In the foot-steps of Mary MacKillop : the emergence of Australian spiritual tourism marketing

This conceptual paper suggests that now Australia can market itself as the land of Spiritual Tourism along with the famous four S's of tourism. The recent canonisation of the first Australian Saint, Sister Mary MacKillop, now known as Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, has led to the recognition of spiritual tourism in Australia. Thousands of Australians travelled to the Vatican to witness the canonisation ceremony, while many more moved within Australia to join religious gatherings arranged simultaneously in different cities. Tourism marketers need to market the places and events associated with Mary MacKillop as ‘spiritual’ rather than 'religious'. Seven elements of tourism marketing mix are applied as tools for marketing spiritual tourism in Australia based on the achievements of Mary MacKillop. An empirical study conducted with the tourists visiting places associated with Mary MacKillop is suggested as a future study.