Is religious tourism in the Shrine of Aparecida (Brazil) affected by economic and climatic conditions?

Abstract

The act of travelling by faith is a phenomenon that has been occurring for centuries in different religions and cultures, usually motivated by faith. Over time, pilgrimages and/or visits to sacred places have become an object of academic interest. Hence, this study aims to analyse the impact of economic and climatic factors on religious tourism in the City of Aparecida (Brazil). The Ordinary Least Squares method was used to fulfil this investigation's objective. This methodology is robust and is validated with econometric pre-post tests and diagnostic statistics. The economic variable average income and the environmental variables temperature and average precipitation were used to explain the phenomenon of visits/pilgrimages to the Marian Shrine of Aparecida. The monthly statistical data from March 2012 to December 2017 allowed the realization of the proposed method. All variables are statistically significant, and it is possible to conclude that in addition to faith, other factors influence the religious tourism of Aparecida. It has been shown that both income and climatic factors influence the number of visitors to the Shrine, which is a novelty for religious tourism literature in the Brazilian Marian context.