Authors: Ageliki Chadjiantoniou, Eleni Didaskalou

Title: Tourism, Religious Faith and Pilgrimage Travel. The case of St. John of Russian in the Prefecture of Evia

Abstract

Religion and spirituality are among the most common motivations for travel and many destinations have become popular as a result of their connections to religiously motivated travelers. Religious tourism can not only contribute to the enrichment of the tourist product of Greece, but also to local development. In this paper we examine the prospects for the development of religious tourism to the broader area where the monastery of St. John the Russian, in northern Evia, Greece, exists. Furthermore, the paper highlights the basic concepts concerning religious and pilgrimage tourism. The pilgrimage of St. John the Russian can be combined with other tourist resources, like nature and culture, and offer a specialized tourist product based on a network of activities. Information was gathered by conducting a survey to guests of the monastery and to tourist agencies of the area. As a result 111 guest questionnaires and 14 questionnaires to Tourist Offices that make excursions to the region of Evia and to monastery of Saint John the Russian were collected and 11 interviews were arranged and successfully accomplished to stakeholders of the area.  In addition the method of SWOT analysis was used as a tool in determining regional assets and region's relative positioning in “tourist map” of Evia’s prefecture.  The results indicates the opportunities for further development of religious tourism in the area. For achieving this local key stakeholders - such as community, local authorities, entrepreneurs and church, must work together.