Influence of Global Religious Routes on Holy Sites and Communities: Communication Approaches and Societal Structures in the Growth of Religious Tourism

Introduction: The article examines the problem of preserving traditional values and cultural and natural heritage for development and transmission to future generations. Religious tourism aims to satisfy physical and spiritual needs and develop a person's cultural perception. Tourism helps a person to gain experience in cooperation with another culture and helps to gain experience in involvement with the place where he or she is, with its traditions. Objectives: This study aims to determine the essential aspects of pilgrimage tourism to sacred places as a factor in the development of domestic tourism. Methods: Our study examined pilgrimages to sacred places of holy springs and fonts. The article states the significance of the impact of religious tourism on the economy of individual countries and regions of the world, as well as religious centres. The article examines specific pilgrimage routes (Athos, Jerusalem) and explores their history and impact on social groups. Results: The relevance of the theoretical understanding of this phenomenon is due to the current practice of tourism activities, which increasingly requires thoughtful approaches to its implementation, and the need to address methodological issues in determining the directions of further development of religious tourism. It is essential to consider religious tourism as a historical and cultural phenomenon, as it allows for a deeper understanding of its essence as one of the essential creative cultural factors. The analysis of sources leads to the following conclusion: religious tourism is divided into religious and cultural tourism, pilgrimage tourism and special pilgrimage. Many reasons have led to the evolution of these forms, but the main thing is that Christianity is directly related to Christian traditions and culture. Conclusions: Thus, tourists who choose alternative tourism belong to different economic and age groups, emphasising the tourism industry's multicomponent nature. This allows us to build a media strategy for the development of religious tourism.