The spiritual journey of the Arbaeen pilgrimage, as one of the oldest religious rituals of the Shiites in Iraq, hosts a large number of pilgrims every year who make their way to the holy city of Karbala with difficulty. The development of the transportation network, the promotion of social media, and the desire to visit spiritual and holy places have led to the presence of a large number of tourists in Iraq, especially the emergence of new spiritual trends and visits to specific religious practices. So that the spread of the mass approach and the gathering of millions of Shiites around the world is a unique and unprecedented event in the Arbaeen pilgrimage. On the other hand, the widespread promotion of this religious event by various societies, especially Iran, is considered a strategic move. In this article, mass orientation in the spiritual journey of Arbaeen has been examined from both the internal approach of tourism management and the external macro and strategic perspective. On the one hand, the huge flood of tourists on foot poses many threats and brings harm. Because based on economic, environmental, sociological, spiritual and religious analyses in tourism, threats can be pointed out that will cause both tourists and the local community a lot of harm. On the other hand, a strategic view of Arbaeen as the presence of millions of Shiites from around the world in a holy place is also important and an opportunity to consider, so that perhaps no analysis has been made on it from a tourism perspective so far. Therefore, there is a need to align tourism management perspectives from an intra-cultural and strategic perspective from an external perspective. The integration of macro-management approaches in both the field of tourism and the macro-strategic view of the Arbaeen event is one of the measures that can turn all threats into opportunities.

Keywords: Arbaeen Walking, Spirituality, Holy Place, Religious Tourism

     

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