The forest tourism and marketing communication in postCovid era

The forest is a multifunctional environment for tourism activities. Its use for recreational purposes in Slovakia as a landlocked country is already traditional and enjoys a large envelope across all segments of tourism participants. However, in the light of the global pandemic Covid19, its potential is even more significant: it is a territory beneficial to human health, it provides space for social distance, the nature of staying in a forest environment allows a break from massive and everyday use of IT technologies, it is an environment with low light or noise smog, etc.. The aim of the paper is to outline the perspectives of the current marketing communication of the forest as a territory for recreation in the so-called postCovid era. Based on a historical excursion, the author points out the main elements that shaped the tradition of a holiday in a forest environment in Slovakia during the modern era of tourism: the phenomenon of cottage, the phenomenon of marking hiking trails, high rate of afforestation of the country - these are the preconditions that predetermine the use of forest for recreation even in the new conditions in the tourism sector. © 14th International Scientific Conference WoodEMA 2021 - The Response of the Forest-Based Sector to Changes in the Global Economy, Proceedings. All rights reserved.