The 2026 season began with the participation of our representatives in the International Workshops on Religious Tourism (IWRT) in Fatima, followed by a presence at the Better Travel Lisbon (BTL) tourism fair. It was a demanding but very inspiring start to the year – especially for our Portuguese partners.
This year’s IWRT workshops, as always, provided an opportunity to meet partners from all over the world and discuss new ideas for travel to European pilgrimage destinations. The event brought together around 130 international tour operators from more than 30 countries, specialising in religious tourism and pilgrimages. The workshops also welcomed representatives of travel agencies, tourism organisations, hotels and destination promotion institutions, creating a space for building new contacts and planning future journeys.
You can watch the event video here.
You can read more about IWRT 2026 here.
Special thanks go to our Portuguese partners from the municipality of Ourém, who despite a difficult start to the year caused by damage from severe weather in the region, successfully organised the workshops and ensured a warm welcome for participants. Thanks to their commitment, the meetings took place in an excellent atmosphere that encouraged discussion and the development of new ideas for joint projects.
Shortly afterwards, our Portuguese partners represented Shrines of Europe at the BTL tourism fair in Lisbon – the largest tourism event in Portugal. The fair took place from 25 February to 1 March 2026 and gathered more than 1,700 exhibitors and tens of thousands of visitors from many countries. The first days were mainly dedicated to tourism professionals, while in the following days the fair was also open to individual travellers planning their future trips.
Participation in the fair was an excellent opportunity to present the European shrine cities to a wide audience, including both tourism professionals and travellers looking for inspiration. Conversations during the fair showed that more and more tourists are looking for authentic, peaceful and historic destinations – exactly like the cities belonging to the Shrines of Europe network.
The beginning of the year once again showed that Shrines of Europe is not only a network of unique places, but above all a community built on people, solidarity and cooperation across borders. We hope that the meetings in Fatima and Lisbon will result in new visits to our cities and inspire more travellers to discover Europe’s shrines – places where history, culture and spirituality meet in a unique way.
Both events have become a permanent part of the Shrines of Europe calendar, so all that remains to be said is – see you next year!
