Pilgrimage tourism has grown in popularity and attention in India as a result of its important deliverables, which include employment, national integration, and foreign exchange revenues. The government's interest in enhancing national infrastructure is obvious; yet the environmental impact of pilgrimage tourism has not been expressly examined. This prompted the need for environmentally friendly development to protect the nature as well as man-made resources such as sacred temples and shrines. The study investigated the concerns and limitations of pilgrimage tourism and provided substantial solutions to achieve long-term goals. In order to obtain qualitative data, the study's method of inquiry incorporated an inductive design via a case analysis. Previous studies found a huge vacuum in that they largely focused on the importance of sustainable development in tourism but did not focus on the other side of pilgrimage tourism, which this study has greatly filled.
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Motivation to tourist is a reflection of their mind, body and soul needs, referred to as a push factor. Conversely, a pull factor influences tourists’ enjoyment of attraction in a specific tourism destination (Han & Hyun, 2018). Motivation is a complex construct that controls customers’ attitudes, beliefs, and emotions, and it is essential to re-examine visitors’ travel motivation to improve the marketing of tourist attractions driven by religion.
Pilgrimage gives an immense view of tourism that helps to enhance rational, emotional and spiritual knowledge integration and transformation.
Pilgrimages contribute to favourable emotions and recognising spiritual values in the experience, thus enabling pilgrims to deal with emotional and spiritual knowledge as a transformative, iterative and interactive process that helps to enrich the whole experience, subsequently leading to new knowledge generation. Worship-oriented attendees contribute to tourism sustainability. In particular, sustaining the authentic experience of pilgrims helps to support managerial development in terms of effective experiential relationships (Lee et al., 2020). Religious tourism aids in enhancing the slow land framework, thus giving rise to sustainable hospitality organisational patterns that support community involvement and cultural managerial policies in alignment with travellers' expectations (Gazzola et al., 2018). Moreover, new technologies and social network platforms as the pillars of the digital era of communication help to both enhance travel experience co-creation and rediscover a slow view for addressing sustainable religious tourism development, subsequently enabling tourism agencies to identify a new tourist destination (Lemmi, 2020). ICTs aid in reshaping the tourism experience, as they have a strong influence on how the religious sites, customs and traditions are perceived. ICTs also enable travel agencies and organisations managing religious sites to listen to tourists' voices and opinions (De Ascaniis & Cantoni, 2016). In particular, the motivation driving the visit influences the perception of ICTs and religious and spiritual experiences need to be kept personal (De Ascaniis et al., 2018). With regard to Via Francigena, multimedia tools and new technological platforms help to promote the pilgrimage experience in an original way by enhancing the destination brand image and local tourism systems.
Sustainable-oriented pilgrimage tourism is an emerging concept that combines the spiritual and cultural aspects of traditional pilgrimage with sustainable practices and principles. It focuses on creating a positive impact on the environment, local communities, and the overall well-being of pilgrims. To rethink sustainable-oriented pilgrimage tourism, several key considerations can be taken into account: Education and Awareness: Promoting education and awareness about sustainable practices among pilgrims, tour operators, and local communities is crucial. This can involve sharing information about responsible tourism, ecological conservation, and cultural preservation, highlighting the importance of sustainable actions.
Destination Selection: Careful selection of pilgrimage destinations is essential. Consideration should be given to the ecological sensitivity of the area, its capacity to handle tourism influx, and the readiness of local communities to embrace sustainable practices. Prioritizing destinations that have implemented sustainable measures or are open to collaborating on such initiatives can help create a positive impact.
Infrastructure and Resource Management: Developing sustainable infrastructure and resource management systems is vital. This includes efficient waste management, water conservation, renewable energy usage, and minimizing the ecological footprint of accommodation facilities and transportation services. Implementing green building practices and encouraging responsible consumption are also important.