Feasibility of developing religious tourism at st Adolf Catholic Church Katoosa in Kyenjojo District

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study was carried out to assess the feasibility of developing religious tourism at St Adolf Catholic Church Katoosa, Kyenjojo district. The study was guided by the following objectives; (i) assess the resources at and around St Adolf Church for development of religious tourism, (ii) examine the perception of worshipers and the clergy about the feasibility of promoting religious tourism at St Adolf church and (iii) evaluate the challenges that are likely to be faced if religious tourism is to be developed at the church. A sample size of 40 respondents was obtained and were selected by use of both simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Personal observation was also used as a basis to capture information that would not covered by two methods and data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. The results revealed that tourism resources at St Adolf Catholic that can be used for tourism development include those attractions that are diverse, unique and internationally significant religious attractions, and included cone-shaped rocks which bear inscriptions of the 24 martyrs, architecture of the huge Katosha church, the plantation farms and few planted forests and community cultural tours. Results further reveled that development at the church would result into stimulating church revenues, lead to the development of more infrastructure such as hotels and as well as emolument opportunities however, there were concerns of commercialization of religion faith. Also the study revealed that the potential for developing religions tourism are likely to be hampered by the challenges such as limited capital by lack of sensitization about religious tourism and limited space to accommodate all the pilgrims and finally the study recommended that more land should be got from the surrounding areas for further expansion of the shrine in order to allow mire room for expansion and that sensitization of the people in the area so as to enlighten them about the values / benefits of religious tourism should be done