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The Trail Foundation is a non-profit foundation that promotes the development of trail culture and low-threshold access to nature experience.
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We are committed to promoting people’s mental and physical health, environmental protection and the sustainable development of society in general through inclusive access to natural and cultural spaces that are in harmony with animal, nature and landscape conservation and the sustainable development of our planet in general.
Mountain biking has become popular. In recent years, the sport has evolved from a niche sport to a booming leisure activity. In Switzerland, just under 7.9% of the total population ride mountain bikes. Unfortunately, infrastructure development and community building are severely lagging behind. This leads to uncontrolled growth and thus to areas of tension on a social and ecological level. There is a need for social action for sustainable visitor management via themed channeling.
The SMP (Swiss Mountainbiking Project) aims to strengthen the mountain biking segment, as an important source of income for Swiss summer tourism. Interest groups are networked, knowledge is compiled and supplemented. In this way, the design and maintenance of trails (trail management) can be professionalized. Infrastructures and services in tourism can be qualitatively expanded and thus the added value can be increased and secured in the long term.
Stakeholders from tourism, industry, environment, society and politics participate and contribute to the project. Last but not least, the financial support from Innotour, the SECO support program for innovation, cooperation and knowledge building in tourism, emphasizes the national importance of the project and the competitiveness of Switzerland as a tourist destination in the mountain bike segment.