A walking tour is gaining popularity among South Koreans, particularly in their 20s and 30s as an alternative to expensive, cumbersome forms of travel, government data showed.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Tourism Organization earlier this week announced the results of their survey about Korean’s experience of visiting natural, historical and cultural attractions.

It was held across the country from December 2018 and November 2019 with 4,000 people between the ages of 15 and 79.

The survey showed that 37 percent of the respondents went on hiking during the period from a year earlier to 6.1 percentage points. He made an average of 4.2 trips.

Growth rates were particularly high in their 20s (9.7 points) and 30s (12.1 points).

While the majority of people visited with family members (50.8 percent) and friends (33 percent), those traveling alone increased from 5 percent last year to 17.7 percent.

As an attraction for walking tours, he cited beauty, relaxation, health, clearing of thoughts, and appreciation of nature.

The most popular destination was the Jeju Olle Trail, with 15.9 percent of the long-distance footpath on the southern island of Jeju as the site they visited most often.

This was followed by the Haeparang Trail (9.7 percent) along the east coast, Mount Jiri (8 percent) in the south, and the Deoksugung Palace (5.9 percent) in central Seoul.