From Shoreline to Shrine: Restructuring Digha’s Destination Brand Identity Through Spiritual Tourism

Abstract

The current research case examines how the new ₹ 2,500-million Jagannath Temple in Digha (West Bengal) is changing the branding identity of the destination to a spiritual tourism destination, and how this transition has influenced how tourists perceive, construct stories and form emotional– symbolic attachments to the destination. It answers three questions: the extent to which the temple has contributed to visitors’ perceptions of Digha as a spiritual destination; the specific symbolic and emotional connections visitors have developed during their temple visit; and the resultant socio-economic and community developments after its opening. Theoretically, the research combines destination brand love, self-congruity theory, place attachment theory, destination identity, social identity theory, brand community theory, experiential marketing and symbolic interactionism to understand identity congruence, ritual-based bonding, communal pilgrimage experiences and the reformation of Digha’s semiotic landscape. It is methodologically a mixed qualitative research design comprising phenomenological interviews with domestic tourists, participant observation, semi-structured interviews with hospitality providers and hospitality government officials, analysis of documents and focus groups with repeat tourists and residents, which is backed by phenomenological thematic-based analysis, discourse analysis, visual ethnography and NVivo-based sentimental analysis. The results show that spiritual and tourist participation intensifies, the duration of stay is longer, and entrepreneurship and arrivals are higher during festivals, as well as pressures on local trade and the necessity of more comprehensive and inclusive planning. The research contributes to theoretical knowledge by developing temple-induced place attachment and provides practical insights into the balance between spiritual tourism growth and the involvement of multiple generations in the community, as well as sustainable religious heritage-based destination branding.