THE WAY OF ST. JAMES AS A POTENTIAL TOURISTIC POWER IN RURAL, STRUCTURALLY LAGGING REGIONS: THE CASE OF BRANDENBURG

Abstract

Tourism and regional development are two concepts that are being discussed in relation with sustainable development of rural, structurally lagging regions that exist within the European Union. A new tendency of such development investigated in reference to these two concepts is the change in demand from the touristic sector towards products in relationship with culture and/or nature. Take as an example the Way of St. James as a net of pilgrimage route that cover large parts of Europe. In the German state of Brandenburg, a region with various structural deficits for which it still depends on national and European funds, a revitalization project of a section of the Way of St. James is underway with the purpose to generate possible economic effects. The concept of this university project is to facilitate touristic development by creating an additional product in the area of cultural and rural tourism, promote and organize synergies between various touristic protagonists in private and public sectors, and create cooperation networks. The result is that Brandenburg, in spite of structural problems, holds enormous potential to be captured.