Towards a sustainability-oriented religious tourism

Religious tourism and pilgrimages increasingly contribute to developing the social and economic growth of local economies and communities over time. The aim of the present study is to analyse the role of religious touristic routes as sites of pilgrimages and an opportunity to drive a pathway for sustainable tourism development. The study relies on analysing qualitative and quantitative data, through a questionnaire distributed in late 2018; the questionnaire relates to pilgrimages concerning the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and Via Francigena as religious touristic destinations that contribute to the social and economic sustainability of local economies. Indeed, these pilgrimages strengthen the importance of building collaborative processes by enabling religious touristic destinations to open up to better managing and by driving sustainability-oriented policies, thus enhancing social and economic growth within local communities.