"The Portuguese St. James Way: pilgrims` profile, motivations and assessment of the route"

Abstract

There is a relevant number of studies about the St. James Way, but lesser attention has been paid to the pilgrims` perceptions towards the Way and motivations to perform it, especially from those who take the Portuguese Way. Motivations to do it can be related to landscape, the spiritual dimension, seeking well-being and self-therapy, or getting answers to several issues of daily life. This research was carried out aiming to identify the motivations, profile and satisfaction of pilgrims towards the Portuguese St. James Way. Related to the satisfaction provided, the lack of the supply of services or goods along the Way was also analysed. For getting data, a questionnaire was applied to 351 pilgrims, complemented by participant observation. The results attained tell us that pilgrims were mostly motivated by spiritual and cultural reasons. Regarding the pilgrims` profile, we could conclude that most of them are within the 25 and 64 age group, have high levels of education and a formal job and are making the Way on foot. Besides nationality, the time needed to travel to start the Caminho and the organization of the trip, little differentiates one pilgrim from another. 57.3% of them have shown to be very satisfied with the Portuguese Way to Santiago (Central route), following their initial expectations on it. Based on the assessment produced by the pilgrims and the researchers, a few policy recommendations to local authorities envisaging to maximize the pilgrims’ well-being are enounced.

Keywords: Portuguese St. James Way; Pilgrims` Profile and Motivations; Landscape; Well-Being.

Paula Remoaldo

Lab2PT – Landscape, Heritage and Territory Laboratory, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, cris.remoaldo@gmail.com

Hélder Lopes

Lab2PT – Landscape, Heritage and Territory Laboratory, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal, htsltiago@gmail.com

José Cadima Ribeiro

NIPE, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, jcadima@eeg.uminho.pt

(Resumo de comunicação apresentada no 31st Nordic Symposium on Tourism & Hospitality Research, que decorreu na Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Suécia, de 19 a 21 de Setembro de 2023)