Consumer response towards an accreditation system for hiking trails

Abstract

Accreditation has a significant role to play in the upholding of quality and sustainability standards in the supply of tourism and leisure products. Accreditation systems, although widely used in tourism accommodation, services and sustainability practices, relate primarily to the traditional market of tourism with very few systems addressing the needs of adventure and nature-based tourism. When applied in the context of hiking, accreditation may materially impact the way trails are managed and marketed, leading to perceptions of quality and credibility amongst consumers. Trail owners and policymakers often question whether a demand for accreditation systems exists amongst consumers and to what extent such implementation could improve participation in the industry. While the work by various authors in the wider context of tourism provide some context as to the influence of accreditation systems on consumers' decision making and buying behaviour, in the case of hiking products, this has not previously been investigated. In fact, the unique components of consumer behaviour and consumer decision making in hiking has not been clearly defined at an academic level. Current literature provides no insight into the influence of accreditation systems in current and potential consumers' decision making regarding the consumption of hiking products. This study took a quantitative approach in the form of a survey research strategy to measure the importance of and future intended response towards trail accreditation, as determined by consumers from two different populations: hikers and nonhikers. This was achieved by presenting a hypothetical country-wide implementation of a case study accreditation system to respondents. The study demonstrates a link between accreditation and consumer decision making and the future uptake of hiking tourism amongst both hikers and non-hikers. The findings from this paper contribute to bridging numerous gaps in literature in the fields of adventure and nature-based tourism.

Sustainable Management of Trekking Trails for the Adventure Tourism in Mountains: A Study of Nepal’s Great Himalaya Trails

“…Th ere are a number of publications on management practices on trails and their implications for sustainability. Th e existing body of knowledge (American Trails, 2007;Beeton, 2007;Beirman, Upadhayaya, Pradhananga & Darcy, 2018;Council of Europe, 2010;Hayes & MacLeod 2007;Hugo, 2010b;Hughes & Morrison-Saunders, 2002;Kling, Fredman, & Wall-Reinius, 2017;MacLeod, 2016;Marion & Wimpey, 2017;Marschall, 2012;Mu & Nepal, 2015;Nyaupane, Lew, & Tatsugawa, 2014;Pickering & Norman, 2017;Rogerson, 2007;Santarém, Silva & Santos, 2015;Sato, Kim, Buning and Harada, 2018;Slabbert & Preez, 2017;TAOC, 2006;Timothy & Boyd, 2015;Weston & Mota, 2012;Williams, & Soutar, 2005;Zabbini, 2012;Zurich, 2010) on trails and tourism has diverse focuses.…”

“…Some other publications have specifi c focuses on the potential of trails for the improvement of the lives of host communities (Marschall, 2012;Zabbini, 2012), trekkers' perceptions of risk and death associated with high mountain adventure tourism (Mu & Nepal, 2015); trekking tourism led social and environment changes in the Himalayas (Nyaupane, Lew & Tatsugawa, 2014); trail soil erosion and maintenance (Pickering & Norman, 2017); role of decision and non-decision makers on role of adventure tourism motivation and destination loyalty and the destination marketing as the fulfi llment of the expectation of the adventure tourists (Sato et. all, 2018); ecotourism potential of hiking trails (Santarém, Silva & Santos, 2015); an accreditation system for hiking trails (Slabbert & Preez, 2017); development of trails and routes to promote regional development agenda while focusing on trail management (stakeholders and visitors'), cultural, and ecological issues and integrated eff orts on trail development and management (Timothy & Boyd, 2015); low carbon tourism trail (Weston & Mota, 2012); responsible management of responsible tourism operation (Williams, & Soutar, 2005); cultural routes and intangible heritage (Zabbini, 2012); potential of adventure tourism for national and local development in the frontier areas (Zurich, 2010); and recreation value of a new long-distance walking track (Cook, 2008).…”

“…Accreditation has a signifi cant role to play in the upholding of quality and sustainability standards in the supply of trail products. Th e work of Slabbert & Preez (2017) fi nds consumers response towards an accreditation system for hiking trails. Th is study reveals that there are very few systems addressing the needs of adventure and nature-based tourism.…”

“…Th ese have signifi cant role to play in the upholding of quality and sustainability standards in the supply of tourism and leisure products. At a national level, diff erent strands in a country's 'brand' can be articulated through a trail, for example Scotland's Whisky and Castles Trails and the Alsace Wine Route in France emphasize national identity through heritage and industry (Slabbert & Preez, 2017).…”

Quality-Certified Hotels: The Role of Certification Bodies on the Formation of Customer Behavioral Intentions

“…In that sense, there is an increasing importance of sustainability in tourism and the need for new insights into how to improve competitiveness in the tourism sector as a whole [3]. Moreover, recent research in the field of tourism has highlighted the link between quality and sustainability of destinations, in terms of both management and customers' perceptions [4,5]. Accordingly, the implementation of quality certifications would imply an improvement in the efficiency of the destination and, therefore, an increase in its sustainability.…”