The Way of Saint James - Commercialization of Spiritual Journeys - Research Paper Example

The paper "The Way of Saint James - Commercialization of Spiritual Journeys" is a perfect example of a tourism research paper. The purpose of this study is to investigate the commercialization of spiritual journeys and in this case, The Way of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain, and specifically Camino francés. The Way of Saint James refers to the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in north-western Spain; this is the site where the tomb of Saint James is (Santiago) (Henderson, 2011). Many Christians perform pilgrimage and holy sites such as the Marian shrines at Lourdes and Fatima attract a high number of pilgrimages. Nevertheless, Santiago de Compostela still remains the most prominent pilgrimage destination for many Christian Catholics amongst numerous pilgrimage destinations. Henderson (2011) explains that the reason why Santiago de Compostela attracts a high number of pilgrims is that it focuses on the journey and not the destination. This is line with Davie (2006b) who explains that the experiences that pilgrims obtain during The Way of Saint James pilgrimage are considered to a number of pilgrims as important as the destination itself. The Camino francés has been existence as a Christian pilgrimage destination for more than 1000 years. According to Chemin (2007), individuals began travelling for a pilgrimage to Santiago immediately after St. James’ sepulchre was discovered. Throughout the middle ages, The Way of Saint James remained among the most three significant Christian pilgrimages. Whereas war, epidemic, drought significantly motivated people to participate in The Way of Saint James pilgrimage, kings and the Catholic Church greatly encouraged people to take part in the pilgrimage journey (Fernandez-Poyatos et al, 2010).

According to Corbin and Strauss (2008), pilgrims taking part in The Way of Saint James believed that Santiago was not the only location where the body of Saint James lay, but also the shrine possessed the unique charism to get rid of sins and the intercession of Saint James was considered to be of great importance to activities and events of the communities, for example when it came to preventing drought or other related natural calamities.