Journal of Tourism and Heritage Research

The origin of the term “grail” and its relation with the vertebration of the Way of the Holy Grail in the 21st century

Ana Mafé García — 2025-01-07

The term “grail” is linked to the cultural and symbolic construct of The Way of the Holy Grail, a key element for the development of tourism along this route. Associated with the Holy Chalice of Valencia, the study aims to provide historical rigor to the narrative and enhance its touristic significance. Aragón is highlighted as a central territory in grail traditions, reinforcing its identity as the “Territory of the Grail”.
The scientific method applied involved three main phases: an etymological analysis using historical sources such as Nebrija’s dictionary (1595) and other medieval texts; identifying connections between the term “grail” and the physical and material characteristics of the Holy Chalice; and reviewing previous linguistic studies to contrast and validate hypotheses. The research sought to reconstruct the meaning of “grail” in the medieval context, acknowledging the lack of uniformity in the classification of domestic objects.
Conclusions indicate that “grail” refers to a vessel made of greda, a white and luminous clay. The term, used in the Kingdom of Aragon since the 10th century, transcends as a symbol of purity and spirituality within grail narratives. These findings reinforce the historical narrative of The Way of the Holy Grail and its touristic potential.

Community-based tourism in Latin America. Implications and debate for its implementation in local development

Antonia Pérez-García — 2025-01-09

The aim of this study is to present the community-based tourism, implications in its implementation and management, as well as the debate and problems that may be associated with it, analysed from the perspective for local development. (by looking at) To this end, by looking at five projects developed in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. This study is based on an exploratory-descriptive qualitative methodology through content analysis of the selected cases and in-depth interviews with professionals related to the projects and the topic. The results show that the main characteristics and implications of community-based tourism, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of this form of tourism management, collected in the literature review, have been confirmed, such as, for example, the scare commercial offer, the lack of training or the suspicion of projects. In this line, the existence of positive socio-economic end environmental impacts in the communities analysed is also evident, as it represents an extra and complementary benefit to their main economic activity, which allows them to improve their quality of life, without falling into tourist monoculture.

The Challenges of Tourism Growth in Eastern and Southern African Countries

Tryson Yangailo — 2025-01-09

This study presents a systematic review of the literature to identify the dominant challenges to tourism growth in Eastern and Southern African countries. The aim was to provide more insight for policy makers, academics and all those responsible for tourism development. The literature review identified poor tourism marketing, poor transport and communication infrastructure, poor government support and investment in tourism, disease and lack of security as the most dominant challenges to travel and tourism growth in Eastern and Southern African countries. To overcome these challenges, governments need to adopt a multi-faceted strategy. In the context of regional integration, policy makers need to fully support the implementation of the regional strategy for sustainable tourism development by establishing an independent body to oversee and ensure the implementation of the strategy. This will lead to the establishment of regional blocs such as COMESA, SADC and EAC as a premier tourism destination, thereby promoting sustainable development, economic expansion and regional integration. Realising the full potential of tourism as a catalyst for economic prosperity and regional integration requires cooperation among states, involvement of the private sector and supportive government policies.