Religious Sensitivity and Regenerative Tourism: Protecting the Spiritual Integrity of Sacred Spaces

Religious tourism is one of the fastest-growing forms of mobility, increasing pressure on sacred spaces and religious communities and raising questions about the preservation of their spiritual integrity. While sustainable tourism frameworks address environmental and socio-cultural impacts, they remain insufficient in capturing the relational and spiritual dimensions of sacred places. This study aims to conceptualize “religious sensitivity” as an analytical and normative category integrating spiritual sustainability with the principles of regenerative tourism. Drawing on an interdisciplinary literature review in religious studies, human geography, and tourism studies, combined with a qualitative, interpretative case analysis of selected pilgrimage destinations (with particular reference to the Way of St. Olav), the article develops the Model of Regenerative Religious Sensitivity (MRRS). The model identifies four interrelated dimensions, spiritual, communal, spatial, and interpretative, that shape the interaction between tourism and the sacred. The findings indicate that tourism may contribute either to the erosion or regeneration of sacred meaning depending on the quality of relationships among visitors, local communities, and place-based practices. It is concluded that regenerative approaches grounded in religious sensitivity and community participation can support the spiritual sustainability of sacred sites, offering a conceptual framework for managing religious destinations in contexts of increasing cultural and spiritual diversity.