• This international meeting would be held in November of next year with the aim of raising awareness about the growing importance of religious manifestations and festivities as a tourist attraction factor.
• Spain received, in 2012, 60,857 tourists with this main motivation and, as for Spanish residents, according to FAMILITUR, that same year 292,815 trips were made for religious reasons and pilgrimages.

18.11.13. The Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Borrego, the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai, and the mayor of Elche, Mercedes Alonso, have today sealed an agreement by which the three institutions will begin organizing a congress International Tourism and Religious Heritage that will be held, foreseeably, in the month of November 2014 in the Alicante town.

With the organization of this international meeting, the Ministry of Industry, the UNWTO and the Elche City Council aim to raise awareness in the international community about the growing importance of religious manifestations and festivities as a motivating factor for tourists to visit other cultures. and countries.

In addition, this international congress on Religious Tourism aims to debate policies and strategies for the protection, safeguarding and management of religious heritage and highlight its contribution to the sustainable growth of societies and economies on a global scale.

Spain received, in 2012, 60,857 tourists with this main motivation according to the EGATUR survey of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. As for Spanish residents, according to FAMILITUR, that same year 292,815 trips were made for religious reasons and pilgrimages with a year-on-year growth of 1.6%.