On Friday 9 March 2018, the conference ‘Pilgrimage and the Evolution of Spiritual Tourism’ took place in Waterford, Ireland. Organised jointly between the Spirituality Institute for research and Education (SpIRE), Dublin, and the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), the conference aimed to discuss the potential for Ireland as a sustainable spiritual tourism destination on the international market. Dr. Dee Dyas (Director of the Centre for Pilgrimage Studies, York University), John G. O’Dwyer, Chairperson of Pilgrim Paths Ireland and Dr. Stefano Dominioni, Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes presented keynote speeches on the topic of the conference.

From left to right:
Dr Noel Keating, SpIRE;
Dr Stefano Dominioni,Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes;
Dr Michael O'Sullivan, SJ, Director of SpIRE and Conference Coordinator;
Prof Bernadette Flanagan, PBVM, Chair of SpIRE;
Dr Dee Dyas, Director of the Centre for Pilgrimage Studies;
Ray Cullen, Head of Department, Tourism Hospitality & Languages WIT.

© George Goulding WIT