Croatia could be saved by religious tourism

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According to some estimates and predictions the upcoming tourist season will not be saved by Czechs or Serbians, but by Saint Mary and religious tourism.
According to 'Slobodna Dalmacija' daily, Croatian sanctums visited regularly by domestic but also foreign tourists could help the country through the global recession, because they do not just offer faith but also economical stability.
The World religious travel Association, WRTA believes the 2009 will be the year of religious tourism and that refer also to Croatia.
Last year WRTA records 18 billion dollars profit from the religious tourism.
One of the most popular Croatian Marian shrine, a famous place of pilgrimage in Marija Bistrica municipality in central Croatia has been visited by 800,000 worshippers a year.
Considering the fact those are tourist of different profiles it is hard to say how much the local municipality earns from those tourists, but according to estimates those amounts are much higher than one million Euros.
Marija Bistrica Tourist board head Vesna Habazin said that its Tourist board has 115 members out of 6,900 residents.
Also, when it is necessary even 50 priests are included in religious ceremonials, and all of them speak excellent foreign languages.

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