Given that tourism and the travel industry are one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic, the interest for the next day is focused on forms of tourism that could prove to be sustainable. One of them is religious and pilgrimage tourism, as reported by those involved in this field, could be used even more in our country……..
According to what the Associate Professor at the Theology Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Christos Tsironis, told the Athenian / Macedonian News Agency, The examples of history to date have shown that pilgrimage does not stop despite the adverse economic, social and political conditions that may prevail from time to time in the various destinations.
"There is a strong emotional bond between the visitor and the space", points out". In support of this, the research team of Mr.. Tsironis found that people who travel as pilgrims to a destination want to continue to do so, as emerged from a recent AUTh research, which took place during a pandemic and is expected to be published soon.
In Northern Greece, Mount Athos, which attracts thousands of pilgrims every year, as in the rest of Greece Meteora, Tinos, Patmos are -among other things- centers of orthodox faith and worship of universal dimensions and therefore, according to Mr. Tsironi, Greece is a privileged destination for religious tourism.
The data so far
To date, there is no exact data for pilgrimage tours, as well as no specific statistics are kept for the detailed monitoring of the so-called special-alternative forms of tourism, which includes the so-called "religious tourism", as Christos Petreas notes while speaking to APE-MPE, Tourism and Regional Development experts, member of the Steering Committee of the Synodal Office of Pilgrimage Tours of the Church of Greece and special adviser to the Minister of Tourism.
As Mr.. Petreas, according to a survey conducted a few years ago by Greek travel agencies, under the auspices of the Synodal Office on travel and excursions of religious interest, some useful conclusions were drawn: the areas for excursions selected by the Tourist Offices – so they are requested by visitors – at a rate greater than 80% are Athens and Thessaloniki, which are at the same time well-known tourist destinations, but they also combine religious monuments and interests. Besides, there are important pilgrimages in both cities, indicatively Agios Dimitrios in Thessaloniki and Agios Ephraim in Nea Makri, Attica.
On the other, the demand for Meteora, Corfu, Tinos and Rhodes were around 70%. The first three areas due to their religious significance, the latter mainly due to general tourist recognition.
End, at a rate of about 60% was the demand for famous pilgrimages such as Zakynthos and Patmos but also for Halkidiki, which combines tourism with religious monuments.
instead, areas such as the islands of the North Aegean, for example Lesvos with Saint Raphael, Boeotia with Saint Luke, in the Cyclades, Paros with Ekatontapyliani, and others, are not selected with the same frequency, while receiving many pilgrims, because they have not yet been fully promoted in the tourist markets.
Religious tourism can give a boost to tourism development;
Religious tourism should be combined with other models of tourism and in conjunction with a plan of measures to ensure health, to create a potentially new product, in the form of a proposal, as reported by Mr.. Tsironis. The same time, in Northern Greece, both in the Region of Central Macedonia and in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Religious tourism is one of the priorities in preparing for the next day.
The Region of Central Macedonia is one step ahead of the certification of the very important religious, cultural, pilgrimage and tourist route: The "Steps of the Apostle Paul" (In the footsteps of St Paul the Apostle of the nations). Maybe the pandemic, to delay proceedings, as stated by the Head of Tourism of PKM Alexandros Thanos, however, a partnership has been established with the Paphos Region in Cyprus and the Lazio Region in Italy, all three countries present a common tourism product, in collaboration with the European Cultural Tourism Network in Belgium. The same time, The creation of a museum dedicated to the Steps of the Apostle Paul is in the plans.
Having as a starting point the Baptistery of Agia Lydia of Philippi in Kavala, of the first woman in Europe to be baptized a Christian by the Apostle Paul, the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace dynamically integrates the route "the Steps of the Apostle Paul" in the narrative of religious and cultural tourism that it develops, as underlined by the Deputy Regional Minister of Tourism of PAM-TH Thanasis Tsonis.
"Our Region has monasteries and other places of religious and cultural interest, which we seek to highlight even more, in the context of the wider weight we give to other thematic forms of tourism in order to win the bet of the post-covid era ", notes Mr.. Tsonis, stressing that as soon as conditions allow, a large conference on religious tourism postponed due to the pandemic will be held.
"In the next period - with the limitations of the coronavirus, I think we can categorize tourism of religious interests in Greece, from a tourism point of view and analysis – without referring to the pilgrimage data, in the following activities: in cultural promotion, the historical highlight and the natural landscape ", emphasizes Mr.. Petreas explaining: "More than 2/3 of UNESCO World Heritage Sites also have religious significance. They can be combined with special actions to highlight the arts, of architecture, of hagiography, of painting and iconography in general, of silversmithing, of garment processing, etc ».
"On the other hand", adds Mr.. Petreas, "On the occasion of their celebrations 200 years since the Greek Revolution let us not forget that in many parts of the country there are monuments and events that combine religious activities and clergy and are intertwined with the evolution of the Revolution while at the same time, the visit to remote holy monasteries, holy temples, chapels and other religious monuments, can be combined with rural tourism activities, which is not mass tourism, and are offered as activities now that we have the coronavirus restrictions ".