The most popular Christian holidays are Christmas and Easter. To make these holidays more meaningful, more and more tourists choose to visit popular holy places all over the globe. However, just like most services, holiday trips become more expensive each year. Visiting Holy Place destination usually costs above one thousand euros per person per trip in case tourists want to make the most out of it. But no matter how expensive it can be, tourists from developing countries still go to holy places during these holidays.
According to the World Tourism Organization, about 330 million tourists visit holy places every year. As expected, most of what makes this number are Christians during Christmas or Easter.
Hotel operators, museum owners and tour operators feel very delighted that this number continuously grows every year and generate new revenue. The most popular religious stops are Rome, the tomb of the Apostle James in Santiago de Compostela and of course, the famous Jerusalem and Bethlehem in Israel. Italy, Israel and Spain are visited by about 37 million tourists a year. According to local media, shrines in Italy are visited by about 35 million people every year. The Ministry of Tourism published that Israel is being visited by 3.4 million people. 60% of these people or about 2 million are tourists, while Apostle James got 200 thousands visitors last year.
Worshipping these holy places will definitely cost tourists a price! The Italian tourism industry makes 5 billion euros a year. This equates to more than 140 euros for one tourist. This price, however, is only for one or two-day stays. Those who want to stay extra days to pray at the St.
Peter's in Rome or spend a moment of worship at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem should be sure they have some money to spare because it will cost them way more than 140 euros. A five day visit to the tomb of St. James, for instance, will cost a German tourist about 1,000 Euros. The similar price should be paid by a Russian tourist who wants to go to the Holy Land for a 7 day tour. The hotel accommodation and the travel expenses are one thing, the charges of monasteries and museums are another. There are entrance fees. Alongside that are souvenirs, brochures, candles and the likes. Even getting a feel of the Jordan River will cost a lot!
Despite all these, the numbers of people who are willing to shell out a lot of cash are still growing annually. UNESCO reports that more people from Asia and Latin America are able to travel for religious purposes because of economic growth in the mentioned continents. It has grown over the past few years and will continue to do so.