Religious Tourism under Fascist and Communist Dictatorships: Portugal and Slovakia

Following the chronological analysis of Christian pilgrimages over the course of around 2,000 years of existence, we find that there have been swings in their level of popularity: strong whenever the ruling classes (whether religious or civil) protect the sanctuaries most in demand; with declines occurring whenever opinion makers manage to turn leadership against participation in pilgrimages. The paper analyses how religious tourism was influenced by two dictatorships: a fascist one in a western European country, Portugal (1928-1974) and a communist one in a central European country, Slovakia (1948-1989) – at that time part of Czechoslovakia. In the first case the transition from a dictatorship to a democracy didn’t alter much the continuous development of religious tourism. In the second case many changes occurred with the fall of the dictatorship; the democracy allowed people to manifest freely their religious beliefs increasing therefore the number of domestic and international religious trips

Desde la perseverancia de la iglesia en estados autoritarios hasta el turismo de inspiración religiosa de hoy

Un análisis cronológico de las peregrinaciones cristianas a lo largo de 2,000 años de existencia sugiere que ha habido cambios en su nivel de popularidad: fuerte, siempre que las clases dominantes (ya sean religiosas o civiles) protegen los santuarios populares, y débil, cada vez que las políticas restringen la práctica de las peregrinaciones. Este trabajo comienza con la caracterización de dos regímenes autoritarios, uno fascista en un país de Europa occidental, Portugal (1928‑1974), y uno comunista, en un país del centro de Europa, Eslovaquia (1948‑1989), en ese momento parte de Checoslovaquia. El objetivo de esta investigación fue explorar el status quo durante el período de gobierno de los dos regímenes autoritarios, analizar el enfoque adoptado por cada régimen con respecto a las manifestaciones religiosas y cómo, con la eventual transición a la democracia, sirvió para determinar la dinámica que encierra el santuario de peregrinación de cada país, Fátima (Portugal) y Levoča (Eslovaquia) respectivamente. Los resultados de la investigación muestran que en Portugal no hubo interrupción en la creciente popularidad y desarrollo de Fátima, desde los regímenes autoritarios hasta los democráticos. Mientras tanto, en Eslovaquia solo después de la reinstauración de la democracia, se permitió a las personas manifestar libremente sus creencias religiosas, lo que condujo a un renacimiento de las peregrinaciones y visitas a Levoča. Los resultados proporcionan una comprensión del papel del estado bajo regímenes autoritarios y las políticas implementadas que impulsaron la importancia y el potencial de los dos santuarios como destinos turísticos religiosos.A chronological analysis of Christian pilgrimages over the course of around 2,000 years of existence suggests that there have been swings in their level of popularity: strong whenever the ruling classes (whether religious or civil) protect popular sanctuaries and declining whenever policies constraint the practice of pilgrimages. This paper starts with the characterization of two authoritarian regimes, a fascist one in a western European country, Portugal (1928‑1974), and a communist one in a central European country, Slovakia (1948‑1989), at that time part of Czechoslovakia. The aim of this research was to explore the status quo during the period of government by the two authoritarian regimes, analyse the approach taken by each regime in regards to religious manifestations and how, with the eventual transition to democracy, it served to determine the dynamics surrounding each country´s main pilgrimage shrine, respectively Fatima (Portugal) and Levoča (Slovakia). The research findings show that in Portugal there was no interruption on the increasing popularity and development of Fatima, from the authoritarian to democratic regimes. Meanwhile, in Slovakia only after democracy was reinstated, was it allowed for people to manifest freely their religious beliefs that led to a revival of pilgrimages and visits to Levoča. The findings provide an understanding of the role of the state under authoritarian regimes and the policies implemented that prompted the importance and potential of the two shrines as religious tourism destinations

XXV. mezinárodní kolokvium o regionálních vědách

Title in English: 25th International Colloquium on Regional Sciences: Conference proceedings The conference proceedings consists of papers presented at the 25th International Colloquium on Regional Sciences that was organized by Department of Regional Economics and Administration FEA MU. It contains 57 articles arranged by topic. The individual articles deal with e.g. socioeconomic disparities among regions, regional policy, territory attractiveness, tourism, or regional public administration

XXIV. mezinárodní kolokvium o regionálních vědách

Title in English: 24th International Colloquium on Regional Sciences: Conference proceedings. The conference proceedings consists of papers presented at the 24rd International Colloquium on Regional Sciences that was organized by Department of Regional Economics and Administration FEA MU. It contains 79 articles arranged by topic. The individual articles deal with e.g. socioeconomic disparities among regions, regional policy, territory attractiveness, tourism or regional public administration

Transformation of the Landscape in the Conditions of the Slovak Republic for Tourism

Tourism is one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy in Slovakia. With the orientation of localities to tourism, the landscape transformation is reflected in several positive and negative changes in the landscape. The aim of the contribution is to highlight the transformation processes leading to the creation of a tourist landscape in six selected localities in Slovakia. When selecting sites, we applied criteria such as the diversity of the original use, size or attractiveness. The environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts of tourism on the landscape of localities were valuable in terms of sustainable development principles. From the methodological point of view, the primary methodology was the drivers–pressures–state–impact–response (DPSIR) model, used for integrated environmental assessment and the life cycle methodology of a tourism center with integrated sustainable development indicators. In the work results, based on the analysis of the historical development and the current state of localities, we evaluate their phase of the life cycle and the effects of tourism on the environment. We also present the possibilities of further development and heading direction of localities from point of view of tourism while pointing out the benefits and risks connected with the planned development

Religious and museum tourism to Museum of the Holy Father John Paul II Family Home in Wadowice (Poland)

The research was aimed at identifying changes in tourist traffic - religious tourism and museum tourism to the Museum of the Holy Father John Paul II Family Home in Wadowice in 1996-2019. The museum was opened in 1984 in the house where Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II, was born in 1920. The thorough reconstruction between 2010 and 2014 resulted in the establishment of a museum with a modern multimedia narrative exhibition. In recent years, the museum has been visited by more than 200 thousand tourists a year, including 40 thousand foreigners from more than 100 countries worldwide. During the years 1996-2019 the number of international tourists rose more than twice. The greatest boom in the visits to the museum was noted in 2005 and was associated with the disease, death, funeral, and increasing worship of Pope John Paul II. Following decreased interest in visits to the museum during the period of 2010-2014, which was due to the museum renovation, a revival and increase in visits to the museum was observed again. Changes that were observed in the museum during the last twenty-five years were identified, among other things, thanks to field research involving observations and interviews with museum curators and staff. Analyses of tourist visits to the museum were based on detailed data provided by the museum managers. In the elaboration of the collected research results descriptive-analytical, dynamic-comparative and cartographic methods were used

Fátima and Levoča Sanctuary-towns: development and management differences

Within the social sciences, particularly as regards Geography, Economics and Sociology, Religious Tourism is debated taking into account its impact on territories, local populations and the external agents strongly connected with this phenomenon. In any urbanized area were the actions perpetuated over decades by active agents (both public and private) that have fabricated the extant realities, sanctuaries also integrate a particular touristic system. It is necessary to establish parameters in order to understand why some sanctuaries do not make it as far as a callow stage of development while others, through a set of synergies, are able to completely change their environs, inclusively creating internationally renowned cities. Given the extent and interconnection of elements involved in this development process, Ambrósio’s Model (2007) - Development Process of a Sanctuary-Town – will be used to enable comparative studies between a large-sized shrine/town, Fátima (Portugal) and a mid-sized shrine/town, Levoča (Slovakia)

Possibilities for Developing Beer Routes in Slovakia

The last 30 years of brewing history in Slovakia were the most turbulent ones. They were influenced by the liquidation of some beer production as well as privatization, integration and acquisitions of global beer producers. As a reaction to the uniform taste of beer produced by the global producers, numerous small craft breweries emerged in Slovakia trying to return the specific beer taste to the regions. Their importance may also be involved in the development of popular beer tourism through beer routes in addition to the fragmentation of the Slovak brewing industry. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential of Slovakia for the development of beer routes. The examination and assessment of the possibilities of creating beer routes in Slovakia required considering the historical context first, and then establishing a database comprising the list of craft breweries in Slovakia and the list of places where beer festivals are organised. Correspondence with the President of the Association of Small Independent Slovak Breweries was used for this purpose. Such a database was then verified, supplemented and compared to the database developed by our team based on information from field research, telephone interviews with thirty representatives of breweries, and an analysis of websites of Slovak breweries. The database was further transformed into space, using a map of isolines (equidistant) expressing the mutual distance of the craft breweries. In compiling the results, dynamic-comparative methods and cartographic presentation methods were also used. All together, we identified 70 craft breweries and proposed three beer routes thanks to their spatial distribution