Walking tourism management based on tourists’ needs for indoor and outdoor activities in the function of sustainable local economic development

Abstract

Since the medical system is poorly prepared to use walking as a therapy for keeping mental well-being and taking into consideration people's needs for activities, the advantages of nature and active holidays on the mountain, rural and non- polluted urban areas are a basis for the development of strategies of the walking tourism management. The purpose of the research is to observe the possibility of managing walking tourism based on the needs of tourists for daily indoor and outdoor activities to achieve sustainable local economic development in the area of the tourist destination. The research was conducted using a descriptive method by the questionnaire-based survey. Results indicated that the management of walking tourism should take into account the differences that exist concerning indoor and outdoor activities between tourists of gender, age, marital status, number of children, education, work status, and annual personal investment for tourist travel and vacation. In the last decade, an increase in the number of walking strategies in the cities of highly developed countries has been identified, as well as the incorporation of this strategy into development policies and plans. For efficient and effective management of walking tourism, authors recommend embedding walking tourism in the sustainable local economic development strategy that will contribute to the creation of enabling business environment for the development of all types of tourism destinations through the "demand-driven" tourism offer based on sustainable using natural resources, local infrastructure, and building the capacities of the workforce.