RELIGIOUS TOURISM

Religious tourism, unlike all other segments of the tourism market, is evidently one of those with faith as its fundamental motivation. Today, the holy cities that have historically been the object of a pilgrimage such as Jerusalem, Mecca or Rome continue to be important points of reference in the sector. The religious tourism sector is firmly established in Europe, where it is estimated that more than fifteen million people carry out some type of religious tourism and Latin America, which is why several tourist agencies have specialized in this sector. The type of trips in this sector usually corresponds to short stays of three or four days, generally coinciding with weekends or bridges. There are several positions regarding what is included in this type of tourism, but in general it can be considered to cover both the visit to shrines or sacred places and pilgrimages, in addition, visits to tombs of saints, attendance and participation in religious celebrations. A little more discussed are the canonizations, visits to religious leaders, eucharistic congresses, holy years, etc.