RELIGIOUSNESS AND RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN SLOVAKIA CASE STUDY

Religious tourism represents an important segment of cultural tourism going through a renaissance in the recent period. Pilgrim tourism is currently being determined by new trends, such as increasing variety of religious events, pilgrimage places and sacred sites enjoying more popularity also from the part of the tourists for whom the spiritual dimension is of lesser or no importance, the aim of today's pilgrims being no longer only a visit of a religious landmark or event but also other 'secular' attractions and sites, pilgrimage journeys becoming more popular, etc. Such trends are also finding their way to Slovakia - a country perceived as strongly Christian from abroad as well as by its own population. A comprehensive view on the status of using Slovakia's great potential for religious tourism is absent; a systematic research of religious tourism on the national level is unsatisfactory. The aim of this case study is to make up a typology of religious landmarks and attractions related to the specifics and historical development of the Slovak territory.