Tourism/ The regulations for the trails are ready, from management to classification and safety

2024-05-23 15:24:00, Aktualitet CNA

Tourism/ The regulations for the trails are ready, from management to

A draft regulation for the standardization and administration of tourist trails aims to create a clear management, but also increased safety for adventure tourists, who have increased in our country in recent years.

The regulation issued for consultation by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment envisages the creation of a complete database on trails in the country, firstly providing for the creation and administration of the National Register of Trails, its periodic updating, the digital register, the completion with the necessary signage.

For each new path that is registered, the necessary documentation must be completed. The document also sets out responsibilities for each institution.

"The municipality is responsible for the administration of the paths, which are located within its territory, but outside the protected areas. The responsibilities of the Municipality in the function of the administration of the paths are the same as those of the regional branches of AKZM", the regulation states.

At the moment when local institutions present a document for the registration of a new trail, the ministry must examine it within 60 days.

"The responsible sector in the Ministry of Tourism has the right, within the framework of the examination of the request for the registration of the path in the National Register of Paths, to request the establishment of a working group for the field verification of the information presented. The responsible sector in the Ministry of Tourism notifies the authority that submitted the request and the verification group, as well as coordinates the on-site visit," the draft regulation states.

As far as digital recording is concerned, this document highlights that trails are recorded in the field, in real time, along the description of the footpath and the use of a GPS device or a mapping application. For this purpose, the Outdooractive app or similar apps can be used.

The regulation also provides for the classification of the paths so that every tourist knows the degree of difficulty each of them has.

The paths are classified into: a) Easy path; b) Moderate mountain path; c) Difficult mountain path; ç) Alpine route.

For each classification, elements such as: a) The width of the path, the conditions of the slope and the risk of falling are taken into consideration; b) The need for safety ropes or cables and their frequency c) The need to use the hands to maintain balance or to move; ç) Frequency of difficult parts of the path; d) Difficulty of climbing in different parts of the path; dh) The difficulty of the route compared to the required level of coordination.

In the same way, the regulation calculates the classification of the paths according to the walking time.

The regulation provides that the design and opening of paths, on the slopes of hills or mountains with steep terrain, should be carried out as much as possible, around the face of the peaks, gradually gaining height with wide U-shaped curves.

"The path should never go to the top, even in areas with moderate slopes. "U-shaped turns should provide the easiest and most attractive passage for visitors of the path, both on the way up and down, so that the latter do not cut short, avoiding the turns," the document states.

The same underlines that the average standard for path width is 1.2 (one point two) meters and the average standard for path height is 2.4 (two point four) meters.

Regarding signage, the regulation brings to attention that in order to guarantee uniformity, the provisions for signage on trails in this regulation are mandatory for new trails, as well as must be applied to existing trails when it is necessary to replace signage that is too far away. standards established in this regulation.

The authorities are obliged to periodically inspect the paths for their condition and perform maintenance as necessary.

The document also defines the behavior that visitors should have on the paths for the protection of the environment but also in terms of safety.

The issue of trails in the country has often been a topic of debate where adventure tourists choose to do it alone without guides and without getting full information ending up in serious accidents up to loss of life. During 2023, such episodes were frequent, from climbing mountains to uncontrolled entrances to canyons./ Monitor.al