Quality Evaluation of Signposted Pedestrian Routes Offer in North Portugal

Abstract

Hiking and walking have been considered as particularly significant leisure and tourism activities for the sustainable development of natural and rural destinations. As such, the research aims to evaluate the level of quality offered by hiking trails in Northern Portugal. Based on a quantitative methodology, a diagnostic matrix was applied, allowing the assessment of a set of attributes inherent to the practice of hiking. Thus, 185 walking trails were evaluated by different local actors, and results analysed using multivariate statistical procedures. The results obtained confirm that the NUTS III composing the North of Portugal display different patterns of quality of hiking infrastructures.