During the NSRN Annual conference (details to follow) there was much debate around the usage of the word sacred. This conference may be of interest for that general purpose, but more specifically the stream Secular pilgrimage and tourism

Pilgrimage and Sacred Places in Central and Eastern Europe: Place, Politics and Religious Tourism
University of Zadar, 27-30 September 2012

With the global expansion of travel and tourism more and more people are engaged in what can be broadly described as religious tourism. According to the UNWTO, for example, in 2008 300 million tourists claimed that their trips were motivated in one way or another by religion. Pilgrimage plays a key role in such religious tourism and it is now attracting the attention of a wide variety of experts, e.g. religious leaders, those involved in the travel and tourism industry and academic researchers. Theoretical debates are moving beyond earlier communitas and contestation models and a more global reach is emerging as researchers explore beyond W. Europe and the Americas, examine the increasing religious diversity caused by global migration and investigate the

intimate, historic links between pilgrimage, sacred places, politics and tourism. In this conference we want to contribute to this widening focus by bringing together academics from different disciplines and travel and tourism professionals to explore pilgrimage across Eastern Europe broadly conceived as extending beyond W. Europe. In this way we seek to look at different religious traditions, e.g. Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim, and territorial ties (local, national, transnational, global).

We invite papers which will explore:

– Construction and deconstruction of sacred places
– Embodied spaces and body as a mediator
– Pilgrimage as a form of religious tourism
– Relationship between pilgrimage and travel and tourism industry
– Pilgrimage and territorial boundaries
– Politics and Pilgrimage in the past and today
– Pilgrimage in memories and narratives
– Tourist ab/use of pilgrimage and sacred places
– Tourist perspectives on the pilgrimage journey
– Secular pilgrimage and tourism
– The realm of pilgrimage / tourism experience

Registration fee

On or before July 15, 2012: € 50
Co-authors or accompanying person: € 50
Please note: All bank transaction costs are to be paid by the author

Registration fee covers:
– Conference proceedings (backpack with book of abstracts)
– Welcome cocktail
– Refreshments during breaks
– Excursions to the Croatian royal city and a pilgrimage place of Nin
– Tourist guidance through Zadar

Payments (in EURO) to be made to the following account number:

SWIFT CODE: SOGEHR22
held with SPLITSKA BANKA SOCIETE GENERALE GROUP
IBAN NUMBER: HR53 2330 0031 1001 6324 3

Payments (in HRK) to be made to the following account number (according to CNB central exchange rate for EURO on date of payment):

2330003-1100163243
*we kindly ask you to put N. 37300 in your payment description