This chapter reports a study on a religious tourism destination, Fátima, Portugal, with a focus on the contribution of social media to destination communication. The authors analysed the Facebook pages of four entities related to Fátima tourism to examine the number and type of posts and analyse to which extent these entities are sharing destination information or stories and encouraging visitors to tell their own stories about their visit to Fátima. The authors conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis to Facebook posts during May, August, and October 2021 when Fátima receives the highest number of pilgrims.
TopIntroduction
Destination marketing is increasingly difficult in a context of high importance of social media for internet users. People use internet to plan their trips, find out prices as well as to search for information about what they want to do at the destination (Buhalis & Foerste, 2015). However, social media is also used to share stories and experiences, not just to share raw data and information. As personal stories help selling destinations, visitors engage in co-creation (Lund, Cohen & Scarles, 2018). Also, in the digital era, user-generated content (UGC) is becoming popular. This refers to content created by end users, when sharing online content, such as videos, opinions, comments, photos or even a story, thus influencing tourist decision (Moscardo, 2021).
In terms of destination governance, digital media use is seen as a way to encourage travellers to speak about their trips and share their experiences and stories. Local governments stimulate this sharing as it facilitates communication and engagement among stakeholders, involving them in joint place identity creation (Bassano et al., 2019). Creative storytelling brings benefits to tourism pilgrimage routes, mostly because it allows to improve tourists’ and locals’ awareness regarding pilgrimage routes and their contribution to local development (Soria & Molendowska-Ruiz, 2017).
ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is being used as a channel to promote the religious experience and related activities. Due to digital technologies, temple sounds from all parts of the world can be heard. According to Borrelli (2010), religious discourse is moving from the altar to the mediatic spaces.
Fátima is an international destination recognized as a sacred place immersed in a spiritual atmosphere, located in the Ourém Municipality in the centre region of Portugal. Fátima is both a location and a sanctuary which is visited by people from all over the world. In 2017, Pope Francis visited Fátima sanctuary for the celebration of the Holy Mary apparition’s centenary and the event increased the region’s visibility and subsequently tourism statistics escalated. According to the Fátima Sanctuary Management Board, in 2017, 374.586 pilgrims from over 100 countries visited the sanctuary. Fátima is a destination totally related to pilgrimage. Every year, especially in May, August and October, the region receives thousands of visitors from the whole world regions.
In this chapter, an analysis of Facebook pages from entities related to Fátima tourism is conducted comprising the months of May, August and October of 2021, aiming to uncover the amount of Facebook posts and the type of content published. Authors will look at content shared with a particular focus on stories about the destination and the experience of visiting Fátima. Accordingly, the guiding question for this research is: “to what extent is Facebook being used as a storytelling tool for developing religious tourism and the religious experience in Fátima”
The chapter is divided in four sections. In the first one, a theoretical discussion about storytelling and religious tourism is presented. In the second section, Fátima is addressed and characterized. The third section described the methodology adopted in the study and the last section includes discussion of main results and suggestions for future challenges in research and destination managers.
TopBackground
Places are more than geographic locations for visitors, they include landscape, history, culture, heritage, gastronomy, relationships, and other dimensions that elicit story generation. Several techniques are used to tell a story about a place. There is storytelling based on oral tradition, but also storytelling using print, video, graphic and digital media (Smith, 2015). According to Pompílio (2019), trips and stories are related, as trips create stories and conversely these stories can become a motivational source to travel. Storytelling is an important communication tool that captures tourists attention. Being so, it is important to involve the tourist in place-making, by allowing them to feel that they are part of the destination and can contribute to build the story about the place.