Walking holidays were once a niche pursuit for hobbyists and adventurous.
Today though, they’ve emerged as a highly accessible and popular way to holiday.
Beyond their health benefits, they can have an impact on the environment, culture, and the local ecosystem. But, just how can far we push this in helping save Europe?
The sustainability of walking tourism
Walking holidays are inherently eco-friendly. By definition, the more time spent walking, the less time spent burning fuel in a car or on a ship. But beyond the obvious, there is also support for the local economy in ways that traditional holidays do not achieve, such as hyper-local spending in small villages, often deprived, as well as eco-certified lodges, which are connected to booking agencies like Santiago Ways. These adhere to rules around energy use, materials, and contribute to local conservation.
In France, places like La Belle Verte Ecolodge and Vit Tel Ta Nature do a great job in committing to sustainability. They have solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems, as well as pesticide-free policies.
Biodiversity monitoring
One of the less talked about advantages of walking holidays is their contribution to biodiversity monitoring. Hikers are encouraged to report sightings of wildlife to conservation organizations, which can be useful information for their surveys and monitoring.
Europe’s biodiversity monitoring efforts continuously face challenges and it’s becoming an existential threat to many species – and biodiversity more generally. Insufficient resources and fragmented data are the two main issues, and if hikers contribute to this out of goodwill, many headaches can be smoothed over. The walk along Camino de Santiago, for example, might be sightings of white Stork, otters, and roe deer which could greatly help conservation efforts.
Revitalising communities
By walking a pilgrim trail, like the Portuguese coastal route, hikers become immersed in a historical path that has many remnants along the way. UNESCO World Heritage sites greatly benefit from these passers by, particularly the smaller sites, and this can bring in extra income and social media attention.
The economic data of these trails backs this up, with famous routes like Camino de Santiago helping contribute to the GDP across much of the north. This is all the more important seeing as the south and east are what usually bring in the tourist money, and the stark difference in resorts and destructive construction is geographically obvious.
Now consider nations like Bulgaria and Romania, which have historically not benefitted much from western tourism. Today, the routes laid out on apps like All Trails is what brings in many nature lovers and their money. This money is more consciously spent compared to traditional tourism.
Walking as a symbol of unity
At its core, walking is about connection, both with the nature and with others. This is the pilgrims’ motivation in the first place, and to carry this on only helps bring people together from different backgrounds. Walking routes are important because they’re shared, not isolated, and it is becoming a symbol of broader efforts to spend our time, money and attention more consciously.
