Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
traditional tourism destinations (Tomes and Knock, 2006). There is near con-
sensus in the literature that trails present good lifestyle value in relation to
expenditure on their development and maintenance.
Environment and health issues
There has been a considerable increase in the focus on cycling route and trail
design to enhance nature and to improve the quality of life, especially
improved health, for people. Lumsdon (2000a) argued that cycle tourism
meets a number of sustainable development indicators, as identified by the
UNEP and the UNWTO (2005) that are listed as follows:
• optimal use of environmental resources
• a respect for the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities
• socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders
• informed partnership of all stakeholders
• continuous monitoring of impacts
• high levels of consumer satisfaction.
However, in reality, such principles are seemingly difficult to implement in
developing countries (Mowforth and Munt, 2009; Sharpley, 2009). There is a
need to demonstrate that such principles can be translated successfully into
practice. The prescription, therefore, is to design cycle routes and networks in
accordance with such principles (Hellmund and Smith, 2006). In a study
undertaken on behalf of the European Parliament (2009), a case for a
European cycle network (EuroVelo) is made. This is discussed in the case
study at the end of the chapter.
The main impacts of cycle tourism, as with other forms of slow travel,
relate to the journey from the origin to the destination. Cycling is identified by
the tourism sector as a low-carbon option (Mintel, 2007), although this
depends on several factors. Cycling does increase the intake of oxygen, and
hence an increase in CO
2
output from metabolism, but this is a minimal
impact (Walsh et al, 2008). More importantly, it depends on the mode used
to access cycling facilities. The study for the European Parliament (2009) com-
pared mainstream holidays versus cycling holidays with respect to the German
market and in terms of travel and CO
2
emissions. A number of interesting
findings were uncovered regarding access to cycle tourism destinations. The
share of travel by rail is three times higher for cyclists on holiday than for
other holidaymakers; the share of travel by car is 30 per cent lower and air
travel is 70 per cent lower. This is corroborated by evidence from Switzerland
in relation to access to the Veloland Schweiz network. Over 82 per cent of
cycle tourists (day and overnight stays) used a combination of public transport
and cycling to access the network.
Further analysis of the German holiday data highlighted that only 7 per
cent of cycle tourists travelled by air to their destination. The fly-cycle
segment, however, accounted for 40 per cent of all emissions of cycle tourists.
In contrast, 28 per cent of cycle tourists travelled by rail for their cycling
