2. Executive summary
Browse some of the key takeaways from the full report, Scotland. Made for Cycling.
Domestic overnight trips
Cycling on a road or surfaced path is more popular among UK holidaymakers to Scotland than mountain biking.
Those who prefer to mountain bike do tend to stay for slightly longer periods of time. But they spend slightly less compared to those who choose to cycle of a road or surfaced path.
Cycling on a road / surfaced path and mountain biking made a recovery in 2017-2019. This followed a slight drop in popularity in 2014-2016. It's the highest level of associated overnight trips in the past decade.
The total annual spend from both activities also increased steadily over the years. It reached a record high of over £266 million combined.
Characteristics of overnight cycling trips (three-year annual averages 2017-2019) Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey, 2019
|
Road cycling |
Mountain biking |
Trips |
338,000 |
251,000 |
Nights |
1,322,000 |
1,234,000 |
Spend |
£154,000,000 |
£112,000,000 |
Spend per trip |
£456 |
£446 |
Spend per night |
£116 |
£91 |
Length of stay |
3.9 nights |
4.9 nights |
International markets
Cycling is a very popular activity in several major international visitor markets to Scotland.
Based on their cycling habits, the following are interesting target markets for cycling tourism in Scotland:
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Germany
-
India
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The Netherlands
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The Nordic countries
As they show a high level of participation in everyday cycling, visitors from these countries may be experienced cyclists. Thus they might be interested in opting for more specialised and intense experiences.
Visitors from Scotland’s other top overseas markets do not show such a high level of participation in everyday cycling. But they might still opt for cycling tourism packages aimed at less frequent leisure cyclists. These are countries such as France, Canada, or the US.
Read more about package travel regulations.