Demand for Trails and Routes - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 123

need to travel away from home for a significant period of time to participate
in a hike, rail trip or other linear journey (Davies & Prentice, 1995; Timothy,
2011a). Short attention spans bear on this as well. Boredom has been cited as
a reason for not using nature or heritage trails (du Cros, 2008; Troped et al. ,
2001) or as a reason to cut a visit short.
Interpersonal constraints
There are in fact relatively few interpersonal barriers to trail participa-
tion. The main interpersonal limitation, however, is a paucity of people to
socialize with. As the information earlier in the chapter noted, most trail
users travel together with friends or relatives.
Sharing enjoyment of natural or cultural routes with other people is an
important motive. Having nobody to share the experience with may prevent
some people from frequenting trails. As well, traveling, hiking or cycling
with other people might provide a sense of security, so that not being able to
visit trails with others can be a barrier in this regard as well.
Structural constraints
Access is a crucial issue in people's decisions not to visit a trail. As noted
earlier in the chapter, people are more inclined to use trails that are closer to
home. It makes sense, then, that the further a trail is from one's residence
the less likely he or she will be to visit (Troped et al. , 2005). Although travel-
ing a route or trail might be the aim of a person's vacation experience, the
need to travel great distances to access a linear corridor is clearly a significant
barrier for some people. Related to this, difficult terrain, hilliness and inad-
equate parking facilities near trails are salient obstacles for many who might
otherwise desire to use a path.
One of the most salient issues being discussed in tourism and recreation
studies these days is access for people with disabilities. Many pathways are
not able to cater to the needs of all sectors of society, including those who
might have mobility problems (Haynes & Cope, 1998; Moore et al. , 1996).
The lack of accommodation for people with physical disabilities prevents a
huge segment of the population from using most trails (Troped et al. , 2001),
although many urban and suburban pathways have been hardened and gra-
dients changed to be able to facilitate users with special needs. Stronger leg-
islation in many parts of the world aims to facilitate access to everyone, but
in some cases, such as on many wilderness trails or at certain cultural sites,
accessibility cannot be guaranteed, and there are legal waivers that prevent
complete access if it means threatening the natural or heritage significance
of the place (Timothy & Boyd, 2003).
While people cite low levels of discretionary income as a constraint to
using heritage and natural resources, including trails, this may be a question