Tourist Routes Marking

In the latter half of the 19th century, when tourism began to develop dynamically in Europe, hiking became popular in the territory of today’s Slovakia. Townspeople used to head to the surrounding forests and distant mountains to relax, which became more accessible thanks to transport development. Spending time in nature accompanied by hiking to remarkable sites, viewpoints, and natural attractions required not only the building of hostels or shelters and the development of mountain guide services, but also the need to mark routes – tracks and roads that tourists could use for safe hiking, for reaching their destination and return back. The origins of the tourist marking tradition – the marking of new routes, the renewal and inspection of existing routes, a consistent register of routes, records of changes, updates for cartography purposes, etc. – date back to 1874. Due to wars and political changes, the name of the organisation that has taken care of tourist marking in Slovakia, has changed several times (1874 – the Hungarian Carpathian Society, 1920 – the Czechoslovak Tourists’ Club, 1939 – the Slovak Tourists’ and Skiers’ Association, 1968 – the Slovak Tourists’ Association, 1990 – the Slovak Tourists’ Club), however, their mission and objectives have remained unchanged. Their experience has been handed down from generation to generation until today, with their traditional work in the field being extended by the use of new recording and displaying technology. The marking of hiking trails has always been a specialised volunteer activity, which is carried out today by around 300 of over 20,000 registered members of the Slovak Tourists’ Club. In their spare time, they mark tourist routes – tracks and roads, and take care of the renewal, systemic maintenance, improvement, or extension of marking and information elements along more than 15,000km long routes all over Slovakia. The results of their activities serve both domestic and foreign tourists. The sophisticated system of tourist marking represents a valuable heritage based on intergenerational transmission and direct communication at the level of small working groups. New recruits are assigned the position of assistant markers. If during the training period they demonstrate the necessary skills and ingenuity, good physical fitness and condition, as well as mental skills and a moral character to work independently, they are proposed to attend a training. After completing it, they become qualified markers and can be assigned a specific route for the renewal of which they carry responsibility. Prof. Ing. Ivan Zapletal, DrSc. and doc. Ing. Arnošt Guldan, CSc. produced educational texts for the training of markers and instructors, which are still in use today. The networks of marked routes are currently digitised and stored in an electronic register. They are periodically reviewed and updated using a marking software.