The Attractiveness of Selected Central European Countries for Winter Sports and Mountain Hiking

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Hiking, downhill skiing and snowboarding are among the most popular forms of active tourism in mountainous areas. Their popularity and their mass scale do not only result from the presence of the appropriate landscape, but also from its appropriate development. The objective of the article is to attempt to assess the attractiveness of selected Central European countries in terms of winter sports and mountain hiking, to consider the opinions of students who live in Visegrad Group countries, as well as to evaluate the barriers to development of their competitive offers. According to respondents, the most attractive countries for winter sports are Austria and Slovakia, and the least attractive are Hungary, Romania and Lithuania. In turn, according to the students, the best conditions for mountain hiking are in Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. In addition, respondents from particular countries assessed domestic offers highly.</jats:p>

The Recreational Trail of the El Caminito del Rey Natural Tourist Attraction, Spain: Determination of Hikers’ Flow

“…Recently, nature tourism has become one of the most desired leisure experiences [ 1 , 2 ], which has resulted in the exponential increase in activities performed outdoors [ 3 , 4 ]. Within the great choice of activities that can be performed in a natural environment, hiking should be highlighted, as it is considered one of the most popular leisure activities in the world [ 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…Many research studies have focused on the hiker, and have pointed out that the hiker profile has become unequal, in that situations were observed where many profiles of practitioners of physical sports activities (such as hikers, horseback riders, cyclists, or joggers) were found in natural areas [ 1 , 7 , 8 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 27 ]. Furthermore, there are different types or groups of hikers with different objectives or interests [ 26 , 28 , 29 ], who opt for performing their activity in nature either guided or non-guided, as observed with other sports performed in nature [ 6 , 27 , 30 , 31 ]. In light of this, many research studies have stated that it is possible to differentiate between visitor groups with different needs and behaviors throughout the trails [ 7 , 8 , 15 , 17 , 23 , 29 ].…”