STRATEGIC POSITIONING OF RELIGIOUS TOURISM DESTINATIONS: A RESOURCE-BASED VIEW OF NAJAF AND KARBALA

Abstract

Najaf and Karbala have some of the biggest religious gatherings in the world, and almost no published work questions how the two cities build and defend a position against one another. This review asks whether the RBV explains that position and what it leaves out. It is a narrative, critical review of the RBV literature, destination-positioning literature, religious-tourism literature and the two cities, which adapts the RBV to a destination whose principal assets are held collectively, screens the cities' main resources against the VRIN test and produces five propositions. The screen indicates that the shrines, Wadi al-Salam cemetery and Arba'in hospitality system are all candidates for sustained advantage, while accommodation, transport and crowd management are the binding constraint, which is why the position depends less on the imitation threat than on the ability to deploy and defend the core assets. The review also argues that reported visitor and revenue figures are built on different definitions and frequently on undisclosed sources, so the resource base cannot be valued with confidence. It favor’s resource-led positioning in which the two cities are treated as two sides of the same pilgrimage circuit, and it lays out a research agenda. The ratings are a judgement on published material; none is an empirical test.