Cultural Routes and Heritage Trails - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 57

Figure 2.13 The head of the Gospel Trail in Israel
begin at different spots in Nazareth and traverse different villages and rural
areas for the most part, and tell a slightly different story. The existence of
two somewhat parallel trails with similar objectives is confusing to tourists,
and there has been considerable criticism levied against the Ministry of
Tourism for establishing a second route focusing on the life of Jesus when
one already existed in the same region (Mansfeld, 2012), although appar-
ently the Gospel Trail was conceptualized earlier. Nonetheless, both con-
tinue to function, offering different tours, hiking and camping experiences
along the way.
Conclusion
This chapter has set out part of the supply side of trails and routes. While
the focus has been on describing myriad cultural heritage trail types in their
respective settings, the conceptual model presented in the chapter provides
a basis for simplifying this complexity into two distinct trail types: those
that have organically evolved and those that have been deliberately designed
as tourism opportunities and part of a region's attraction base. The authors
have attempted to balance the discussion of both groups, remaining cogni-
zant that even with the sub-categorization for each group it still does not
cover the whole gamut of trails that exist. Instead, the focus has been to give
treatment to the major subtypes within both categories. In terms of supply
what has emerged from this discussion is that any major tourism region can
lay claim to having an existing trail that was deliberately developed around
key nodes of attraction or that local and regional policies have included the