Religious Tourism Assessment and Carrying Capacity The Case of National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio in Batangas, Philippines

This study in National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio, Batangas, Philippines aims to assess the religious tourism and carrying capacity of the area where survey and key informant interviews were used to gather information like church structure, rules and regulation of the shrine, as well as socio- demographic profile of the tourists/visitors. The study revealed that majority of the 120 respondents in the area are young adults in the age group of 20-25 years old that have a monthly income of 200 USD (PhP10,000.00) and below. Church, healing, family bonding and recreation are the top reasons of the tourists in visiting the area. Mode of transportation is mostly by the use of private vehicles specifically cars and motorcycles. Using the formula of Boullon and Limit of Acceptable Change, the carrying capacity for the Shrine was computed to be 1,720 (upper limit) and 431 (lower limit) in the assumption that 8,000 square meters is being utilized. With the growing population volume of visitors, environmental concerns like orderliness and cleanliness, specifically in terms of solid waste management must be included in the set of rules and regulations of the National Shrine so that environmental degradation in the area can be minimized.

Keywords: religious tourism, carrying capacity, environmental concern