Active tourism

Every year millions of people travel around the world. Tourism is a huge global industry. COVID-19 has disrupted a lot of international and domestic travel and will for the foreseeable future. During the shutdowns, we have all been reminded of the importance of being physically active and being outdoors. Around the world, more people have flocked to bikes as a mode of transportation - Paris is making new cycling lanes and many bike shops in Canada have said that they are running low on stock because everyone has bought bikes. There is clearly a craving to get outdoors and active tourism will be key to building back better and helping the global economy reemerge from this. Tourism will be impacted for the foreseeable future, but focusing on active tourism can be a sustainable way to grow tourism when borders open back up. 

In the summer, tourism strategies can focus on activities like biking, canoeing, kayaking, hiking mountain biking, paragliding, surfing, golfing, white water rafting, rock climbing, tree climbing, and snorkeling. In some locations in the Alps or other mountain ranges, you could market downhill skiing during the summer. In the winter, tourism strategies should focus on cross country skiing, downhill skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, hiking, ice climbing, ice sailing or even dog sledding. 

All levels of government can prioritize active tourism by marketing their natural environments and the adventures they have to offer. Promoting national parks and hiking trails is a great place to start, and that can be expanded to offer many unique experiences for visitors. 

Some organisations have even been created to help people be active during their vacations. Runnin’ City is an app that creates special running routes for travellers with an audio guide, and has built-in green routes (a feature that gives you data on real-time air quality and allergens before you start). It even plants a tree for every 100km users run. There are also organisations, like MY Adventure, that use their revenues from outdoor adventures for various community projects, including free guided bike tours of Edinbrugh.

An important part of these strategies is making them accessible. In many places in Europe, mostly because of population density, a lot of hiking, skiing and many other recreational activities are accessible by public transit. Some places like Zermatt, Switzerland, even banned cars and to keep the air clean (this decision was made by referendum). In places like Canada, especially northern Canada, where the population is very spread out, having places accessible by alternative means of transport, other than cars, is much harder. However, making these places accessible is important. Tourism strategies need to include transport for visitors so they can be stress free. 

Setting aside more natural environments will also help conservation efforts. By making more land and sea available to people, more funds can be raised to protect and conserve that area. There also need to be strong regulations and policies in place to counter over-tourism, as this can have a negative impact. 

There are a lot of opportunities for us to expand our sport travel. This is a largely untapped market and we can do a lot of expansion to help build back better after the pandemic. This will mean growth, new jobs and a focus on being active and healthy. 

Tourism strategies should focus on rebuilding tourism with a stronger focus on active tourism. Everyone has been reminded of the importance of being outdoors and reconnecting with nature during the pandemic. People will be looking for these adventures when international travel resumes. The tourism industry should be ready for this.