Nine New Indicators that Bicycle Travel and Tourism are Booming

Reader Contribution by Adventure Cycling Association
Published on January 10, 2013
article image

This article is posted with permission fromAdventure Cycling Association

Recent studies and stories from around the world indicate that bicycle travel of all kinds — short trips and long, luxury and cheap, big events and small tours — is enjoying the kind of popularity not seen since the 1970s, when bike touring experienced a major renaissance. Here are nine new indicators that bike travel and tourism are booming:

1. European Bike Tourism Generates 44 Billion Euros Annually: In September, researchers in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands found that bicycle tourism (including day trips and overnight trips) generates 44 billion Euros (or about $57 billion). The comprehensive study indicates that the bike-tourism sector generates 2.3 billion cycle trips in Europe every year and also takes visitors (and their money) to rural areas that are not often visited by other tourists.

2. Greater Global Interest in Bike Tour Business: This year at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, there were more bike tour operators than ever. There were also many tour operators, which have focused traditionally on walking and trekking tours, that are now edging into bike travel as an alternative (and growing) revenue stream. Companies also noted stronger demand for their bike-tour offerings. KE AdventureTravel, based in England, has seen classic bike journeys such as Bhutan’s Thunder Dragon Ride and Nepal’s Pokhara to Kathmadu attract double the numbers that they did in 2011. KE has also added a variety of new road and mountain biking tours in Rajasthan (India), Toubkal  (Morocco), and Phuket (Thailand). In the European bike tourism study, researchers surveyed hundreds of bike tour operators on the continent and found that they were seeing rising demand for cycling adventures, whereas demand was flat in 2009.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368