Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on religious and green tourism
Abstract
O.V. Borysova, S.V. Stankevych*, S.I. Sysoieva, Yu.V. Synyavina, T.G. Tkachenko, M.V. Matsyura and E.V. Shapetko
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.