Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
walking holidays. The Board concluded that a person's life cycle had a sig-
nificant bearing on choice of walking holiday. It noted five segments: young
socializers, young leisure adventurers, family actives, leisure explorers and
older organized. In each case the market segments were seeking a slightly
different experience. For example, young socializers were looking for an active
walking experience that brings a sense of achievement, with a preference for
a wild and open landscape. The older organized segment also wanted real
walks, where they could get their boots dirty, but at the same time were look-
ing for a variety of terrains - scenery remains a key factor. They wanted a
challenge, but not the longer, more strenuous walks preferred by young social-
izers. Similar studies undertaken by tourist authorities in other countries show
that there is a differentiation in the market for walking.
Trails
One of the major innovations in walking tourism in recent decades has been
the introduction of the themed trail. Lane (1999, p1) argues that the early
trails (1930s to 1980) were the product of individuals seeking 'utopian cre-
ations designed to allow access across the countryside as a grand political
gesture'. They were for hardened walkers seeking a challenge. One of the
earliest was the Appalachian Trail in the USA, developed in 1921 by Ben
Mackaye to encourage freedom and hope in an industrial society:
But only mature industrial societies self-consciously create prim-
itive footpaths of 400 kilometres in length whose sole function
is to produce the opportunity to walk the distance of the trail.
(Burch, 1979)
This walking trail, 2175 miles in length, sought to encourage 'primitive' out-
door education. It is still managed by a voluntary organization known as the
Appalachian Trail Conservancy (see the mini case study presented later in the
chapter).
The second phase of development noted by Lane was the period from
1980 to 2000, when many shorter distance trails were created as tourist or
recreational ventures, where casual walking could be encouraged. These trails
have been developed by partnerships following an economic rationale and
often have associated themes such as the Trail of Tears relating to the story of
indigenous Americans, or at a more local level the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail
in North Carolina or the Sacramento Trail in California.
There is a rich literature on these younger multi-use trails and how they
can be used to good effect by tourists, either walking, cycling or horse riding
(Hugo, 1999). A common format has been for a group of stakeholders, usu-
ally a combination from the public and voluntary sector, to pioneer a trail,
and then subsequently to find ways to manage it (Morrow, 2005). Trails that
include urban sections are often designed as multi-use and multi-purpose
trails. They are categorized as greenways that include walking or cycling facil-
ities, or both. Lindsey (1999, p145) defines a greenway as:
