Searching for soul

Life & Leisure Sophisticated Traveller Magazine

Travel companies claim to have created a new niche market segment – responding to a new and growing travel demographic that wants ‘authentic’ personal experiences. These tourists want to interact with local people, participate in activities and not just be observers. Many are seeking a spiritual dimension to their travel. This trend is set out in the Australian Financial Times Sophisticated Traveler supplement (Issue 21 Winter 2009), where it was surprising to read that the “faith based” travel industry is said to be worth a very large US18 billion a year. Faith based travel encompasses destinations like Lourdes, Assisi, convents, monasteries, Buddhist temples in Asia and isolated luxury destinations like the 360 degree Leti in the middle of the Himalayas. This group includes, besides traditional pilgrims, tourists who are experienced travelers with the inclusion of some back packers.

Is this an emerging ripple, signally the early beginnings of a movement in developed countries, amongst the relatively well off, to seek a deeper connection with spirit? Are they searching for an experience of depth in their lives they don’t get in their day to day lives? Could there be a yearning for something deeper that transcends and at the same time includes material wants and desires? Even if it is only an extension of consumer mentality of consuming experience without any sustained transformation at a behavioral and soul level, it may be the beginning of a trend of dissatisfaction with the economic system in developed countries. Joseph Schumpeter, a Harvard Economics professor born in Austria, forecast in his writings in the early 20th century such a movement within the educated classes that will have leisure time on their hands. They would be the catalysts for a movement to change capitalism.