Italy’s Cinque Terre, California’s Wine Country and Iceland Top List
Backroads is gearing up for its biggest summer travel season ever, announcing today that Walking & Hiking Tours are the fastest-growing segment for the company, with double-digit growth over recent years. Backroads has been offering Walking & Hiking Tours for nearly 25 years and currently runs over 70 itineraries. In 2017, the segment saw faster growth than any other activity – with Cinque Terre & Tuscany Walking & Hiking Tour topping the list. Backroads also offers Multisport Trips that combine walking and hiking with other activities, including biking, kayaking or rafting in locations like Iceland, Yellowstone & Tetons, and the Canadian Rockies, which have consistently ranked in the top 10 best-selling trips for Backroads in the past two years. Additionally, the Taste of Camino de Santiago Walking & Hiking Tour is the most requested custom itinerary for private group travel.
The active travel industry has grown considerably in the past decade, reflecting the desire of many travelers to have unique experiences and incorporate adventure and fitness into their vacations. A walking and hiking journey offers Backroads’ guests the opportunity to more intimately see and connect with the environment, culture and people, and observe everyday life in a more authentic way. Secondly, in addition to its effects on aerobic and muscle strength, studies have consistently shown the health benefits of walking to be greatly significant: improving blood pressure and bone density, decreasing the risk of heart disease, and alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression.
With a quarter century of expertise on the trail, Backroads delivers on its commitment to creating more flexible itineraries for all paces and abilities with an industry-leading six-to-one guest-to-leader ratio and guaranteed van support on all Walking & Hiking trips.
“Backroads was initially founded as a biking company, but we’ve also been running walking and hiking trips around the world for almost 25 years,” said Tom Hale, Founder and President of Backroads. “Exploring an area on a walking and hiking tour makes adventure accessible to a wide demographic and it’s a spectacular way to see the world. Look for even more new trips in this segment in 2018 as we add additional adventures across the globe.”
Backroads Top 2017 Walking & Hiking Trips
Top US Walking & Hiking Trips in 2017
- California Wine Country Active Culinary Walking Tour
- Maui & Lanai Walking & Hiking Tour
- Arizona: Sedona Walking & Hiking Tour
- Cinque Terre & Tuscany Walking & Hiking Tour
- Iceland Walking & Hiking Tour
- Dolomites Hut-to-Hut Hiking Tour
- Provence to Costa Brava Walking & Hiking Tour
- Amalfi Coast Walking & Hiking Tour
- Mallorca Walking & Hiking Tour
- A Taste of Camino de Santiago Walking & Hiking Tour
- Iceland Multisport Adventure Tour
- Yellowstone & Tetons Multisport Adventure Tour
- Canadian Rockies Multisport Adventure Tour
- Bryce, Zion & Grand Canyon Multisport Adventure Tour
- Alaska Multisport Adventure Tour
- Dolomites Multisport Adventure Tour
- Dalmatian Coast Multisport Adventure Tour
- Hawaii’s Big Island Multisport Adventure Tour
- Costa Rica Multisport Adventure Tour