The "Hiking Years" program
About this good practice
The program initially aimed to improve the hiking infrastructure in the county, which had not been updated since 1970. The work focused on setting up mountain trails with a total length of 800 kilometers, involving tasks such as removing or clearing invasive vegetation or wind-felled trees, restoring the trail surfaces, repainting trail markers, and installing posts, markers, panels, and arrows, all in line with the G.P. Guide for Developing Hiking and Cycling Trails in the Mountainous and Hilly Areas of Sibiu County, also developed as part of the program. Hiking guides were also trained to make these tours more attractive and to include offerings from local communities in their services: meals with local producers or visits to small local attractions or personalities.
The program includes also a monthly calendar of public hiking list for all levels of visitors, regular cleaning hiking days (Drumețenie), dedicated hiking programs for schools and promotion hiking days for press, journalists, travel agencies, NGOs or influencers.
The main stakeholders of the program are the County Council and the Sibiu County Tourism Association which implemented the activities. Other significant stakeholders are:
- Mountain Rescue Service Salvamont
- 35 local guides who provided the guiding services and integrated the trails in attractive offers
- the local administrations who provided information about local tourism operators and food producers .
Expert opinion
Resources needed
EUR 465.000 per Year
7 team members (infrastructure & promotion)
Evidence of success
800 km of trails
2 Eco-tourism fairs per year
330 hiking tours (with 7.130 participants, adults & children) / year
1 online hiking application and website / social media activity
Community embracing and involvement
Education: enhance the creativity of guides, local operators, knowing and understanding nature for all participants
Potential for learning or transfer
1. A dedicated managem. team, consisting of external specialized experts, ensures effective oversight and develop.
2. Well-defined working procedures, along with a comprehensive manual for trail building and signalization, provide clear guidance for implementation. The manual is a very practical instrument to align the trail building and signalization to certain standards.
3. Capacity-building prog. are in place to enhance the skills of guides and improve service quality. The framework in which the guides are collaborating and implementing the program is also a good model to be transferred to other regions.
4. Expertise in offer development contrib. to creating a compelling and sustainable tourism experience. Our workshops conceived to develop and shape slow tourism experiences.
5. A carefully crafted content plan supports the destination’s positioning as a slow tourism destination, promoting a more immersive and mindful visitor experience.