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1. Running head: ST. JAMES WAY 1
Entrepreneurial Opportunity on St. James Way
Name
Institution

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ST. JAMES WAY
Introduction
The term St. James Way describes many routes adapted by the Christian pilgrims. The
route dates back from the ancient times and it is a journey that involve various countries and
locations in Europe and parts of Africa, the main place being the cathedral in Spain city of Santiago
de compostela. It is in this cathedral that it is believed St James’ remains were laid to rest hence
giving it the name st James. This is the reason why Christians around the world value the site as
sacred and make regular pilgrimages to the site through the route (Holliday, 2008). The major
starting point for the route is in France at the St Jean Pied De Port, and the route takes an average
of 30 to 35 days walk. There are eight main routes used by the pilgrims of the Way St James, the
first being the ‘Camino Frances’ which is considered the busiest of the routes, ‘Via de la Plata’ the
longest of the routes, ‘Camino del Norte’ which passes through the sea. Another route is the
Camino ingles, Camino Portuguese, Camino Primitive, Camino Finisterre and Camino de Madrid.
There are many other routes, but this are the most travelled and regularly used ones (Krogmann,
et al 2016). In modern times, many people still make pilgrimage to the Santiago de Compostela as
a religious exercise. Apart from pilgrimage there are many other regular visitors to this place
inform of hikers, tourists, social travelers, sportspeople, bikers and adventurers. The Way St James
stands out as one of the largest tourist attraction sites in the world boosting a large geographical
coverage and a rich history to match (Podles, 2011). It is due to this that the park stands out a major
harbor for viable business opportunities that are ready to be tapped. The paper will focus on the
entrepreneurial opportunities on the St. James Way.

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Methodology
The intention of the study is to show entrepreneurial opportunities that can be derived in
the tourism sector and identifying the key elements to improve the experience of the user, to
achieve the goal. The object under analysis is of the Way St James because of its relevance and a
tourism influence in the local level and internationally. In addition, just as mentioned earlier, plans
are underway to turn the way st James into a smart carmine. Before that just as earlier mentioned,
there is a big need to distinguish between pilgrims and tourists. These two groups are both
considered tourists but the experience is in the spirit and the frequency of the visits. The tourists
are considered as seasonal visitors with no regard to religion while Muslims are religiously
inspired individuals who make regular visits almost after every given period of time for spiritual
and religious beliefs. During the visits, there is a great interaction of the people from the two groups
and the locals living along the way of st James. The two groups enjoy each other’s interest, as the
tourists get the religious experience of visiting the place and the pilgrims gain from the tourism
and exploration. The methodology employed adopts the way st James as a case study, taking
detailed analysis of the site and the population that is available at one given time. Another factor
is the types of groups that regularly visit the site and their geographical locations and adaptations.
Pilgrimage route is one of the St. James way routes which requires good organizational
preparation for the provision of the basic services to the tourists. The services which can be
provided include giving information on the route, accommodation, board, proper marking and
other services which are associated with pilgrimage tourist. The giving of the information may
involve giving and guiding access to the cultural and natural attractions.as the pilgrimages move
along the way of the St. James they present an opportunity for small business in the economy
(Lourens, 2007).. The characteristics of the St. James route where, there are services needed to be

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rendered to the tourists leads to a business opportunity being created where small entrepreneurial
activities can be developed.
The pilgrims, on the way of the St James, has basic needs which can lead entrepreneurial
activity being undertaken to satisfy such needs. For the sake of the tourist's such needs includes
the following; first, the tourists need a written information about the pilgrimage routes. The
information may be written on the websites, guidebooks, and leaflets. The tourists also have
information needs like; information about the routes and services offered at the tourist centers,
information on means of communication so as to reach the pilgrimage routes. Information on the
free and paid services. Lodging services are also required which can cater for people with disability
and elderly. Need for the food and groceries along the routes. Opportunity to eat foods at the
restaurants and taking drinks at the bars along the routes. Access to toilets and bathrooms and
access to the clean water which can be used for drinking. The transport means are required to carry
the tourist’s baggage from the places to the lodging (Kendrick, 1960). Lastly, there is a need for
the charging facilities which can be used to charge the tablets, smartphones and mobile phones for
the tourists.
Different types of the business activities can be developed in the ways of the St James. The
pilgrimage has the following business which can be developed. First, household bars can be
developed. This will involve the small-scale catering which can several meals. In that catering, the
products which can be sold are home food and family meals. The success of this business will
depend on the factors such as the moderate prices, correct information where there are correct offer
and price (Bell, 2011). This business opportunity is a seasonal business which can be operated on
the same route like the pilgrimage route.

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In addition, milk bars, bars serving pancakes and pizzas bare can be can be started in the
ways of the St James. In this business, the catering point offers cheap food which its preparation
is done in a simple manner. The raw materials used in this business include; vegetables, floors,
dairy products, and meat. The success of such of such business opportunity will depend on the
factors such as being located at the good location at the walking path. Selling of the simple food,
and having correct information about offer and acceptance (Murray, 1997). The business can be
a permanent activity which can lead to economic growth in the area.
Moreover, restaurant can be another business activity that can be developed in the ways of
the St James. The restaurant can offer catering facilities where they operate from noon to night.
The success of the business can be based on being located at the right location, having a more
refined cuisine, having correct information on the buying and selling and being in a position to be
booked using a phone or the email accounts (Bell, 2011). The business activity can be permanent.
The business can rely on the ways of the St James.
Nevertheless, food markets, groceries, and food stores can be business activities in the ways of the
St James. Such business activity can be intended for serving the tourists and the locals at the tourist
routes of the St James. The pilgrim’s movement can be served by such businesses. The success of
such a business depends on the being located in populated areas, having good transport networks
to transport fruits and tourists and selection of the correct quality and quantity food products. This
can be a permanent business opportunity which is not affected by the seasonal changes since it
serves both tourists and the locals.
In addition, other business activity may include, cake shops, ice cream shops, patisseries,
home baked pastries and cakes. This can all be combined within the same shop. The success of

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such business will depend on the factors such as a provision of the quality products, the area should
be well served with the roads and located in densely populated areas for their success (Herbing,
1994).
Accommodation business activities can also be practiced in the ways of the St James. Such
business may include bed and breakfast, agritourism farms, pensions, hostels and youth hostels,
hotels and rental houses. Such business activities should be located at easily accessible points
where there is well-connected transport network. The pricing should be made such that the services
are affordable to the customers who include locals and tourists at the way of the St. James
(Fernandes, 2012). The accommodation facilities should be standard and comfortable.
At the ways of St. James, there are other business activities that enhance easy movement
of the tourist along the routes. Passenger transport services, transport baggage, tourist guides,
brokerage of the tourist services are some of those other business activities which can be
undertaken at the St. James ways. There should be considerable offer and acceptance for the
services to be offered to the tourists (Weber, 2007). The price should be moderate to enhance high
demand for such services leading to the success of the business activities. The tourist guides
should be aware of the language being used by the tourists where they should be fluent in their
communication. The services are offered to both tourist and locals at the ways of the St. James.
The system of st James is able to accept and progress the services that can enhance business
specifically dedicated to the pilgrims according to their needs and demands especially during their
visit to the park. There are many scope of services that can be extended at St James Way Park, one
is by improving the business efficiency. To run any successful business there is need to ensure
efficiency and organization of the operations, including improved customer service, distribution

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and delivery of goods and services and avoiding wastage costs. The most viable business
opportunity at the park is food that as established is the basic requirement for the pilgrims and
tourists who visit the site. Any entrepreneur initiating a business at the park must ensure efficiency
supply of the foodstuffs and its accompaniments by initiating a good plan to ensure that bearing in
mind the distance involved and the inaccessibility of the route (Mcdayter, 1995). And increasing
the customer awareness of the products, this can be done through advertisements and marketing
both in social media and by posters at the main entrances of the park. Additionally the
improvement of the customer experience is needed, because it is a general concern in business that
customers interact well with the product and the staff. This will determine whether the customer
will come back for more to enhance business continuity. This will be a very important aspect in
the park as the customers especially the pilgrims are regular visitors to the park. Another measure
is extending the service with new customer segments. The st James Way Park is the historical and
world renowned tourist site that attracts people from various parts of the world, this makes it more
necessary to segment the customer base so as to reach ideal consumers of particular products
(Miramontes Carballada, 2017). The most ideal segmentation can be geographical because of the
fact that customers come after diverse geographical parts of the domain and so desire different and
unique types of food (Lois, et al 2015). Under geographic segmentation the customers can be
identified according to regions and countries, an example are people from Africa, Asia and
America all being unique in their food preferences. This requires a background check on all the
above, giving great consideration for the region with many tourists or pilgrims visiting the site.
Any entrepreneur at the st James way has to think of success factors when developing
service activity for the pilgrims and tourists. The factors to consider have to fulfill the needs of the
offer. This has to be done after a thorough survey of the customer habits, which include eating

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intervals and the lifestyles. An example is, do they prefer heavy or light breakfast, fruits or any
offer that fulfills basic needs. There also has to be a selection of a good location for the business
in the park, which should be near centers or an access that is conveniently reachable for both cars
and people to facilitate the population density for larger shopping. In general, the success factors
of a business include the ones that are related to the promotion of the items and services and the
information of the services available. Price can also be a success element but of least effect,
because the important thing in a business is first service delivery, which of course should reflect
on, the price offered (Santos Solla & Pena Cabrera, 2014). However, the prices offered have to be
relevant to the environment and adhere to the rules of fair price.
The St James Way Park needs a dynamic business mind that is able to change according to
the ever changing needs of the customer base due to the fact that the park experiences different
type of pilgrims from season to season (Garneau, 2005). This has to involve logic and assumptions
that can be taken from observations and statistics conducted from the activities in the park. It is an
assumption that the pilgrims and tourists shall use vehicles, mobile phones and laptops. This can
prompt an entrepreneur to offer the services of selling fuel, spare parts and maintenance services
for the pilgrim vehicles. Apart from this and on the assumption that the pilgrims are visiting the
site for the first time, it becomes obvious that they shall need information either oral or in writing
about the route. This information can be in form of guidebooks, websites and leaflets and will be
provided at a fee hence creating a good business opportunity.
Legal obligations
It is a requirement that needs to be adhered to when one is establishing a business activity.
This will highly depend on the country involved in the business as the park covers a wide region
that runs from parts of Africa to Europe. However, one should follow the simple forms of business

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that are universally acceptable in a business setting. In Europe where the park covers most, the
rules are simple and the incentives are investor friendly especially for small scale entrepreneurs
who are more likely business people in the park.
According to the Marlien Lourens (2007) he studied on the tourist routes of St James way
as a potential driver for developing local economies.in his sturdy he used Camino de Santiago to
show its positive impact on the rural economies where he identified business opportunities or
entrepreneurial development which can be undertaken at those tourist routes of South Africa,
Spain, and France. The author finally argued that the tourist routes had an important impact on the
economic growth of the locals since it provided entrepreneurial opportunities for the locals.
Conclusion
The ways of the St. James provides a lot of business opportunity to all entrepreneurs who
may wish to start their business. The tourists and locals have needs that have to be satisfied by
initiation of the business. The entrepreneur should first seek to know the needs and business
activities which can be done in the ways of the St. James. After the entrepreneur has known the
business which can be developed he has to come with initiative of starting it. The entrepreneur
should look at the best business activity which he can be able to initiate. The business chosen will
be important to look at the success factors so as he or she should emphasize on them. The services
provided should be of high quality and affordable to both locals and tourists who are in this case
the pilgrims. All these considerations will lead to the successful business operations. The legal
factors should be considered in the operation of the business. The required documents should be
undertaken. The business should adhere to the political climate surrounding it. The success of the
business at the ways of the St James will be enhanced by the entrepreneur providing quality and

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quantity goods and services, proper pricing and strict adherence to the laws governing the
operation of the business at the ways of the Saint James.

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