<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This paper investigates the economic determinants of Catholic pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fatima using a panel data set with annual observations from 2008 to 2017 from 29 origin countries. The Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag, using the estimator of <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_ejthr-2023-0010_ref_020">Driscoll and Kraay (1998)</xref>, was employed to examine short- and long-run impacts. The results reveal that, in the short run, GDP <italic>per capita</italic>, the exchange rate and overall international departures positively impact the number of pilgrims. In the long run, international departures and GDP <italic>per capita</italic> cause positive impacts, while unemployment shows a negative impact. All effects are statistically significant. Besides shedding light on the relationship between economic determinants and religious phenomena, this paper is valuable to national and local policymakers, shrine managers and regional entrepreneurs. It is a tool for everyone who must be aware of the main determinants of the number of pilgrims, to plan joint measures that may generate more significant opportunities to attract pilgrims, crucial to supporting the local economy and in addition to being an important contribution to the economics of religion literature, indicating contemporary impacts on a religious phenomenon.</p>
</abstract>

This paper investigates the economic determinants of Catholic pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fatima using a panel data set with annual observations from 2008 to 2017 from 29 origin countries. The Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag, using the estimator of Driscoll and Kraay (1998), was employed to examine short- and long-run impacts. The results reveal that, in the short run, GDP per capita, the exchange rate and overall international departures positively impact the number of pilgrims. In the long run, international departures and GDP per capita cause positive impacts, while unemployment shows a negative impact. All effects are statistically significant. Besides shedding light on the relationship between economic determinants and religious phenomena, this paper is valuable to national and local policymakers, shrine managers and regional entrepreneurs. It is a tool for everyone who must be aware of the main determinants of the number of pilgrims, to plan joint measures that may generate more significant opportunities to attract pilgrims, crucial to supporting the local economy and in addition to being an important contribution to the economics of religion literature, indicating contemporary impacts on a religious phenomenon.

How does the economy affect a religious phenomenon? A panel approach to international pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fátima

University of Évora and Economy of Francesco (EoF) Academy

Faculty of Economics, and Centre for Business and Economics Research (CeBER)

European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This paper investigates the economic determinants of Catholic pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fatima using a panel data set with annual observations from 2008 to...

How does the economy affect a religious phenomenon? A panel approach to international pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fátima

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Nov 18, 2023

Page range: 110 - 124

Received: Aug 02, 2022

Accepted: Jul 27, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2023-0010

Keywords
Pilgrimage, Economic determinants, Panel data analysis, Economics of Religion, Religious tourism, Shrine of Fátima

© 2023 Matheus Belucio et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How does the economy affect a religious phenomenon? A panel approach to international pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fátima

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Nov 18, 2023

Page range: 110 - 124

Received: Aug 02, 2022

Accepted: Jul 27, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2023-0010

KeywordsPilgrimage, Economic determinants, Panel data analysis, Economics of Religion, Religious tourism, Shrine of Fátima

© 2023 Matheus Belucio et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Pilgrimage, Economic determinants, Panel data analysis, Economics of Religion, Religious tourism, Shrine of Fátima