Religious travel received boost from jubilee, travel planner says

Published: 2006-01-30

BURBANK, Calif. (CNS) -- When Catholic pilgrims poured into Rome to celebrate the jubilee year in 2000, the world watched on television. The event proved to be a turning point in religious travel. "With the jubilee, Catholic religious group travel began to accelerate," said Scott Scherer of the Catholic Travel Centre in Burbank. "In 2000, pilgrimage got a much higher profile. Before then, there weren't many large religious group operators. Now the travel industry has woken up to the potential." Since the jubilee, Scherer has noticed a business upswing at his company, one of the largest Catholic travel organizers, which he launched in 1991. Scherer got started in religious travel in the mid-1980s when he began organizing pilgrimages for a North Carolina diocese. "My interest in foreign cultures, faith and business came together. I was impressed how groups bond on pilgrimage." Journeying to a sacred site for spiritual purposes has long been a Catholic tradition, especially since the fourth century when pilgrims began traveling to the Holy Land. European locales associated with saints and miracles also became popular pilgrimage sites.

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