Abstract
Physical activity (tourism and sport related) belongs to the leisure category most often undertaken by travellers visiting tourist and holiday destinations in Germany. This is confirmed by numerous studies in the field of sport tourism.
Berchtesgaden deserves special attention as one of the most important German tourist and sports centres. Thanks to favourable natural and climatic conditions, as well as good tourism and sport infrastructure, Berchtesgaden offers optimal conditions for sport tourism, both in summer and winter.
In order to examine selected aspects of sports and tourism activities of tourists and their opinions on tourism development and the possibilities of its use for the purpose of participating in sports and tourism activities, a questionnaire designed by the authors' was used. The work also uses informational materials from the Bavarian Statistical Office in Munich concerning mainly data on tourist traffic in Berchtesgaden and its selected websites.
The study involved a group of 316 individuals staying in the area during the 2017 winter season. The results of research indicate high physical activity of tourists staying in Berchtesgaden.
Most of them were involved in several hours of activity on a daily basis, including various forms of physical activity (tourism and sports), among which mountain and cycling trips as well as water forms of physical activity may be found during the summer season, while in winter, downhill and cross-country skiing as well as mountain hiking can be noted. The health and hedonistic aspects as well as social relations were among the most important reasons for undertaking tourism and sport activities by the surveyed tourists.