| Summary: | Tourism is one of the leading growth industries in the world. Alongside its economic and
socio-cultural significance, tourism also has negative environmental impacts, which are particularly
highlighted when environmentally sensitive regions are affected. In biodiversity-rich areas, opening of
sensitive and fragile areas through expanded and upgraded transport infrastructure may prove
detrimental to the environment of the area. The mountainous area of the South-western region in North
Macedonia with its nature, cultural and historical heritage has potential for development of tourism.
Already the cycling and walking paths are at the place, with an intention for expansion and continuity of
their network. The purpose of the paper is to devise recommendations for development of sustainable
tourism through the analysis of the current and proposed transport infrastructure for walking and
cycling in this region, that has an inoffensive environmental impacts. Hence, this paper constitutes an
important contribution to the further debate on the need to make tourism more environmentally
friendly and sound, not just in the South-western region in Macedonia as the most touristic region, but
also at the nation level for the whole country.
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