Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on religious and green tourism

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused quite painful damage to the entire world tourism industry, including religious tourism. Under its influence, the country banned religious travel, including pilgrimage, because many infections occurred. Holy places and pilgrimage routes have been closed around the world. What will be next? Is there a radical transformation of the religious life of humankind, including religious tourism? What measures are being taken by international tourism organizations to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on religious tourism, and how do they see its future? What should be the journey of the future to prevent such global transmission of viruses as happened during this pandemic? This article is dedicated to finding answers to these and other questions that are no less difficult. The authors of the article set themselves essentials to identify and present the critical points that are already relevant for religious tourism and those just beginning to appear and will be important in the post-pandemic era. The study is based on an analysis of recent studies of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religious tourism and travel greening. The conclusions and recommendations are given at the end of the paper. The authors concluded that religious tourism and pilgrimage would recover quickly; however, the post-pandemic tourists will attend to epidemiological safety, so the demand for ecotours and tours with high environmental friendliness will only increase. Religious tourism will also change, involving digital and other technologies.\xa0 \n \nKeywords: pilgrimage, COVID-19 pandemic, religious studies, religious tourism. \n\xa0 \n \nReferences \n \n\xa0 \n \nBorisova, O.V. (2020). Religious tourism: relevance for post-pandemic Ukraine. Ukrainian Religious Knowledge, 92, 139-165 (in Ukrainian). \n \nBorisova, O.V. (2020a). Specialized tourism. Kyiv: Condor Publishing House (in Ukrainian). \n \nBorysova, O., Huzik, T. & Fylypovych, L. (2020). Ukraine as a Religious Destination. Occasional papers on religion in Eastern Europe. Nov., XL, 9, 75–97. \n \nBorysova, ?.V., Shvedun, V.O. & Sysoieva S.I. (2021). Ecological tourism: pandemic lessons for Ukraine. Ukrainian Journal of Ecology, 11(1),191–195, DOI: 10.15421/2021_30. \n \nByelyayeva, S.S., Kurakin, O.B. & Bishovec, L.G. (2020). Organizacijno-ekonomichni aspekti yakosti poslug goteliv i zakladiv rozmishennya pid chas pandemiyi na COVID-19. Zbirnik naukovih prac ChDTU. Seriya Ekonomichni nauki, 57, 54–63. (in Ukrainian). \n \nConcept Note: Covid-19 and Restructuring the Tourism Sector (2020). United Nations. Available from: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/policy_brief_covid-19_and_transforming_tourism_russian.pdf \xa0 \n \nDein, S., Loewenthal, K., Lewis, C.A. & Pargament, K.I. (2020). COVID-19, Mental Health and Religion: An Agenda for Future Research, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 23 (1), 1–9. \n \nFurdak, M.M. (2020). Shlyahi rozvitku turistichnoyi galuzi Ukrayini v umovah viklikiv 2020. Priazovskij ekonomichnij visnik, 3 (20), 134–142. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32840/2522-4263/2020-3-24 (in Ukrainian). \n \nGossling, S., Scott, D. & Hall, C.M. (2021). Pandemics, tourism and global change: a rapid assessment of COVID-19. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(1),1–20. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1758708. \n \nLipchuk, N.V. & Lipchuk, V.V. Trendi v turizmi: korekciya pandemiyi. Svitove gospodarstvo i mizhnarodni ekonomichni vidnosini. Naukovij poglyad: ekonomika ta upravlinnya, 2(68), 33–37. DOI: https://www.unwto.org/covid-19-oneplanet-responsible-recovery (in Ukrainian). \n \nMihajlichenko, G. & Klimova, A. (2020). Svitovij turistichnij rinok: transformaciyi pislya pandemiyi. Zovnishnya torgivlya, ekonomika, finansi, pravo, 2, 21–37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31617/zt.knute.2020(109)02 (in Ukrainian). \n \nMilano, C., Cheer, J.M. & Novelli, M. (2019). Introduction. In: C. Milano, J.M. Cheer and M. Novelli (eds) Overtourism: Excesses, Discontents and Measures in Travel and Tourism. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 1–17. \n \nOlsen, D. H. & Timothy, D. J. (2020). The COVID-19 Pandemic and Religious Travel: Present and Future Trends. International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 8, 170–188.\xa0 \n \nOlsen, D. H. (2020?). Disease and Health Risks at Mass Religious Gatherings. In K.A. Shinde and D.H. Olsen (eds). Religious Tourism and the Environment. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 116–132. \n \nOnlajn suspilstvo vzhe davno sformovane. (2020). Gromadskij prostir. Available from: https://www.prostir.ua/?news=vulychnyj-aktyvizm-hocha-i-vazhlyva-ale-ne-jedyna-forma-protestiv-i-borotby-za-spravedlyvist-sotsiolohynya-tamara-martsenyuk (in Ukrainian). \n \nPavlovi?, D. (2020). COVID-19 and Social Distancing Implications for Religious Activities and Travel: The case of the Serbian Orthodox Church. International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 8, 112–120. \n \nPololikashvili, Z. & Guria, A. (2020). Provide support and coordination assistance for safe and sustainable tourism recovery. UNWTO. Available from: https://www.unwto.org/ru/news/stepping-up-support-and-coordination-for-a-safe-and-sustainable-recovery-of-tourism (in Russian) \n \nRodriguez-Morales, A. J., Sah, R. & Paniz-Mondolfi, A. (2020). Should the Holy Week 2020 be Cancelled in Latin America Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 36, 101663. DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101633. \n \nRutynskyi, M. & Kushniruk, H. (2020). The impact of quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry in Lviv (Ukraine). Problems and Perspectives in Management, 18(2), 194–205. Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.18(2).2020.17 \n \nSherwood, H. (2020). Religious Festivals Cancelled or Scaled Back Due to Coronavirus. The Guardian, 1 June. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/14/religious-festivals-cancelled-or-scaled-back-due-to-coronavirus \n \nUNWTO (2020). Sustainability as the New Normal : A Vision for the Future of Tourism. Available from: https://www.unwto.org/covid-19-oneplanet-responsible-recovery \n \nUNWTO calls for economic support through the travel and tourism sector (2020). Daily electronic newspaper of the Russian Union of Travel Industry. Available from:\xa0 https://ratanews.ru/news/news_6042020_6.stm