WORSHIPING PILGRIMAGE AND RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN GREECE AND CYPRUS DURING ANCIENT TIMES

Abstract

Pilgrimage travel is not a recent activity of modern civilization. It is a phenomenon, which has existed since ancient times. It has grown over time and evolved into Religious and Pilgrimage tourism, depending upon the various changes that were observed in the course of humanity. Pilgrimage along with the Religious tourism is usually considered the oldest form of non-economic travel and is one of the most understudied areas in tourism research. Every year it is estimated that approximately 240 million people travel to major pilgrimage destinations around the world both ancient, like Greece and Cyprus, as well as modern in origin. Increases in spiritually motivated travel in the modern era, have coincided with the growth of tourism in all eras, especially after the 19th century, where the development of tourism was generally based on the leisure time of people and on their movements to various countries.