Hiking in the COVID-19 era: motivation and post-outbreak intentions

ABSTRACT Nature-based tourism has become one of the most popular leisure activities in the world. Activities in nature-based sites bring tourists closer to nature and enable them to find out more about the area through which they are walking by discovering diverse heritage and ethnographic features, situated on or near the hiking trails. It brings a wide range of individual benefits such as boosting mood, improving mental health, reducing stress, calming anxiety, and can lead to a lower risk of depression. Hiking accounts for a significant share of nature-based tourism especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to explore the main motives that drive people to hike. Motivation is a key concept in determining and understanding the reasons for leisure and outdoor activities. Using the data collected in March 2021, the findings underline the importance of Relaxation, Discovery and Enjoyment as the factor that shows the greatest hiker’s motivation. In addition, Creativity, Learning and Control and Socializing have also proven to be important motivating factors. On the other hand, Recognition has been shown to be the least motive for hiking activities and people do not go on hiking to be recognized or show others that they can do it, except in some cases with younger and less experienced hikers. The paper concludes with research limitations and implications for destination management organizations and tourism service providers.