Cycle Tourism Research Articles

Strategies Promoting Cycle Tourism in Belgium: Practices and Implications

Cycle tourism poses a number of problems both for academics analysing it as a phenomenon and for those engaged in the management of it. Cycle tourism and cycling more broadly emerge at a nexus of contrasting and often competing agendas. These cross not only administrative policy boundaries, but frequently, as a mobile mode of tourism, geographical boundaries. Further, since the bicycle is also used for quotidian travel, policies designed to facilitate tourism may impact on more mundane activity. This article describes, compares and assesses a number of different strategies used to promote cycle tourism in Wallonia and Flanders. It notes the merits of different strategies employed not only in their capacity to facilitate Belgium as a cycle-tourism destination, but also, through this approach, to encourage and facilitate the specific use of the bicycle as a means of transport fitting with wider social and environmental agendas. It draws on user perspectives and considers the impact of mapping, routing guides and global positioning system (GPS) facilitated travel on the user. The article concludes that both approaches examined have distinctive merits, and that the most important considerations in best provision are the consistency and integration.

Networking of Fruska Gora lakes tourist offer through system of cycle paths: Case study sot, Bruje and Moharac Serbia

Fruška gora lakes Sot, Bruje and Moharač are the lakes that can be used in many ways for sports and recreation tourism. Nevertheless, the current tourism offer in these lakes is based only on offer for sports fishing. Bearing in mind that Fruška gora National Park, where there are three zones of protection, is of great importance the fact that the second and third zones are, with regard to territorial perspective, areas where it is desirable to develop sports and recreational tourism. Cycling is becoming an increasingly popular form of sports and recreational tourism, so tourism networking of Fruška gora lakes with system of cycle paths would represent only the first step to turn the whole mountain into the European cycle mainstream. In this sense, the aim of this paper is set to map the FJSA cycling paths connected to the system. The field research resulted in the mapping of the terrain. The interviews with experts from the Provincial Secretariat of Environmental Protection, the National Park and the Cycling Association of Vojvodina helped in the SWOT analysis of cycle tourism on Fruška gora lakes.

Regional community entrepreneurship through tourism: the case of Victoria's rail trails

Tourism is considered to be central to the development of many regional communities, however understanding the complex nature of tourism and its relationship with community development is often limited. Many require not only individual entrepreneurs to develop businesses, but also a community-based entrepreneurial approach is needed to fully realise the potential. To further understand this situation, this paper considers the case of the development of rail trails as a form of cycle tourism and recreation in regional Australia. Findings include evidence of the strong economic benefit these trails bring to regional communities as well as concluding that, in order for the economic and associated social benefits to be realised, community-based planning and support is necessary.

Putting the brakes on: impediments to the development of independent cycle tourism in Australia

Cycle tourism was identified in the Australian federal government's 2003 Tourism White Paper as a niche market with potential for enhancing Australia's competitiveness in the global tourism marketplace. However, if Australia is to establish itself as an internationally recognised cycle tourism destination, the three spheres of government must work together and take steps such as strategic planning, to improve the provision of infrastructure and amenities required by cycle tourists. Strategic planning requires a good knowledge of the needs of cycle tourists. However, at this time little systematic research has examined the efficacy of Australia to support this form of tourism. This article reports the outcomes of an exploratory study which examined three factors currently considered impediments to the development of independent cycle tourism. Quantitative and qualitative evidence are presented to confirm that factors including road safety for cyclists, inadequate infrastructure, and difficulties associated with the carriage of bicycles on transport services, currently act as impediments to the development of independent cycle tourism in Australia. Recommendations are also made for government actions that should be undertaken to ameliorate these impediments.

Racing Cyclists as Sports Tourists: The Experiences and Behaviours of a Case Study Group of Cyclists in East Kent, England

What little work exists on cycling tourism tends to be focused entirely on economic impacts with little coverage of the participants themselves and, furthermore, the coverage looks mainly at ‘cycling holidays’ of one sort or another with day visits and cycle racing being largely ignored. This paper offers a modest attempt at redressing this imbalance by examining the travel behaviour of a small group of racing cyclists in East Kent together with their attitudes towards place and environment and their socio-economic and demographic profile. The work is part of a broader study concerned with cycle tourism and, more generally, sports tourist typologies and is also designed to explore various ideas underpinning the ‘sports tourism participation model’ outlined in Weed & Bull (2004). The paper shows that the cyclists constitute an important group of sports tourists, in terms of their overall travel patterns and related behaviour and motivations. As sports tourists, both the importance of the activity and the level of participation is high and thus they can be located towards the driven end of the sports tourism participation model.

Small Firms in Tourism – International Perspectives

International perspectives on small firms in tourism: a synthesis (R. Thomas). Tourism, small firm development and empowerment in post-apartheid South Africa (C.M. Rogerson). Factors affecting small firms in tourism: a Ghanaian perspective (W.C. Gartner). Government assistance for tourism SMEs from theory to practice (S. Wanhill). Short-run output and employment effects arising from assistance to tourism SMEs: evidence from Israel (A. Fleischer, D. Felsenstein). Risky lifestyles? Entrepreneurial characteristics of the New Zealand bed and breakfast sector (C.M. Hall, K. Rusher). From lifestyle consumption to lifestyle production: changing patterns of tourism entrepreneurship (G. Shaw, A.M. Williams). Success and growth in rural tourism micro-businesses in Finland: financial or life-style objectives? (R. Komppula). The interaction of community and small tourism businesses in rural New Zealand (D. Keen). Whale watching: the roles of small firms in the evolution of a new Australian niche market (N. Scott, E. Laws). Small firms and wine and food tourism in New Zealand: issues of collaboration, clusters and lifestyles (C.M Hall). Quality homes, quality people: the challenge of quality grading and assurance in small accommodation enterprises (P.A. Lynch, H. Tucker). Overcoming the green gap: improving the environmental performance of small tourism firms in Western Australia (M. Schaper, J. Carlsen). Small firms and the principles of sustainable tourism: the case of cycle tourism (N.D. Morpeth). Accommodating the spiritual tourist the case of religious retreat houses (M. Shackley). Small firm performance in the context of agent and structure: a cross-cultural comparison in the tourist accommodation sector (A. Morrison, R.M. Teixeira). Coping with resource scarcity: the experience of UK tourism SMEs (M.M. Augustyn). Strategic and structural variables in internationalisation: the case of Swiss tourism SMEs (A. Mungall, C. Johnson) Small tourism firms in e-Europe: definitional, conceptual and contextual considerations (H. Matlay).

Monitoring of cycle tourism on long distance trails: the North Sea Cycle Route

The work reports the findings of a monitoring programme of a long distance cycle trail, the North Sea Cycle Route, launched in 2001. The North East of England was selected as the study area and the research design included unit counts, intercept surveys and a travel diary. The initial results suggest that day cyclists account for approximately 70 per cent of users and 30 per cent are cycle tourers. There is a link between group composition and duration of cycling which leads to higher levels of spending in the rural economy.

Transport and Tourism: Cycle Tourism – A Model for Sustainable Development?

Whilst the relationship between transport and tourism has been a subject of discussion in the literature, research has focused primarily on an evaluation of transport as a means to an end rather than as a contextual component of the tourism offering, especially at the destination. This paper evaluates the concept of a planned sustainable transport network, the National Cycle Network in the UK, as a potential model for the integration of transport, tourism and recreation. The paper concludes by exploring a number of implications, which may be considered when developing similar tourism transport networks. A model of sustainable transport development is presented.

Local Agenda 21 and Community Participation in Tourism Policy and Planning: Future or Fallacy

Turning from enunciation of sustainability to implementation, this paper focuses on the Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) policy envelope, emanating from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Agenda 21 challenges local authorities to adopt policy goals encompassing not only sustainable development but also to incorporate participative, collaborative processes, which involve local communities in defining their own sustainable futures. This can and should include tourism development as a significant environmental, economic and social agent. The impacts LA21 is having on tourism are assessed, using the UK as a case example, but with wider relevance. The paper evidences that while sustainable development in tourism practice is emerging, this remains largely outside the LA21 process, the significance of which and the relevance to tourism has been slow to be recognised. More attention to LA21's relevance to tourism is advocated and quintessentially sustainable forms of tourism development, such as cycle tourism initiatives, are used to example the largely unrealised potential for the convergence of the LA21 and sustainable tourism policy fields.

Bicycle tourism in the South Island of New Zealand: planning and management issues

Several emerging trends are pointing to the re-emergence of the bicycle as an important leisure and recreational transportation mode. Yet little research has been conducted into cycling within a tourism context. This paper examines the increasing phenomenon of bicycle tourism by defining bicycle tourists and bicycle tourism from a demand perspective, and describes the characteristics, infrastructure and travel behaviour associated with bicycle tourism through the examination of data collected on independent cycle tourists in the South Island of New Zealand. It illustrates through performance-importance analysis, the areas of major concern in the planning and management of bicycle tourism, and recommends that a demand side perspective is needed if the supply side of the industry is to be sustainable in the future. It makes recommendations for the future planning and management of bicycle tourism in New Zealand that may be of interest to countries currently developing cycle tourism.

Monitoring Tourism on the UK's First Long-Distance Cycle Route

This paper describes a research programme carried out on a newly created long-distance cycle route in northern England during 1996 and 1997. The survey sought to: profile users, monitor the overall number of users, describe their spatial and temporal distribution and quantify their economic impacts. This was achieved using a combination of automatic counters, field interview questionnaires, self-completion questionnaires and telephone interviews. The data showed that for 1996 between 12,000 and 15,000 people used the route spending between £1.07 and £1.85 million. Over half the service providers along the route were found to have benefited. In 1997 fewer people used the route, 11,000 cyclists, and the economic impacts have declined in proportion to the use levels. Causes of the reduction of user numbers are considered. The methodology applied is described, and associated issues are discussed. Conclusions are drawn concerning the performance of the route in terms of the cycle tourism niche market. The implications for other cycle routes with tourism potential are considered.

The Center out There: Pilgrim's Goal

The Center out There: Pilgrim's Goal