Yoga Tourism: A Study on its Benefits and Impact on Income

The research study aimed to establish a retreat in Cambodia in order to attract both external and internal Yoga practices as well as tourists, creating positive psychological wellbeing and health among these individuals. The study explores the benefits of yoga, factors that influence international yoga retreats and tourism, communication channels that can enhance yoga in the global markets, and recommendations for the yoga enterprise based in Kampot, Cambodia. The study also includes a literature review and hypothesis, research methodology, and results.

Objectives
The research study aimed to establish a retreat in Cambodia in order to attract both external and
internal Yoga practices as well as tourists, creating positive psychological wellbeing and health
among these individuals. Following this general purpose, the following objectives were
formulated:
i. To find out the major benefits that come from the yoga industry.
ii. To identify factors that influence international yoga retreats and tourism.
iii. To determine the communication channels which can enhance yoga in the global
markets.
iv. To provide recommendations for the yoga enterprise based in Kampot, Cambodia.
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESIS
According to (Belikova Zhanna A., 2010) Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual
practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools
of Hindu philosophical traditions. (Buffet, 1996).

Tourism has been explored as a way of publicizing yoga.
Yoga as a source of income.
In today’s economy talent, culture and shows have become a major source of income. Yoga
being an ancient tradition, has become a source of income in various ways. It is not easy for one
to support themselves economically from teaching Yoga classes alone. Creativity has to take
course and many ways devolved to diversify one’s Yoga income (Maddox, 2014).
Yoga teachers are entrepreneurs too. Yoga is a lifestyle so it could be turned to become a
business which earns income to the service provider (Casewell, 1990). For instance, for the
Delhi-based Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, the purchase of yoga articles and sports
items went up in the first year of yoga day celebration to over Rs 3 lakh in 2015-16 from under
Rs 2 lakh in 2014-15 (Owen, 2014).
Both domestic and foreign exchange income can be earned to the country where yoga is
practiced through domestic and international yoga tourism (Wörle, 2010). Based on this
literature we try to answer the research question on whether Yoga can be embraced as a source
of income or not. Thus, we can devolve the following hypothesis that shall guide us through our
research on trying to answer the research question.
H0: Yoga is not a source of income.
H1: Yoga is a source of income.
Yoga as a wellness tourism

Tourism is a practice whereby people travel various places all over the world to learn new
cultures, to view wildlife and to experience tranquility of new places. Wellness tourism shall
therefore be defined as the act of travelling to various places all over the world to experience the
yoga culture.
According to (Peris-Ortiz, 2015) the wellness tourism has become one of the newest and popular
tourist attraction in the world, so has yoga become. Yoga tourism involves travelling within and
outside one’s country with the motive of promoting general physical mental and physical
wellbeing through psychological, physical and spiritual activities (Mueller, 2001).
Yoga tourism provides tourists with relaxation and re-energization through the various services it
offers in terms of physical and psychological needs. Yoga tourism shall be expected to meet the
increasingly new demands of the yoga tourists. Thus, a palette of wellness services such as
occupational therapy and yoga shall thrive in this sector in order to satisfy the ever-rising needs
of the tourists (Medina-Muñoz, 2013).
From this literature, a research question on whether Yoga shall meet the needs of wellness
tourists can be answered through the formulation of the hypothesis below;
H0: Yoga does not attract wellness tourists.
H1: Yoga attracts wellness tourists.
International retreats
International retreats will provide a platform for showcasing products and services offered by
one. International retreats provide the ability to do in-depth research and showcasing of products

and services offered (Westlake, 1989). Interaction with other service providers and yoga tourists
diversifies one’s knowledge on yoga.
Awareness shall be created among existing and potential customers on the yoga products and
services through international retreats (Salah Wahab, 5).
For purposes of our research we shall try answer the research question on whether international
yoga retreats boost global yoga business.
To establish the impact of international retreats in enhancing global yoga business, we shall be
guided by the hypothesis;
H0: International retreats does not boost global yoga business.
H1: International retreats boost yoga global business.
Significance of social tourism
According to the International Social Tourism Organization (ISTO) social tourism refers to the
connections and phenomena related to the participation of tourists. All platforms for creating
tourist awareness be it advertisements via social media and/or websites and showcasing of
services and products offered through these platforms form the social tourism sector.
Public awareness through advertisements, forums and both domestic and international fairs are
an important aspect of tourism (Lynn Minnaert, 2009). Yoga industry can invest a part of their
budgets to create an advocacy movement for yoga tourism. The advertisement and awareness
platforms could be social media, websites, mails and mobile applications. The following
hypothesis can be formulated to help us answer the question of whether media has an influence
on yoga tourism or not.

H0: Media does not significantly impact on yoga tourism.
H1: Media significantly impacts on yoga tourism.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study aimed to address the established objectives. Information was gathered from
respondents concerning yoga. Questionnaires used for data collection. The data that was
collected was primary data. It was collected from yoga teachers, students and yoga studio
operators.
Descriptive research with a cross sectional approach was used to describe the phenomena of
interest. Data was inputted into the statistical software for social statistics (SPSS) for purposes
of analysis.
After thorough analysis, an effective marketing strategy was recommended to attract yoga
customers to Kampot, Cambodia.
Sample and sampling process
Responses were collected from 99 yoga teachers through administration of questionnaires.
Data collection
Data collection was accomplished through the completion of questionnaires by the yoga
teachers. The questionnaires administered contained both open ended and closed ended
questions.
Data analysis

The statistical tool used for data analysis, which were collected form yoga teachers through the
questionnaires, was IBM SPSS version 23. All collected data was coded and analyzed from the
SPSS software. ANOVA, correlation and factor analysis were the statistical methods used to
identify and validate the relationships between factors and to determine the strength and
direction of relationships and associations among different variables.
RESULTS
This section provides findings of the study as analyzed in the SPSS software.
Description of the respondents.
Responses from 99 yoga teachers was sought. The responses were recorded by the participants in
questionnaires which contained both open ended and closed ended questions.
Of the 99, 6 were male representing 6.1%, 67 were female representing 67.7% while 23
representing 26.3% did not respond on their gender.
Gender:
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Male 6 6.1 8.2 8.2
Female 67 67.7 91.8 100.0
Total 73 73.7 100.0
Missing System 26 26.3
Total 99 100.0

Which of the following best describes you: - Other - Text
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid 96 97.0 97.0 97.0
I am a teacher, student &
enthusiast but don't teach 1 1.0 1.0 98.0
I was a YT and SO but now
am an academic who
conducts research on the
global wellness tourism
industry
1 1.0 1.0 99.0
Qualified teacher not
currentlly teaching 1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Total 99 100.0 100.0
Of the 99 respondents, 96 representing 97% responded to be yoga teachers, 1 a yoga student, one
conducts research on global wellness tourism industry and 1 responded to be a qualified teacher
but currently not teaching.
The age distribution of the respondents is as shown below.
Please specify your age group:
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid 18-24 4 4.0 5.5 5.5
25-34 12 12.1 16.4 21.9
35-50 31 31.3 42.5 64.4
Above 50 26 26.3 35.6 100.0
Total 73 73.7 100.0
Missing System 26 26.3
Total 99 100.0

Relationship between yoga and income.
The main benefit that one can obtain from a yoga enterprise is the generation of income from the
venture. Despite all of its traditions and connections to spirituality, yoga is a very physical
activity that can produce fantastic results. Prolonged and consistent practice of yoga has proven
to increase muscle mass and flexibility. Similar to anything else that can generate income, a very
large and lucrative industry has sprung up to feed the demand for yoga related products and
services. Thus the industry has generated income for many families and companies across the
world offering the yoga products and services.
The relationship between income and yoga business was assessed by seeking responses from the
respondents on how important yoga was important to them in growing their income and the
following table shall provide the responses.
How important is growing your income from yoga business?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Not at all important 7 7.1 11.1 11.1
Slightly important 8 8.1 12.7 23.8
Moderately important 20 20.2 31.7 55.6
Very important 19 19.2 30.2 85.7
Extremely important 9 9.1 14.3 100.0
Total 63 63.6 100.0
Missing System 36 36.4
Total 99 100.0
The study used a 5-point scale with 1 showing not at all important and 5 showing extremely
important.

20 of the respondents, representing 20.2% and who formed the majority responded that yoga was
moderately important in growing their yoga business, 19 representing 19.2% said that it was very
important, 9 representing 9.1% said that it was extremely important, 8 representing 8.1 % said
that it was slightly important and 7 representing 7.1% who formed the least number said that it
was not important at all. However, not all the participants sampled into the study responded to
this question. Only 63 representing 63.66% responded.
Relationship between yoga tourism and income.
One-way ANOVA was performed on the frequency of domestic yoga retreats and international
yoga retreats to assess their impact on income. The p-values for domestic yoga retreats and
international yoga retreats are 0.487 and 0.548 respectively implying that we reject the null
hypothesis that there is no significant impact of tourism on income.
ANOVA
Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
How many domestic yoga
retreats you have run in the
past?
Between Groups 13.963 4 3.491 .871 .487
Within Groups 228.424 57 4.007
Total 242.387 61
How many international
yoga retreats you have run
in the past?
Between Groups 3.517 4 .879 .772 .548
Within Groups 64.950 57 1.139
Total 68.468 61
Influence of type of service offered on yoga tourism
The study sought to understand different types of products and services that attract and influence
international retreat operators as well as tourists in the current times. For example, the study
asked about what students liked about the products and services offered. The findings showed

that on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represents strongly not prefer and 5 showing strongly prefer
different products. The analysis findings showed that respondents preferred three types of
products. They preferred twin share (dual occupancy) (M=3.00 , SD=1.01 ¿, single occupancy
rooms (M =3.67 , SD=1.04 ¿, and air-conditioning ( M =3.29 , SD=1.18 ¿. however, a majority of
respondents showed that they did not prefer using three types of services. For example, they did
not like dorms (M =1.78 , SD =.987 ¿, provision of alcohol (M=1.68 , SD=.95 ¿, and Gym (
M =1.70 , SD=.97 ¿.
Relationship between product promotion and yoga tourism.
We assessed the correlation between media and international yoga tourism and the following
table presents the findings.
Correlations
Social
media
(including
Facebook,
Instagram,
Twitter)
Websit
e
Direct
mail
E-marketing
newsletter
Telemarketi
ng
Mobile
application
How many
international
yoga
retreats you
have run in
the past?
Social media
(including Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter)
Pearson
Correlation 1 .350* .094 .337* .183 .167 .045
Sig. (2-tailed) .017 .530 .022 .219 .262 .765
N 47 46 47 46 47 47 47
Website Pearson
Correlation .350* 1 .310* .503** .095 .446** -.015
Sig. (2-tailed) .017 .036 .000 .529 .002 .919
N 46 46 46 45 46 46 46
Direct mail Pearson
Correlation .094 .310* 1 .200 .131 .091 -.020
Sig. (2-tailed) .530 .036 .183 .381 .545 .894
N 47 46 47 46 47 47 47

E-marketing
newsletter
Pearson
Correlation .337* .503** .200 1 .203 .483** .101
Sig. (2-tailed) .022 .000 .183 .176 .001 .502
N 46 45 46 46 46 46 46
Telemarketing Pearson
Correlation .183 .095 .131 .203 1 .138 -.121
Sig. (2-tailed) .219 .529 .381 .176 .355 .417
N 47 46 47 46 47 47 47
Mobile application Pearson
Correlation .167 .446** .091 .483** .138 1 -.282
Sig. (2-tailed) .262 .002 .545 .001 .355 .055
N 47 46 47 46 47 47 47
How many
international yoga
retreats you have run
in the past?
Pearson
Correlation .045 -.015 -.020 .101 -.121 -.282 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .765 .919 .894 .502 .417 .055
N 47 46 47 46 47 47 62
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The Pearson correlation coefficients for individual media types and international yoga tourism all
differ from each other indicating a difference influence of each of the media types on
international tourism.
The correlation coefficient between social media (Facebook, Instagram, twitter),website, direct
mail, e-marketing newsletter, telemarketing, mobile applications and international yoga tourism
had a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.045, -0.15, -0.20, 0.101, -0.121 and -0.282
respectively.
Social media and e-marketing newsletter were the two media platforms that were found to
impact positively on international yoga tourism.

Conclusion
Yoga business enterprises are ever rising and expanding creating competition among enterprises
offering similar products and/or services. Companies and ventures should therefore be specific in
the products they offer and how they approach their current and potential client segments.
Recommendations
There is need for the Yoga enterprise in Kampot, Cambodia to create a strong pull mechanism.
Push and pull mechanisms are known in the motivation touristic activities. Push mechanisms are
the internal factors that motivate thriving of the enterprise and the pull mechanisms are usually
the external incentives that lead to touristic activities. Currently, yoga tourists are driven by a
strong push of the desire to explore one’s spirituality and to seek transcendental meaning and
peace in life. However, making use of pull mechanisms such as yoga promotion in international
fairs and retreats will increase tourist activity.
There is need to capitalize on the paradigm of social tourism. A good amount is spent on product
promotion and advertisement in almost all business ventures. The Yoga Enterprise venture at
Kamput Cambodia can capitalize on this very aspect. However, there is need to make use of
various social media platforms for advertisement. This will expand the client base of the yoga
enterprise in Kampot both nationally and internationally.

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