Revista Tur smo & Desenvolvimento | n. o 27/28 | 2017 | [ 129 - 132 ] e-ISSN 2182-1453 A study on religious tourists’ motivations: The case of the Muharram event (Yazd, Iran) REZA BAHADORI * [rezairooni1361@yahoo.com] NEDA TORABI FARSANI ** [neda.to@gmail.com] RASOOL SADEGHI *** [r.sadeghi.2005@gmail.com] ZAHED SHAFIEI **** [zahed58@gmail.com] MOHAMMAD MORTAZAVI ***** [m.mortazavy@aui.ac.ir] Keywords | Motivation, religious tourism, Yazd, Iran, Muharram event Objectives | According to Rinschede (1992), religious tourism is a form of tourism that is exclusively or strongly motivated for religious reasons. It can be said that religious tourism is one of the oldest types of tourism and a worldwide phenomenon of religious history. Robinson and Novelli (2005) studied religious tourism under cultural tourism. Since the majority of Iranians associate themselves with the Shi’a branch of Islam, Iran can be a destination for religious tourism with an emphasis on Islam. Among the religious cities in Iran, Yazd, which is called the house of worship (Darolebadeh), not only includes historical religious sites but also organizes religious workshops and festivals. One of the most important religious festivals in Yazd is The Day of Ashura. It is commemorated by Shi’a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on Muharram 10th in the year 61 AH. Nakhl Gardani (carrying the large symbolic wooden coffin in the shape of a cypress) is another mourning custom on Ashura. This one is uniquely held in central Iran, particularly in Yazd. The major objective of this study is to investigate motivations of religious tourists in Yazd city. Data was gathered through a questionnaire applied during The Day of Ashura (in 2015). Methodology | The aim of this study is to measure motivation of religious tourists. The research was conducted in Yazd city (Iran) during The Day of Ashura (in 2015). In order to achieve this goal a hypothesis was developed: International tourists are interested in religious tourism activities in Yazd city. A quantitative method was used and data was gathered through a questionnaire (closed-ended questi- ons). The first phase of research consisted of an extensive literature review on religious tourism. In the * Master student in Tourism at the Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan (Iran). ** PhD in Tourism from the University of Aveiro (Portugal). Assistant Professor at the Department of Museum and Tourism of the Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan (Iran). *** Department of Electrical Engineering, Dolatabad Branch, of the Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Iran). **** PhD in Urban Planning from the Newcastle University (UK). Assistant Professor at the Department of Museum and Tourism of the Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan (Iran). ***** PhD in Conservation and Restoration of Historic and Artistic Works from the Art University of Isfahan (Iran). Assistant Professor at the Department of Museum and Tourism of the Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan (Iran).