Territorial Management of Italian Catholic Church between Pilgrimages and Religious Culture

The field of Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism has been developing rapidly, especially since the 1980s. As a field of study it addresses phenomena central to our understanding of a post-modern community and to our visioning of the future and sustainable development. At the same time it contributes to a wider understanding of issues and processes in tourism management (at the national and regional level) as well as in development studies more generally. This paper offers a critical examination of contemporary pilgrimage trends and features through two cases study. The first case analyzes identikit and estimated data of the pilgrims of the Route of St Francis (Umbria Region, Italy); the second presents estimated data on incoming and outgoing flows and features from information made available by the TO and travel agency "Ariminium" of the Episcopal Curia of Rimini on the market for 20 years. Furthermore, it traces and assesses the establishment of the Italian Catholic Church Tour Operators and Travel Agencies that over the last decade have become an important factor in the development of the pilgrimage tourism sector. In particular, this article investigates on one side the geographical dimension of the pilgrimage experience, providing elements on the historical evolution of a national TO and travel agencies system, owned and managed by the Italian Catholic Church. On the other side the aim is to contribute to the debate on the Pilgrimage and the Religious Culture in a post-modern touristic system, where Religious Associations and the Vatican can be driving innovative forces in the renewal of social and cultural motivation in tourism.