Wellness tourism, recreational tourism and other forms of tourism are popular and growing around the world.

These trends show that sports and adventure tourism are often combined with wellness tourism and developing facilities to cater to these trends can have significant economic benefit. Researchers from the Canterbury Christ Church University (Kent, UK) defined sports tourism as a social, economic and cultural phenomenon that stems from the unique interaction of activity, people and place.

Trail systems are a key attraction for visitors to a region. Visitors are drawn not only to the quality and array of trails available but also because of the experience they have in an area.

According to research conducted by Tourism BC in 2009, 25 – 30% of all travelers from North America who participate in either hiking or biking chose their destination specifically for these types of recreation.