Walking tourism on a spiritual trail: competing needs from the sacred landscapes

Research on walking pilgrimages has increased over recent years, stimulated by the spiritual and travel needs that emerged from the pandemic. Despite this scholarly proliferation, however, both the motivational aspects and the transformative characteristics of religious tourism remain difficult to describe. As part of a PhD research crossing tourism and landscape studies, the study describes the promotional process of Saint Anthony’s Way in Italy. To explore both the culture-induced motivations of the walking experience and the affective and embodied engagements with the landscape, an online geo-questionnaire was administered to 70 members of the religious community, visitors and residents along the itinerary between 2021 and 2022. A map was drawn of unexpected and multifaced Antonian landscapes reflecting different gradients of sociability, spirituality and place attractiveness. The study shows the gradual transformation of the religious route into a broadly accepted travel experience that moves beyond the category of traditional pilgrimages.