This book presents research concerning the effects of the Camino to Finisterre on the daily lives of the populations who live along the route, and the heritagization processes that exploitation of the Camino for tourism purposes involves. Rather than focusing on the route to Santiago de Compostela and the pilgrimage itself, it instead examines a peculiar part of the route, the Camino to Finisterre, employing multiple perspectives that consider the processes of heritagization, the effects of the pilgrimage on local communities, and the motivations of the pilgrims. The book is based on a three-year research project and is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration between anthropologists, sociologists, historians and archaeologists. Instead of ending in Santiago, as the rest of the Caminos do, this route continues to the cape of Finisterre on the Galician Atlantic coast. This part of the Camino de Santiago is not officially recognized by the Catholic Church and does not count as part of reaching Compostela, the recognition granted by the Catholic Church to those pilgrims who have walked at least 100 km. For this reason, as well as its relationship with the sun cult, many pilgrims call this route “the Camino of the atheists.” In fact, the Catholic Church is a strong force for the heritagization of the rest of the Caminos, and maintains a clear ignoratio strategy concerning the Finisterre route: Officially, the church neither opposes nor recognizes this route.

This book delves into topics on pilgrimage travel and communities from a variety of perspectives through academic research based on the Middle East, Northeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Europe, where sacred sites have become of great importance for both international and domestic tourism. In particular, Europe and Asia possess a high volume of world-renowned pilgrimage sites that are currently being developed as tourism destinations in their respective countries, such as Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Lourdes (France), and Koyasan (Japan). This book includes studies on these two continents that harbor both a great history of pilgrimage tradition, as well as tourism development related to religious travel. The book importantly covers the role of the community in religious tourism, as well as the impact on the locals, which is comparatively an unexplored area. Whilst pilgrimage is seen as an effective tool to revitalize local economies, this book also reveals the different challenges to achieving this goal. Realizing the importance of the interrelationship of community and pilgrimage travel, as well as the lack of studies on it, this book seeks to address this research gap through 14 chapters divided into two parts, ‘Communities and Constestation’ and ‘Pilgrimage Shaping Communities’. To ensure diverse perspectives, case studies from different Eurasian countries, written by authors with expertise in the study of pilgrimage and religious travel, are included. Readers can expect to gain new perspectives by having a deeper comprehension of the ‘community side‘ of pilgrimage travel in Eurasia, and thus an integral understanding of contemporary pilgrimage

This book points out how pilgrimage studies rely on interdisciplinary academic interests, being always more determined by anthropological, social, cultural and economic factors. The volume gathers interdisciplinary contributions revealing different approaches and academic interests when researching pilgrimage. Finally, the proposal introduces a comparative international breath to reflect upon such complex phenomenon that since Antiquity still impregnates the history of human being across the world. As pilgrimage studies are closely related to mobility issues, how the contemporary mobile world is altering and re-signifying pilgrimage dynamics and meanings will also be discussed in detail. The term “pilgrimage” evokes key concepts deriving from different fields, all of them collected in the final glossary. The primary audience of this work are academics and researchers from different fields involved in pilgrimage studies. The work may also be useful in teaching (advanced) university courses.

The Camino de Santiago, the Route of Saint James, the Way--all describe a pilgrimage with multiple routes that pass through Spain and end at the Cathedral of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela. In the 21st century, this medieval tradition is seeing a revival with travelers, both spiritual and secular, who embrace it for different reasons. Offering insight into the personal journeys of contemporary pilgrims, this collection of new essays explores cultural expressions of the Camino from the perspective of literature, film and graphic novels, and looks beyond Spain and the "Caminoisation" of other historical routes.

For millennia people have travelled to religious sites for worship, initiatory and leisure purposes. Today there are hundreds, if not thousands, of religious pilgrimage routes and trails around the world that are used by pilgrims as well as tourists. Indeed, many religious pilgrimage routes and trails are today used as themes by tourism marketers in an effort to promote regional economic development. An important resource for those interested in religious tourism and pilgrimage, this book is also an invaluable collection for academics and policy-makers within heritage tourism and regional development.

Religious studies and research have gained a lot of interest and attention from researchers, policy makers, and practitioners over the last few years, but the socio-economic impacts have not been explored. Taking into account the profound economic impact the tourism and hospitality industries can have on regions and cities around the world, further research in this area is critical to analyze the extent of such impact and the ramifications that are associated with it. The Handbook of Research on Socio-Economic Impacts of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the social and economic factors in faith-based journeys. While highlighting topics such as tourist spending, spiritual tourism, and local development, this publication explores religious tourism in the middle age, as well as the methods of modern religious tourism. This book is ideally designed for business managers, cultural preservationists, academicians, business professionals, entrepreneurs, and upper-level students seeking current research on religious tourism and its socio-economic impacts.

Managing Religious Tourism provides a global view of the tools and resources used in demand and supply management, in the context of pilgrimage and religious tourism. With a focus on toolkits and best practices, the book reinforces the quality of service provision and offers a reflection on consumers' perspectives and what drives their purchasing decisions with regards to a variety of destinations. These central themes are complemented by an understanding of management responses to consumer behaviour and mobility, accessibility, individualism and tourism for both sacred and secular purposes. The book also examines the ways in which networks, partnerships and the conceptual stakeholder approach can be employed by religious tourism suppliers working with destination management organisations. The text promotes sustainable development and a triple bottom line focus, with all chapters supporting policy for framing development. Key features include: - Global perspective on tools as well as management approaches and techniques. - Emphasis on sustainability in connecting sacred and secular consumers. - Focus on promoting learning and development within this important tourism sector.

This book explores cathedrals, past and present, as spaces for religious but also wider cultural practices. Contributors from history, anthropology, sociology, and religious studies trace major continuities and shifts in the location of cathedrals within religious, civic, urban, and economic landscapes of pre- and post-Reformation Christianity. While much of the focus is on England, other European and global contexts are referenced as authors explore ways in which cathedrals have been, and remain, distinctive spaces of adjacent ritual, political and social activity, capable of taking on lives of their own as sites of worship, pilgrimage, and governance. A major theme of the book is that of replication, pointing to the ways in which cathedrals echo each other materially and ritually in processes of mutual borrowing and competition, while a cathedral can also provide a reference point for smaller constituencies of religious practice such as a diocese or parish. As this volume demonstrates, the contemporary resurgence of interest in pilgrimage, the impact of ‘Caminoisation’, and the (re)presentation of cathedrals as cultural heritage further add to the attractions, popularity, and complexities of cathedrals in the 21st century. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Religion.

This book features a collection of high-quality research papers presented at the International Conference on Tourism, Technology & Systems (ICOTTS 2020), held at the University of Cartagena, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from 29th to 31st October 2020. The book is divided into two volumes, and it covers the areas of technology in tourism and the tourist experience, generations and technology in tourism, digital marketing applied to tourism and travel, mobile technologies applied to sustainable tourism, information technologies in tourism, digital transformation of tourism business, e-tourism and tourism 2.0, big data and management for travel and tourism, geotagging and tourist mobility, smart destinations, robotics in tourism, and information systems and technologies.

Pilgrimage beyond the Officially Sacred: Understanding the Geographies of Religion and Spirituality in Sacred Travel examines the many ways in which pilgrimage engages with sacredness, delving beyond the officially recognized, and often religiously conceived, pilgrimage sites. As scholarship examining the lived experiences of pilgrims and tourists has demonstrated, pilgrimage need not be religious in nature, nor be officially sanctioned; rather, they can be 'hyper-meaningful' voyages, set apart from the everyday profane life—in a word, they are sacred. Separating the social category of 'religion' from the 'sacred,' this volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars employing perspectives from anthropology, geography, sociology, religious studies, theology, and interdisciplinary tourism studies to theorize sacredness, its variability, and the ways in which it is officially recognized or condemned by power brokers. Rich in case studies from sacred centers throughout the world, the contributions pay close attention to the ways in which pilgrims, central authorities, site managers, locals, and other stakeholders on the ground appropriate, negotiate, shape, contest, or circumvent the powerful forces of the sacred. Delving ‘beyond the officially sacred,’ this collective examination of pilgrimages—both well-established and new, religious and secular, authorized and not—presents a compelling look at the interplay of secular powers and the transcendent forces of the sacred at these hyper-meaningful sites. Providing a blueprint for how work in the anthropology and geography of religion, and the fields of pilgrimage and religious tourism, may move forward, Pilgrimage beyond the Officially Sacred will be of great interest to an interdisciplinary field of scholars. The chapters were originally published as a special issue in Tourism Geographies.