The Cycle Tourism Opportunity Mike Dennison Project Manager, Cycle Tourism

What is Cycle Tourism?

Road CyclingMountain Biking Cycle Touring Trail Centres, Forest Trails, Mtb races / events e.g. Downhill, XC Cyclocross, Mtb Orienteering Supported off-road touring Traditional cycle touring E.g. LEJOG, Coast 2 Coast. Usually multi-day and self- supported Supported road touring Cycling on public roads e.g. Sunday club run, Sportives, long single-day tours, races & events Leisure / pleasure ‘coffee shop’ cycling!

Value of Cycle Tourism to the Scottish Economy Value of Cycle Tourism:£363m (TS 2013) Of which: Direct expenditure by leisure cyclists£228m Direct expenditure by mountain bikers£47m Economic Impact of the NCN in Scotland£375m (Sustrans 2014) Value of Golf to Scottish Economy:£1 billion (KPMG 2013) Cycle Tourism across Europe as a whole:£35.5 billion Country of origin (Estimate): Scottish based40% Rest of UK37% International23%

Annual usage estimate / km of all NCN route types in Scotland from 2010 until 2014 It’s a robust and fast growing sector!

Cycle Tourism 100k trips x 7.7 days x £46 / day = £35m (of which £18 / day is accommodation) 12.5m trips x 1 day x £15 / day = £187m Single day (x120) Multi day (x1) Expenditure by Leisure Cyclists in Scotland (estimate TS 2013) Value of Cycle Tourism to Scottish Economy Market Value £s Number of cycling trips Trip length (Days) Spend per day (£s) =xx

Our Cycling Visitor Decision making hierarchy Where cycling is the primary purpose for a trip to Scotland Where cycling is just one of a number of activities undertaken during a trip to Scotland Type of cycling – Road / Tour, Leisure, Mountain biking. Destination: Routes Scenery, Cultural / Natural Heritage. Itinerary building: Cycling friendly service providers…hire, accommodation, transport links etc. Destination: Scenery, Cultural / Natural Heritage, visitor attractions Service provision: ‘A cycling package’ Bike hire, nature and severity of routes, narrative which includes places of interest etc. Development of appropriate products and marketing materials for each audience

A 46 mile section from Oban to Fort William 340,000 trips are made on the route each year. 78% of trips are Cycle Tourism related. 56% of Route users used local accommodation. This contributed £361, 330 to the economy. This sustains 8.6 FTE jobs. Route Case Study NCN 78, Oban to Fort William

Business Case Study NCN 78, Oban to Fort William A 70% increase In revenue from bike passengers on the ferry in 2 years. ‘More and more cyclists and walkers are using the ferry every year…I’d definitely like to think about buying a second boat’ Dougie Robertson, Owner.

Event Case Study The Etape Loch Ness 2015 Annual mass participation event in its second year £740,000 positive economic impact for Highland region. 3,328 participants. 68% of participants were from outside the Highlands region. 40% aged yrs. 25% aged 50-59yrs. 22% aged yrs. 77% male, 23% female 92% of participants said they would take part in the event again. Event featured in 148 articles generating £1.1m of PR coverage.

Realising the opportunity… Product development – Recognising regional USPs / assets The Hebridean Way – Cycling (& walking) Other recreational cycling trails E.g. Lews Castle Trails Natural history and cultural heritage – Identifying barriers to participation & creating solutions Collaborative marketing of the cycling product(s) – VisitScotland.com – Joint funding E.g. VisitScotland Growth fund – Tour operators – Partners E.g. CalMac Create an industry lead Cycling (and walking?) Interest Group

Collaborative Case Study Black Isle Bicycles A ‘flying’ bike hire operator. Full service: – Delivery / collection – Guiding – Range of bikes (Inc. E Bikes) Website. Routes, featuring: – Visitor attractions – Service providers Start up funding from Costal Communities fund Community operated. sustainable!

Resources TIS Guide to Leisure Cycling TIS Guide to Mountain Biking Leisure Cycling crib sheet for VisitScotland VICs Highlands & Islands Enterprise Webinar series – Leisure Cycling Existing resources – Cicerone, ‘Cycling in the Hebrides’ – 3 rd party cycling websites E.g. Map my ride.

The Tour of The Isles – Ride with GPX

SUMMARY Finishing with the Video Example - The Caledonia Way Example of a video which showcases Scotland's natural history and heritage, in the context of a cycling journey along NCN 78 from Cambletown to Inverness. I will bring the final version on a disc, but you can view a late draft of it at use the Password This slide can be deleted