Running head: DEMOGRAPHICS AND BARRIERS IN GUIDED CANOEING 1 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: Demographics and Barriers in Guided Canoeing Ryan M. Woroch Algonquin College DEMOGRAPHICS AND BARRIERS IN GUIDED CANOEING 2 Table of Contents Target Market.................................................................................................................3 Canoeing Industry Profile................................................................................. 3 Demographics...............................................................................................3 Participation Rates........................................................................................5 Enthusiasts....................................................................................................6 Crossover Participation................................................................................ 7 Guided Canoeing Market Profile...................................................................... 8 Demographics...............................................................................................8 Psychographics...........................................................................................10 Industry Barriers.......................................................................................................... 11 History and Development............................................................................... 11 Trade Organizations........................................................................................12 Certifying Bodies............................................................................................ 13 Barriers to Startup........................................................................................... 13 Government Involvement............................................................................................ 14 International Aspects................................................................................................... 15 References....................................................................................................................17 DEMOGRAPHICS AND BARRIERS IN GUIDED CANOEING 3 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: Demographics and Barriers in Guided Canoeing Target Market Participants in canoeing possess a considerable range of skills, involvement and outdoor interests. When describing the profile characteristics of the participants in the canoeing industry, it is important to make a distinction between overview data for the industry as a whole and the statistics provided for enthusiasts in order to identify specific qualities, values and habits that define a candidate for the specific services provided by guiding operations. To this end, a generalized assessment of an industry participant is presented before an analysis of enthusiasts. Canoeing Industry Profile Demographics. Qualities of the average canoeist vary by locale but a review of three tourism studies undertaken in North America reveals that the participants are usually male (Leisure Trends Group, 2004; Physical Activity Council, 2015; Rogers, 2003), with an average age of 36 (Rogers, 2003) with the greatest number of participants from the 25 – 44 age brackets, followed by 45 years and up (Physical Activity Council, 2015). Most canoeists are from adult only households (Rogers, 2003) in which 50% are married (Leisure Trends Group, 2004). They are typically better educated with a college degree or higher (Physical Activity Council, 2015; Rogers, 2003) and their household income is generally higher, with 48% earning more than $75K USD and 33% earning more than $100K USD (Physical Activity Council, 2015). Surprisingly, the ethnic profile of the canoeist is Caucasian but this figure is shifting. In 2004, 91% of canoeists were Caucasian (Leisure Trends Group, 2004) but in 2015 this number had DEMOGRAPHICS AND BARRIERS IN GUIDED CANOEING 4 dropped to 82% (Physical Activity Council, 2015). These facts have been summarized in Table 1 below. Table 1 Average North American Canoeist Profile Gender Average Children in Married Education Mean Income Greatest Age House USD Ethnicity Male 36 None 50% College or Higher >$75K Caucasian Note: Compiled from the Outdoor Recreation Participation Study for the United States (Leisure Trends Group, 2004), 2015 Special Report on Paddlesports (Physical Activity Council, 2015) and A Snapshot of the Canoeing & Kayaking Travel Market in North America (Rogers, 2003). Identifying where canoeists live is another aspect of defining who is involved. The distribution of Canadian residents who canoe and kayak is shown in Figure 1. Obviously, the greatest number of Canadian canoeists reside in Ontario which is understandable given that Ontario has the greatest population density of all regions. Although this pie chart includes kayakers it is still indicative of the canoeing market due to high crossover rates between canoeists and kayakers (Leisure Trends Group, 2004). Figure 1. Where Canadian Canoeists/Kayakers Live (Rogers, 2003). DEMOGRAPHICS AND BARRIERS IN GUIDED CANOEING 5 The residence location of the bulk of the American canoeing population is located along the border to Canada especially from the central region to the east coast. Participants from the American North Central and North Eastern regions (see Figure 2) comprise 51% of canoeists in the United States with another 33% from the south (Leisure Trends Group, 2004). Figure 2. Regional Breakdown of the United States (Transair, 2017). In summary, seventy percent of Canadians canoeists live in Ontario or eastward and fifty- one percent of American canoeists live in the states that border that same zone. Participation Rates. General canoeing participation rates are somewhat unclear due to the varied methodology of various organizations. Despite the discrepancy, the numbers reach into the millions and represent a sizeable market base. For example, the Outdoor Recreation Participation Study for the United States (2004) stated that, “canoeing ranks as the most popular of the Paddlesports of 2003” with 25.5 million participants. The American Canoe Association partnered with the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) to create the Paddlesports Participation Report that indicated that 22.8 million participants were involved in canoeing in 2009 (2010). The 2015 Special Report on Paddlesports placed canoeing participation at 10 million Americans and the 2016 General Social Survey (GSS), Canadians at Work and Home, suggested that 6.6 million Canadians had gone canoeing or kayaking in 2016. DEMOGRAPHICS AND BARRIERS IN GUIDED CANOEING 6 All of these figures are from North America although some are strictly USA numbers and some Canada only. Outings statistics suggest that the average American went canoeing seven times in 2014 (Physical Activity Council, 2015) which is up from five in 2004 (Leisure Trends Group, 2004) and 5.5 in 2010 (NSRE, 2010). The maximum number of outings reported in 2014 was 24 (Physical Activity Council, 2015). The rolling trend or method of smoothing out fluctuations in data identified by the Leisure Trends Group (2004) was that canoeing participation rates are gradually increasing. Outing statistics for Canada were not available. Enthusiasts. A breakdown of these numbers reveals subtle differences in the characteristics between a general canoeist compared to an enthusiast. An enthusiast is clearly an avid participant that possesses a superior skill set in the sport compared to the average individual. The Outdoor Recreation Participation Study (2004) prepared a comprehensive assessment of an American enthusiast based on their survey data and concluded that enthusiasts represent the top 15% of all canoeing participants or 3.5 million individuals. According to their data, enthusiasts most common characteristics are; male (75%), unmarried (57%), Caucasian (91%), from childless households (52%), with higher than average income (mean $62K, 22% >$80K USD) and with a median age of 32. The age demographic of enthusiasts was polarized between 16 - 24 years and greater than 45 years, with 7% of the enthusiast population being older than 60. These individuals primarily reside in the North Central and North East areas of the United States although 71% of all enthusiast participants live in the northern states that border Canada from coast to coast, an equivalent of 2.485 million people (3.5M x 71%). Enthusiast participants represent 1.6% of the American, adult population greater than 16 years. They took 77 million outings which represents 69% of all outings and 11% of all participants. DEMOGRAPHICS AND BARRIERS IN GUIDED CANOEING 7 Enthusiast statistics for Canada were not available but can be considered equivalent to the American values for comparison purposes since enthusiasts share most of the same demographic qualities as the general canoeing population and the industry demographics did include figures from Canada. Table 2 shows a summary of enthusiasts’ demographics and has been adjusted in the income category to reflect the change in the USD from 2004 to 2015 (H Brothers Inc., 2018). Table 2 Average North American Enthusiast Canoeist Profile Gender Median Children in Married Education Mean Income Greatest Age House USD Ethnicity Male 32 None 43% College or >$79K Caucasian Higher Note: Compiled from the Outdoor Recreation Participation Study for the United States (Leisure Trends Group, 2004). Perhaps the greatest differences between the average canoeist and an enthusiast have to do with skill,