Religion as a motivation to travel: The case of Tinos island in Greece

Abstract

Religious motivated tourism is probably as old as religion itself and as a consequence it is perceived by some scholars as being the oldest form of tourism (Eliade, 1969; Kendall, 1970; Smith, 1992; Fleischer, 2000). Though it has been studied from a variety of perspectives, most studies are based upon a Western Eurocentric construction of the term pilgrim. The aim of this study is, to explore the effect of the Greek Orthodox belief system on people’s selection and motivation to travel to the sacred island of Tinos based on qualitative methods. Special issue addressed in this paper is the importance of places where a vow/wish is considered.