 2001 to USD 2500	55.1		31.7	47.7
	From USD 2501 to USD 3000	12.6	23.5	12.2	13.0
	More than USD 3000	4.6	29.4	20.7	9.1
What was your average daily expenditure per person during this visit?	Less than USD 30	22.8	41.2	15.9	22.1	63,796: p < 0.01
	USD30.01–USD 60	24.9	11.8	23.2	24.0
	USD 60.01–USD 90	40.0	5.9	30.5	36.5
	USD 90.01–USD 120	9.5	5.9	23.2	12.2
	USD 120.01–USD 150	0.4	17.6	2.4	1.6
	More than USD 150	2.5	17.6	4.9	3.6

.

According to Table 3, the “Multiple motives” segment included more males, who were primarily married, aged between 21 and 30, with a university education and who were private and public employees. This segment mainly travelled with their families, had already visited Mecca twice and stayed there between three and four days. In addition, this segment had mostly monthly incomes of between USD 2000 to USD 2500 and an average expenditure per person of between USD 60 and USD 90 per day. While the “passive tourists” segment was composed of more females, this study had a larger sample of men; therefore, these results were not conditioned by the proportion of men who were part of the sample. Among the other characteristics of this segment, they were mostly single women, aged between 41 and 50, with a university or high school level of education, and were privately employed or unemployed. They had mostly visited Mecca only once, had travelled with family or friends, and had stayed in Mecca for more than five days. This segment mostly had a monthly income of USD 2500; however, a percentage of the visitors had monthly incomes of less than USD 500. A percentage of the visitors in this segment had spent more than USD 120 per day; however, one group of visitors spent less than USD 30 per day. On the other hand, the “Religious” segment was shaped by mostly married males, between 21 and 40 years of age, with a high school or university level of education. They were public or private employees or pensioners. Most of them had visited Mecca more than four times and had travelled with their family. They stayed in Mecca for more than five days and had a monthly income between USD 2000 and USD 2500 or more than USD 3000. They mostly spent between USD 30 and USD 120 per person a day. These results answer the third research question: What is the relationship between the segments and the socio-demographic aspects of religious tourism?

4.5. Segmentation with Satisfaction and Loyalty

A Pearson’s Chi-square test determined the significant satisfaction and loyalty variables with the segments found. The results are presented in

Table 4. Segmentation and satisfaction and loyalty variables (Pearson’s Chi-Square).

Variables	Multiple Motives	Passive Tourists	Religious	Chi-Square Test
Overall satisfaction	4.98	1.94	4.83	281.588; p < 0.01
I have the intention to revisit this city	5.00	2.59	4.96	305.060; p < 0.01
I have the intention to recommend this city	5.00	2.65	4.96	299.301; p < 0.01
When I talk about this city, I will give positive comments	5.00	2.71	4.98	310.789; p < 0.01

.

According to Table 4, all the satisfaction and loyalty variables were significant (p < 0.01). The “Multiple motives” and the “Religious” segments had high satisfaction levels, return intentions, recommendations, and positive things to say about the destination; therefore, these high levels of satisfaction and loyalty should be maintained for this destination. On the other hand, the “Passive Tourists” segment had low satisfaction levels, return intentions, recommendations, and positive things to say about the destination; therefore, this segment was less likely to revisit the destination. These results answer our fourth research question: What is the relationship between the demand segments of religious tourism and their satisfaction and loyalty?

5. Discussion

The first objective of this research was to determine the motivational components of religious tourism as applied to pilgrimages to a sacred city. Three motivational elements emerged from the findings: religious, social and cultural, and shopping [3,5,11,31,56,59]. These authors all found the religious motive of our study to be religious. For example, it was dubbed spiritual by Amaro et al. [21], and religious views by Wang et al. [32]. Meanwhile, Amaro et al. [21], Liro [3], and Abad-Galzacorta et al. [1] identified the social and cultural motivational dimensions of spending leisure time with family and friends. Abad-Galzacorta et al. [1] named it socio-cultural causes. Hughes [23] classified it as cultural, whereas Rebenstorf and Körs [60] cited building and architectural historical significance. The third component of our study was shopping, which was defined as purchases by Pillai et al. [56] and Rybina [5] whereas Liro [3] named this component commercial and purchasing.

Regarding which religious or non-religious motives are the most important, the current study indicated that religious motivation was the most important, followed by non-religious motivations such as social and cultural drive and purchasing incentives. Religious motivation has been identified as the primary motive in previous studies by Bozic et al. [59], Lois-González and Santos [22], and Abad-Galzacorta et al. [1]; however, other research, mostly from Western societies, has found that non-religious motivations are the most important [31,60,61,62].

As a second objective, the present study set out to determine the segments of the demand for religious tourism in response to RQ2, resulting in three duly differentiated segments. The first segment is the “Multiple motives” segment, which includes all the high motivations in the destination that exclusively show strong incentives in religious factors. The second segment is “Passive tourists”, whose motivations in the destination were modest. The third segment, for its part, was called “Religious” which is a group motivated by everything religious and sacred. The segment identified as “Multiple reasons” had not been found in previous research.

Similarly, other academics such as Amaro et al. [21] have found a segment seeking new spiritual experiences, new cultures, encounters with new people, and visits to new places. Additionally, Canoves and Forga [20] interpreted a group as cultural, recreational, and leisure seekers. The “Passive tourist” segment is likened to the religious tourists identified by Santos et al. [40]. Regarding the “Religious” segment, this is similar to the Muslim-Sufis found by Zoda and Zoda [39] and to the spiritual tourists and religious tourists identified by Santos et al. [40].

The present investigation’s contribution to the academic literature is to have found three differentiated segments in religious tourism and a segment not found in religious tourism in the previous evidence, namely, the “Multiple motives” Segment.

As a third objective, this study set out to find the relationship between the segments and socio-demographic aspects of visiting the city of Mecca, responding to RQ3. For example, the “Multiple motives” segment was comprised of more males, who were married, and private and public employees, whereas the “Passive tourists” were largely female, single, privately employed, or unemployed. Furthermore, the “Multiple motives” segment had the highest revenue levels because they spent between $60 and $90 per day. Finally, the “Religious segment” were male, married, and private or public employees or pensioners. This information contributes to the existing literature since scarce studies have been conducted about the relationship between the traveler segments of demand and their different socio-demographic characteristics.

The current study’s fourth goal was to investigate the relationship between the demand segments and their satisfaction and loyalty in response to RQ4. Consequently, the results showed that the “Multiple motives” and “Religious” segments admitted to high satisfaction levels, return intentions and recommendations, and had positive things to say about the destination; therefore, those segments are significant for the benefit of the destination and the community. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of studies investigating the relationship between the demand segments and satisfaction and loyalty; therefore, the main contribution of this research is by establishing that multiple and religiously motivated travelers are the ones with the highest satisfaction and loyalty levels after visiting the sacred city of Mecca.

In terms of practical ramifications, it is critical to comprehend the motivations and expectations of visitors to Mecca. Destination administrators should address the religious, social, cultural, and shopping incentives to promote traveler pleasure and loyalty. Religious and secular incentives and their positive relationships to intentions to visit should be recognized in order to attract travelers and to build destination loyalty and happiness. The city of Mecca’s officials promote these travelers’ multiple motivations by investigating their needs regularly and by planning services to meet the expectations of their desired spiritual experience. This study’s findings provide insight into what inspires pilgrims to visit Mecca’s holy destination, the Grand Mosque, and they may push the government to develop ways to ensure better traveler hosting. For example, travel firms and tourist organizations in Mecca could provide service packages that include trips to cultural and social places such as museums and cultural centers to improve the social and cultural aspects. Additionally, holy towns such as Mecca could construct shopping malls to improve travelers’ shopping impulses.

6. Conclusions

Religious tourism is one of the most ancient but rapidly expanding tourism types due to several socio-cultural changes over the last few decades, including globalization, transportation development, and mass tourism. It is described as travel linked to religious beliefs and spiritual development. Visits to churches, temples, museums, monasteries, shrines, and mosques are a part of religious excursions and these journeys allow guests to engage in rites and celebrations and to purchase religious mementos from sacred sites. Three motivational elements emerge from the findings: religious, social and cultural, and shopping motivations. The following identifies the segments.

The “Multiple Motives” group had high ratings in all the motivational variables. This group was dominated by men, who were generally married, between 21 and 30 years of age, who had a university education, and who worked as private and public employees. In addition, they had already visited Mecca twice, usually with their families. Furthermore, they stayed in the city for three or four days. Finally, this group’s typical monthly income was between USD 2000 and USD 2500, and they had an average daily expenditure of USD 60 to USD 90.

The second group was the “Passive visitors” who had low motivation levels. This segment was formed by more single females aged between 41 and 50 years of age. They were privately employed or unemployed and had a university or high school diploma. They mostly had traveled with family or friends and had visited Mecca only once, staying there for more than five days. This segment mostly had a monthly income of USD 2500; however, a percentage of the visitors had monthly incomes of less than USD 500. A percentage of the visitors in this segment spent more than USD 120 per day; however, one group of visitors spent less than USD 30 per day.

The next segment was named “Religious.” Again, their motivations were religion-related variables. This segment was composed predominantly of males, mostly married, between 21 and 40 years of age, with a high school or university diploma. They worked in the public and private sectors, or they were retired. They earned between USD 2000 and USD 2500 per month or more than USD 3000 per month. Most of them has visited Mecca at least four times and stayed there for more than five days. They spent between USD 30 to USD 120 a day on average per person and most of them disclosed traveling with their families. High levels of loyalty were identified in this segment, along with the “Multiple motives” segment.

This study contributes to the existing literature on religious tourism in different ways. First, in terms of the theoretical implications, the motives and segments associated with religious locations have been discovered in places with natural potential. This investigation also determined which parts of the population were the most satisfied and loyal to this type of location. Finally, the main contribution of this study to the academic literature is to have discovered the “Multiple motives” segment, which has not been identified by previous studies, as a segment with high motivations.

As for the practical implications, the study contributes as a guide for the managers of religious travels. With these inputs, it will be possible to assemble products according to the demand found and to work for the sustainability of religious destinations.

Nonetheless, there are some limitations to this study. The first limitation involves the study’s context (Bahrain), which limits the generalizability of the results to other nations for future research. Because of this it is regarded as a limitation of the current study. As a result, no claim can be made about the findings’ generalizability outside of these circumstances. Using a country other than Bahrain, on the other hand, broadens our understanding of Muslim tourism motivations in different contexts. Future research that replicates this study in different circumstances would be beneficial to our knowledge of the importance of motivational impact on the overall tourist satisfaction and loyalty. Further, this study is limited to the variables of motivations, segmentations of demand, satisfaction, and loyalty. There are other variables that can be studied to obtain a clear picture of the visitors to Mecca, such as demographic variables; thus, future studies could also investigate the moderating role of socio-demographic variables such as age and gender on the relationship between motivation, satisfaction, and loyalty for visiting Mecca. Because the data collection and event took place in the spring, future studies could look into the impact of seasonality. This study is limited to the Islamic City of Mecca. There are other Islamic sites such as Islamic shrines and mosques in Egypt, Syria, Iran and Iraq that can be studied and a comparison can be made between them. Finally, the fundamental weakness of this study was the temporality with which the sample was taken; therefore, it would be vital to complete a study that assesses the types of products that can be offered in religious locations in various destinations as a future line of inquiry.