Bike Tourism: Sustainable Economic Development (AKA, Wallets on Wheels) Barb Chamberlain Executive Director, Washington Bikes WAbikes.org Co-Chair, Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Parks and Outdoor Recreation http://www.rco.wa.gov/boards/TaskForce.shtml @WAbikes // @barbchamberlain #biketravel // #bikesmeanbusiness // #biketouring // #bikenomics // #WAoutdoors
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Bike Tourism: Sustainable Economic Development
(AKA, Wallets on Wheels)
Barb Chamberlain
Executive Director, Washington Bikes WAbikes.org
Co-Chair, Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Parks and Outdoor Recreation
About WA Bikes: Statewide nonprofit Long history of legislative success Policy Safe Routes to School Local advocacy Resources for individuals & communities Promoting bike travel/tourism We want to be your partner. Outdoor Rec Task Force: Look on RCO.wa.gov to find it. Online townhall. Meetings in Spokane, Wenatchee, Port Angeles. ENGAGE. I’ve done another Ignite on how riding a bike makes you happier, healthier, smarter, with more money in your wallet. This is about how you get us to spend that money in your town.
Study by @TravelOregon: #biketravel=$400M/year. WA has more people, more trails. #bikesmeanbusiness @WAbikes
76% of Portland visitors said bike-friendly rep helped them choose city as destination. #bikesmeanbusiness #biketravel @WAbikes
WA bike retail ~$162.42M/yr. 4x trips/travel multiplier = $649.68M/year spent by WA folk on #biketravel. #bikesmeanbusiness @WAbikes
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Outdoor recreation is big business—an overlooked giant in the economy—and bicycling is the #2 most popular outdoor activity. Nationwide, annual consumer spending on outdoor recreation tops $646 billion per year—more than spending on motor vehicles and parts. Outdoor recreation employs more Americans than construction, transportation and warehousing, education, information technology, or the oil and gas industry. 6.1 million American livelihoods depend directly on it and this sector grew 5% per year 2005-2011—during the recession. Spending on bicycling each year outweighs spending on golf, tennis, and skiing—combined. In the state of Washington, at least 63% of residents participate in outdoor recreation each year (not counting hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing). Americans buy three times more bicycles per year than they do automobiles. They spend more on bicycling gear and trips ($81B/year) than on airplane tickets and fees ($51B). In the state of Washington, annual gross income from bicycle retail stores alone is estimated at $162.42 million, supporting 2,008 jobs. For every dollar spent on gear and vehicles, an estimated $4 in spending on trips and travel results--meaning that as much as $649.68 million per year may be spent by Washingtonians on bike travel.
Annual US spending on airfare: $51B. Annual US spending on bikes: $81B. Source: @OIA bit.ly/OIA2012Study #bikesmeanbusiness
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Americans buy three times more bicycles per year than they do automobiles. They spend more on bicycling gear and trips than they do on airplane tickets and fees. How much more? $30 billion more: $81 billion/year on bikes, $51 billion on air. Gov’s Task Force on Parks/Outdoor Rec: Find stable funding for State Parks Get kids offline and out of doors Promote Washington’s outdoor economy WA Outdoor Economy estimated at $22.1B/year, 227K jobs—MORE THAN AEROSPACE & IT COMBINED. You want a piece of this.
Fueled by calories I can drive across WA on one tank of gas—not possible for bikes! Biggest impact OR study found was in rural areas like eastern OR, not Portland. Roads = underutilized recreational asset. We believe in this message and are carrying it to legislators. They need to hear it from the communities they represent. SnoCo discussions recently w/Mayor & City Council Member, Arlington, 2 SnoCo County Council Members, & other local leaders: Tourism = #3 sector in local economy, BEST chance of helping them recover from disastrous Hwy 530 mudslide. Faster than recruiting manufacturing jobs, helpful at any scale, leverages what they have & what people want in the future.
Growing interest in experiential travel, sustainable travel, #biketravel. @WAbikes
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People like Thomas Stevens rode their bikes around the world in the late 1800s and wrote about it. Today it’s Ellee Thalheimer, Path Less Pedaled & other blogging bicyclists. Great exposure is just a click away. NEED GOOD INFO TAILORED FOR BICYCLISTS! Don’t just put a pretty bike picture on the cover of your downtown brochure and your home page. Maps meant for biking, not driving. Locations of trailheads for MTB. Where people who bike can refill a water bottle and go to the bathroom even if they don’t buy anything. We brought out a new multi-day tour guidebook that meets these standards. Review yesterday from Florida, international distribution. Adding more content and WE WANT YOUR TOWN. Some of your tools for building your online profile: Instagram. Twitter. Facebook. Pinterest. YouTube. Our website.
#Biketravel demographics=many high disposable income, time for leisure. They spend if you’re bike-friendly. @WAbikes
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Types of bike travel: Touring: Ride bikes to & through your town. Important: Regional connections, wayfinding, multiple destinations close enough together. Day trips: Drive, fly, train/bus to your town, stay there, take short rides in the area. Important: Bike-friendly reputation, local infrastructure, things to do. Mountain biking: Town as base camp. Important: Trail development, access Bike events: Rides or races. Important: Organizers & repetition. Become a tradition.
Good news for small/rural towns: You can attract #biketravel w/o high-end big-city accommodation. @WAbikes
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Two primary groups of touring riders—not a scientific typology based on deep research: High-thread-count High-adventure Thread-count people may not need total luxury accommodations but they like the nicer side, may not want to camp out. Adventure types: They’re younger, they camp, they may not spend as much but they’re your social media engine.
Bike Tourism: The Path to Rural Sustainability
(AKA, “Wallets on Wheels” Barb Chamberlain Executive Director
Washington Bikes, @WAbikes WAbikes.org
#biketravel // #bikesmeanbusiness // #bikeWA
Good news for small/rural places: People who like #biketravel prefer to get off the beaten path. @WAbikes
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Great connections with local ag. What is your town noted for? Farms: Skagit Valley tulips Breweries, distilleries, wineries, cideries – top destinations in OR study Wildlife viewing Photography (Palouse: photographer’s dream—all of WA Is!) Art studios, e.g., glassblowing in Langley You need GOOD MAPS that tell people on bikes how to get there BY BIKE, with attractions highlighted. Our guidebook = model. We’d like to work with you to create custom maps for your area, design tours and day trips, feature special offers for biking customers. Visit Kitsap idea of farm flags: Great idea we want to help spread. Put out the welcome mat and we’ll advertise you.
Montana study: Traveling cyclists spend $75.75/day & and stay an average of eight or more nights. 41% stayed in hotels/motels or bed and breakfasts. Demographics: median age of 53 years; 56% with median income of $75,000-150,000 (10% earned over $200,000). Respondents hailed from 48 states and 18 countries, including Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Columbia. Trip highlights included scenic views, local hospitality, and diverse landscapes. Off-bicycle activities included visiting historic sites (40%); wildlife watching (37%); and experiencing local breweries (29%). What bike travelers want: Better road conditions, such as better shoulder width and a reduction in rumble strips; driver education/awareness; more bicycle-friendly campgrounds.
Sleep. Eat. Drink. Ride. Be Merry. Repeat. #biketravel @WAbikes
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Info people are looking for in bike travel also helps market your town as a great place to live. Your great outdoors, art galleries, ice cream parlors, breweries, coffee shops, farmers’ markets, bird sanctuaries, all appeal. But you HAVE to aim at bike riders directly. Not enough to put a pretty bike picture on the brochure because your town may have no bike racks and hostile drivers. If so, that word spreads rapidly. We’re like hobos with the curb markings but we’re on Yelp and Facebook. You need great word of mouth, which comes from great real-life experiences and content designed by bicylists, for bicyclists.
Don’t stereotype “cyclists” in bike promo. All kinds of riders for all kinds of reasons. @WAbikes #biketravel
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Cyclist stereotypes—people are people! Show me who you want to attract to visit, work, or live in your town and I’ll show you people just like that who ride bikes. Don’t just show MAMILs. Don’t put someone in Lycra on a MTB trail (a town in WA did this because “bike people wear Lycra”). Show diversity, families, different types of BIKES as well as PEOPLE.
Invite Bikes with Wayfinding Does your town invite bikes w/wayfinding signage, link to regional network? @WAbikes
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This wayfinding NOT in Washington state! From Czech Republic. This is from their equivalent of the US Bicycle Route System—Route #11. Note distances in kilometers; 96K to Praha = nearly 60 miles and they have a sign for that! My experience moving from Spokane to Seattle & seeing signage. Riding through Seattle & seeing neighborhood bike signage. Coordinate signage across county lines! Use your MPO/RTPO to help. Regional wayfinding w/consistent signage would be CRAZY GOOD. Make SURE you sign tricky transitions, trail to on-street, hidden turns, jogs in street. Spokane River Centennial Trail example in North Idaho: I got lost and I used to LIVE there.
Invite Bikes with Parking Bike parking can contribute to local brand, sense of place, public art. @WAbikes
Do you want one car customer or 10 bike customers? #bikeparking @WAbikes
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#1 most visible symbol. Not rocket science: Look where people are locking bikes to street poles and railings and put racks there. COVERED racks awesome. Secure locked bike parking at hotels & public buildings—put a sign outside so I know to look inside because I won’t assume you have bike parking! Pull out a car-parking spot in front of a really popular place and put in bike parking. Immediate drawing card. Café Mela in Wenatchee, Elk Restaurant in Spokane’s Browne’s Addition. Use it for branding, make it fun, make it distinctive for a neighborhood or the whole town.
Invite Bikes with Friendly Roads, Friendly People
• Plan for cycle tourism in decision-making processes and implementation: – Road conditions & maintenance – Bike infrastructure: Gold stars for
separated trails, bike maps • Encourage community, law
• Educate the public to share the road with safety and courtesy – Good for your kids who bike to
school, too!
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Plan for cycle tourism in decision-making processes and implementation: Road conditions: placement of rumble strips, debris removal, shoulder width Bike infrastructure: Gold stars for separated trails, bike maps, lanes Encourage local communities to embrace bicyclists If you have Tourism Ambassadors is bike info part of their training? Bicycle-Friendly Community and Business recognition from League of American Bicyclists Educating the public to share the road: Lack of driver courtesy an issue. One bad experience spreads quickly – bicyclists networked, active on social media
Invite Bikes with Simple Fixes
Twin Rivers Bike Camp, MT. Built for $9K materials w/donated labor. Town pop: 352. Word spread like wildfire. #biketravel
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http://www.adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist/online-features/twin-bridges-rural-friendliness-pays-dividends/ Twin Bridges population: 382 (2012 census) Cost: $9K for materials; labor donated Creator Bill White died 2012 Twin Bridges: good flyfishing. At intersection of two major ACA bike touring routes. Twin Bridges Bike Camp in Montana: One-of-a-kind purpose-built structure in a local park. Designed for touring cyclists; includes a bathroom, shower, sink, repair stand, reference books and safe haven from mosquitoes. “… the services that would make the difference between a quaint town to ride through and a place to spend the night, or linger for a couple days.” “…everyone rode through, stopped for a cup of coffee or a burger, but then headed down the road. “All the bike riders passing through were like gold going by in a river. I started thinking about how to make Twin Bridges more than a place to get a cup of coffee.“ – Bill White, Twin Bridges, MT "The grapevine within the cycling community is unbelievable," White says. "Once a few riders stopped in, found out what we had, word spread like you wouldn't believe. Cyclists are used to being treated like second-class citizens, being run off the road, paying top dollar at RV campgrounds. To have a community solicit them, to encourage them to stay, and to provide the basics of shelter and a shower for free they couldn't get over it."
#Biketravel on @USbicycleroutes will bring #biketouring $$ to WA towns. @WAbikes mapping for WA.
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Let me show you the land of opportunity. At WA Bikes we’re mapping the US Bicycle Route System in the state of Washington, as they are in 41 other states. 1st one, USBR10 across northern tier of the state from Newport to Anacortes, submitted for official designation & we should hear at end of May. We’ll celebrate! I mentioned the guidebook—some tours use parts of USBR10, others far away. Future Scenic Bikeways idea from Oregon. Our tours as starting point? OR not working on USBRS much.
Hello, Chamber of Commerce? Customers who bike/walk spend more than ones who drive. #biketravel #bikesmeanbusiness @WAbikes
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Think regional as well as local. How can you link together riding experiences, places to stay, and interesting things to do and create a multi-day experience? That’s both a bike tour for someone who rides it all, and great day trips for visitors to any one of those towns. Small places in between CRITICAL for tours; Oregon story of a rancher who put out water, the park info center between Winthrop & Twisp with the bike camping sign. Each one of you getting better makes it better for all of you. We want to help you link & leverage.
#Biketravel fueled by calories/beverages. Great for local ag & more; many partners possible. #bikesmeanbusiness @WAbikes
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I went on a bike ride in Oregon with dozens of civic leaders showcasing a bike project in the Columbia River Gorge. They had five mayors on this trip. The mayor of Hood River said that since another trail project had been completed they had gone from one bike shop to six in a town with a population of barely over 7,000—and he’d lost track of how many microbreweries they have now.
Dear State Legislator/Member of Congress: #Biketravel =$$ & jobs in WA. #bikesmeanbusiness @WAbikes
WA has great #biketravel assets. Need to market #WAoutdoors together. #bikesmeanbusiness @WAbikes
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The state of Oregon completed an economic impact study in 2012 that showed bike travel brings $400 million/year into the state. We’re using this information in our public policy work and finding that bike travel as economic development opens new doors in some unusual places. WA Outdoor Economy getting a study later this year. When you describe us as wallets on wheels you get the attention of a state legislator or a member of Congress.
#Biketravel basically wallets on wheels; great ROI! Use bikes to market destinations. @WAbikes #bikesmeanbusiness
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Show the potential for return on investment and you get support. Show a community how bike travel of all kinds can bring dollars into town and you should have the Chamber of Commerce, the mayor, the Main Street businesses all lining up together. You’ll have lots of authentic photos of smiling people on bikes for those brochure beauty shots – and the real riding experience to back it up. This is good for your local economy AND good for the health, wealth, and happiness of all of you who live in those towns every day. TRULY sustainable!
