The tourist-pilgrim continuum in consumer behaviour: the case of international visitors to Kykkos Monastery, Cyprus

Abstract

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Monasteries nowadays attract numerous visitors whose trips reflect varying levels of religious motivation. They witness varying consumption patterns when it comes to visitors’ shopping behaviour on their premises. Thus, building on the model of the tourist-pilgrim continuum, the research utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods to comprehend the consumer behaviour patterns of 184 foreign individuals who visited Kykkos Monastery on the island of Cyprus. The research findings provide further understanding of the tourist-pilgrim continuum by observing, among others, secularism/religious consumerism, souvenir value and the volume and structure of the purchased products.