Location
Monserrat
Start Date
25-6-2026 11:30 AM
End Date
25-6-2026 1:00 PM
Description
As a global phenomenon, involving the movement of hundreds of millions of people per year, religious tourism and pilgrimage has an immense impact on economies, environments and societies. This paper investigates the complex interplay of religious travel and sustainable development.
Mass pilgrimages to sacred sites can lead to localised environmental degradation, the commercialisation of cultural heritage, the erosion of spirituality, but it can also reinvigorate religious practice, generate income and lead to respect for the environment.
This paper explores holistic ways for managing religious destinations. Drawing on international case studies, the paper identifies key strategies to minimise and mitigate the footprint of mega-scale, seasonal, and intensive Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage events. Furthermore, it explores ways in which sacred values can be leveraged to foster pro-sustainability behaviour in both participants and site managers.
The findings emphasise the importance for stakeholder partnerships and collaboration in governance models that integrate the needs of religious leaders, local communities, destination managers and pilgrims / tourists. By balancing the environmental, economic and socio-cultural elements of religious tourism, sacred landscapes can be protected and enhanced for future generations.
The main output of this research is actionable reflections on the relationship between global religious tourism and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), within a perspective of sustainable tourism indicators, regenerative tourism and futures thinking.
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Included in
C2) Integrating Sustainability into Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage
Monserrat
As a global phenomenon, involving the movement of hundreds of millions of people per year, religious tourism and pilgrimage has an immense impact on economies, environments and societies. This paper investigates the complex interplay of religious travel and sustainable development.
Mass pilgrimages to sacred sites can lead to localised environmental degradation, the commercialisation of cultural heritage, the erosion of spirituality, but it can also reinvigorate religious practice, generate income and lead to respect for the environment.
This paper explores holistic ways for managing religious destinations. Drawing on international case studies, the paper identifies key strategies to minimise and mitigate the footprint of mega-scale, seasonal, and intensive Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage events. Furthermore, it explores ways in which sacred values can be leveraged to foster pro-sustainability behaviour in both participants and site managers.
The findings emphasise the importance for stakeholder partnerships and collaboration in governance models that integrate the needs of religious leaders, local communities, destination managers and pilgrims / tourists. By balancing the environmental, economic and socio-cultural elements of religious tourism, sacred landscapes can be protected and enhanced for future generations.
The main output of this research is actionable reflections on the relationship between global religious tourism and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), within a perspective of sustainable tourism indicators, regenerative tourism and futures thinking.