Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to be part of the spiritual experience, requiring a commitment and level of
physical energy in order to arrive.
The step-change came in the development of resorts in the 18th and 19th
centuries. These places featured walking as a major pursuit; walking was a
social pastime, an opportunity to meet and greet others in the social circuit
that required grand promenades, parks and other open spaces where society
could meet. In some cases, this provision was strongly associated with health.
The great spa resorts of Europe such as Bath, Baden Baden, Karlovy Vary and
Sofia were all designed to encourage walking along the grand terraces. It was
part of the process in the world of preventative and curative treatments.
Today, walking has become less fashionable in everyday life in most devel-
oped countries, which is a major issue for those seeking to improve standards
of health by encouraging, for example, brisk walking for 30 minutes (Cavill
et al, 2006). Nordic walking (fast walking with sticks) has become more fash-
ionable across Europe, Japan and North America as a result of a renewed
interest in walking for health (Shove and Pantzar, 2005). However, contem-
porary incursions into brisk walking are for the minority. In reality, the lack
of activity has reached epidemic proportions. In the USA, for example, an
analysis of the US Department of Transportation National Household Travel
Survey in 2001 highlighted that 84 per cent of citizens reported not making
any walking trips in the previous week. The authors concluded that 'most
Americans do not walk at all' (2007, p548). It is estimated that 60 per cent of
men and 70 per cent of females in the UK are insufficiently physically active
to maintain their health (Metz, 2009). Therefore, there is a renewed interest
in encouraging walking for utility and leisure, but principally to encourage
walking and cycling as an aid to preventative health care (Wang et al, 2004).
Walking tourism generates some environmental impacts. There are con-
flicts of use and damage to ecological cycles if demand for walking routes is
not managed. Bestard and Font (2009) discuss this in relation to forests in
Mallorca, suggesting that visitation rates exceed carrying capacity by a factor
of between four and eight times the appropriate level. Walking routes or trails
have been studied in detail to explore the changes to adjoining vegetation and
wildlife. For example, Hill and Pickering (2007) noted that the recreational
use of trails does have an impact on proximate native species, some of which
are rare, and encourages the spread of non-native weeds. They argue for more
ecology-related monitoring studies. The message is reinforced by Hawes et al
(2006). They undertook trials to establish how recreational impacts might be
monitored in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Park, arguing that
monitoring should be an essential component of trail management. Aiken and
Leigh (1986) undertook a survey of walking routes in the rain forests and
noted that the problem of erosion and formation of gullies on walking routes
occurs at lower elevations, while the problem recedes at higher elevations. In
summary, there are minor impacts from recreational use of trails on the ecol-
ogy of the corridors through which they pass. There is a need for monitoring
to ensure that the impacts do not become significant.
The impact of increased demand for trekking expeditions on the ancient
spiritual or pilgrimage trails in the Himalayas has been monitored by Kuniyal
