Strategic Intelligence for Sacred Sites

Abstract

The polysemous aspect of pilgrimage constitutes a very old human activity, sometimes religious and alternatively secular, make it a complex matter to approach and handle. The exact number of pilgrims visiting sacred sites remains undetermined, and ranges, according to sources, between 200 and 400 million people yearly (Griffin & Raj, 2017). Pilgrimages are often associated with tourism and generate, in several countries, comfortable amounts of revenue. Public or private companies manage sacred sites and at the same time, areas of services for pilgrims and accompanying persons, and an intense network of shops, places for food and accommodation, grow, sometimes haphazardly. Very often, competition takes place between destinations resulting in an accrued and largely documented need for proper management, marketing strategy, and customised communications. This is particularly important as some have discussed the manner in which host countries may consider pilgrimage as a support to regional development (Raj & Griffin, 2015). In recent years, authors – using Strategic Intelligence – have shown how pandemics could lead to collapses in financial, economic, political, social, cultural and environment fields. In such circumstances, an approach such as Strategic Intelligence could be a support to foresight (Fournié et al., 2020). Geopolitical, technical and environment issues may also be detrimental to religious practises and pilgrimages. They may also affect the peaceful development of sacred sites. Neither empirically nor epistemically, is Strategic Intelligence usually associated with pilgrimages. The current paper examines how, by taking benefit from its more recent developments, Strategic Intelligence may allow the strong and balanced evolution of a sacred place, and insert it into the regional and national economy. It may boost the creation of jobs, the identification and growth of related industries and added-valued services (Dou et al., 2018). Strategic Intelligence will also support, if necessary, the conditions for peace-building and preparation for resilience. We intend to examine here how Strategic Intelligence may offer an innovative, transversal and holistic framework to support the ‘pilgrimage phenomenon’ wondering if it may become a way to resilience. A path, definitely necessary, to bypass human generated conflicts, environmental changes, natural phenomena or pandemics.

Keywords

• religious tourism
• strategic intelligence
• territorial development
• social cohesion
• peace-building