The Value of Cycle Tourism Opportunities for the Scottish economy Ivan Zovko June 2013 www.scottishviewpoint.com A REPORT COMMISSIONED BY SUSTRANS SCOTLAND Sustrans Scotland commissioned Transform Scotland to fully investigate and cost the anecdotal evidence we have gathered over many years of delivering the national Cycle network in Scotland that business from leisure cycling is a much larger income stream to ‘Scotland plc’ than has been recognised to date. This report clarifies the important role that cycling plays in promoting the offer Scotland makes to visitors and residents, while also creating opportunities for business development throughout the country. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ivan Zovko’s professional focus is on making business sense of climate change and developing an economic case for environmental protection. Ivan holds a Masters of Science degree in ecological economics from The university of edinburgh, and is currently working with the Carbon Trust in London on reducing industry’s greenhouse emissions. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank neen Kelly and the members of the Cycle Tourism Forum for their input to the report. He would also like to thank Katharine Taylor at Sustrans Scotland for her invaluable assistance. Finally, he would like to thank the following people at Transform Scotland for their help during the project: Alison Bell, Anna Brand, Colin Howden, emma Margrett, Helen Todd, Jetta Doran and Meredith Robertson. REPORT DESIGN Beata Zemanek Transform sCoTland The Value of CyCle Tourism reporT June 2013 2 Contents ExECUTIvE Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 4 KEY recommendations ...........................................................................................................................................................5 1. Introduction Structure and Content ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................9 2. BACKGROUND AND Existing FINDINGS Concepts ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 economics of leisure cycling in Scotland ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Prior Research ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................13 Trends ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14 Cycle tourism during times of economic hardship....................................................................................................................................................... 14 Behaviour and market characteristics ................................................................................................................................................................................14 Manufacture, retail, rental and maintenance.................................................................................................................................................................. 15 environmental impacts ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 15 3. THE CONTRIBUTION OF Cycle TOURISM to THE Scottish Economy Research limitations ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................18 Multipliers .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................18 Health impacts ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................18 Leisure cycle events ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................19 Infrastructure and employment ...........................................................................................................................................................................................22 Value from direct expenditures ............................................................................................................................................................................................23 Total value of leisure cycle tourism in Scotland ...........................................................................................................................................................25 Gross Value Added ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Summary of economic impacts............................................................................................................................................................................................27 4. BUSINESS Research Questionnaire survey ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Survey results .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Survey conclusions .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................31 5. GOOD practice Stakeholder support .................................................................................................................................................................................................................34 next steps .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................34 Transport Integration ................................................................................................................................................................................................................35 Information and promotion ...................................................................................................................................................................................................35 6. Recommendations Strengthening leadership and coordination ....................................................................................................................................................................38 Knowing our markets ................................................................................................................................................................................................................38 Managing the customer journey ..........................................................................................................................................................................................39 Building sustainable tourism ..................................................................................................................................................................................................41 7. Summary AND CONCLUSION REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 48 APPENDIx ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 50 Glossary ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 51 Transform scoTland The Value of CyCle Tourism reporT June 2013 3 Executive Summary BACKGROUND, SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE REPORT This report demonstrates the