Forest, Health and Tourism: Developing Sustainable Health Tourism Offers in Local Forests

Abstract

Purpose – Forests are a “polyvalent space” of very broad significance and use. Especially given the ongoing shift towards being a “health space” and their increasing interpretation by society as a location for leisure activities, recreation and experiencing nature, forest-based health tourism activities and offers are springing. It is therefore crucial to take not only the demand side into account, but also those offering these forests: the forest owners. Methodology – Within the framework of a cross-border "INTERREG-V-A Austria-Bavaria 20142020" research project on the socially important topic of "Forest, Health and Tourism", an online survey of forest owners (n = 150) in the projects pilot regions of Lower Bavaria and Upper Austria was conducted and evaluated. Findings – Forest has an enormous emotional value for their owners. Indeed, they see the importance of their forests for the population and society, but primarily as a deliverer of “ecosystem services" and not as activity space. There is a basic willingness to make their forests available for health tourism use, but this requires compensation or added value. Contribution – While a forest-related, health tourism product development deals in particular with the demand side, addressing specific target groups with concrete offers, the supply side is often neglected. The survey makes clear that forest owners, despite the common right of free access to forests, must always be seriously and actively involved in product development and implementation of forest-based health tourism offers as key stakeholders in a participatory and transparent manner.