Exploring the link between culture and religion on Saint James Way.

Purpose: The literature review revealed that culture is commonly acknowledged as a collective phenomenon by many authors (e.g Hofstede et al. (2005), Berry (1997) or Inglehart (1997)). We propose that a decision making, such as selecting which way to walk on a pilgrimage route can be affected both by micro level variables and macro level variables (Neira et al., 2018). We intend to contribute to the literature with the verification if the culture and religious affiliation to which the decisionmakers belong determine the alternative chosen from two alternatives in a trade-off context (Yates & de Oliveira, 2016). Methodology: To reach our mair objective, we employed a multilevel approach, that has some serious advantages over a linear model. This model considers both individual and group level variations, enabling the estimation of both regression coefficients to be computed simultaneously (Duncan et al., 1998), such that we can see to what extent the religion and culture of pilgrims determine their decisionmaking. Results: The results show that the personal circumstances of the individuals at the micro-level and the cultural-religious and sociodemographic characteristics at the country level, reduce the variability explained by the multilevel model, showing that the country level variables help to explain the decision-making process. Originality: Saint James Way, also known as the “Camino de Santiago”, is an important pilgrimage route in western Europe for those of the Christian faith. It has attracted people from different parts of the world and from a variety of different cultural backgrounds. This paper will explore the connection between culture and religion along Saint James Way and evaluate the link between culture and religion on the decision-making of pilgrims on Saint James Way (Portuguese or Not Portuguese Way). The results of this study are significant, as they highlight the importance of both the macro and micro elements that impact people’s decisions to make a pilgrimage and that some of these factors lie beyond the control of the pilgrims. This research sheds light on the complex interplay between religion, socio-demographics factors and how these variables need to be taken into account in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of religion and pilgrimage. The individuals' personal circumstances and cultural-religious characteristics of the countries where they belong reduced the variability explained by the multilevel model, showing the group level variation is an important predictor in Santiago Way choice. In conclusion, the results are highly indicative of the powerful influence of religious, cultural and other group-level factors on destination choice. This study further highlights the importance of addressing individual and societal factors in empirical research concerning travel and pilgrimage behaviour. Furthermore, theorists and practitioners should take into account the cultural-religious characteristics of one’s origin country when considering destination choice decisions. To reach these objectives, we used a database from the Observatory of Saint James Way collected by the Pilgrim Reception Office in 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]