Building a smart system of pilgrimage tourism through a mobile application for Mary's Way in Slovakia

Abstract

The paper is focused on the example of one pilgrimage route, “Way of Mary”, in the field of building pilgrimage tourism in Slovakia within the rurAllure project supported by the European Commission, Horizon 2020. Smart tourism and slow tourism combined with pilgrimage is one of the attractive options that respond to the demands of today’s customers. One smart pilgrimage tourism approach is creating a mobile application developed within the project that emphasises a personalised approach. The research findings based on content analysis pointed to five key themes that form the core of the mobile application’s appeal to pilgrimage tourists. There are: (1) pilgrimage sites, (2) natural heritage sites, (3) ethnographic and cultural attractions, (4) experiential spots, and (5) narratives. The platform developed as part of the rurAllure project will provide pilgrims with unique and interactive opportunities to explore the pilgrimage routes in a new and enriching way and encourage a smart, sustainable, slow, and customer-oriented approach.