Mount Athos: development policies for short-term religious tourism

Filareti Kotsi

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Abstract

The case of the Christian Orthodox Monastic Peninsula of Mount Athos is examined focusing on the impacts of short-term pilgrimage upon the local economy. Due to the interdiction of women entering Mount Athos, the local tourism market has been oriented towards two different target directions: day-trip cruises that take tourists on a three-hour cruise to the west side of the monastic peninsula and day-trip pilgrimages that allow pilgrims, mainly women, during a five-hour voyage to venerate the relics from various monasteries of Mount Athos. The study examines the evolution of these two key activities in the area surrounding Mount Athos and their contribution to local economic development. Research findings, based on longitudinal research, support the importance of religious tourism for local economic development and propose a number of specific policy measures that need to be introduced to improve sustainable economic development for the broader region.

ISSN

1759-0442

Publisher

Inderscience Publishers

Volume

2

First Page

149

Last Page

163

Disciplines

Tourism and Travel

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

no

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