Cycling Tour Operators Industry: new global study shows diversity of the market

An extensive report on the ‘State of the Cycling Tour Operators Industry (2024)’ has just been published by the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), the Adventure Travel Trade Association and CycleSummit. The results of the online survey launched earlier in 2024 by the three organisations reflect the diversity of the cycling tour operators market as well as its positive trends and main challenges.

Cycling is instrumental in developing sustainable tourism, fighting overtourism and developing lesser-known and rural destinations bringing economic impact to local communities. More investments in cycle routes are needed to develop new destinations and support companies expand their business.

Key findings from the ‘State of the Cycling Tour Operators Industry (2024)’

• A large diversity of cycling destinations shows universal appeal. Even though 69% of survey respondents are headquartered in Europe, a wide variety of destinations around the world are mentioned as currently popular or expected to increase in popularity in the near future. The top 3 of most popular destinations for cycling tours are Italy, France and Germany. Popular destinations are the Iberian Peninsula, Danube Valley and Tuscany, and the most popular cycle routes along the Danube, the Loire and the EuroVelo network. When considering all respondents, the USA is the most popular source market overall, followed by Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and France.
• The cycling market is increasing in depth and breadth as well as volume. Cycling is consistently highlighted as a trending activity in adventure travel industry research and conversations. This includes increasing numbers of guests and revenue, with 88% expecting the same or higher guest volume, and 86% of respondents expecting the same or higher revenue in 2024 over 2023, and also increases in various disciplines. Touring cycling dominates the market in Europe, but mountain biking is the biggest discipline outside of Europe, and 64% of tour operators have at least 25% of their clients using e-bikes. 98% of tour operators face clients needing bicycle rental services.
• Inflation and marketing to new customers are primary internal challenges. 62% of respondents highlight inflation as a major challenge to their business, and 50% struggle with marketing to new customers. European operators in particular (46%) identify seasonality as an area of concern, and non-European operators are looking for better software solutions (27%).
• Accommodation offers are lacking in all areas of the world. Regarding external business challenges, finding appropriate accommodation for guests (availability, quality, price, flexibility, etc.) is the main challenge for both European (54%) and non-European operators (39%). Respondents around the globe also face itinerary concerns such as safety and logistics around road quality and sharing, and general lack of infrastructure.

Why do cycling tour operators contribute to the development of cycling tourism in general?

Organised cycling tours represent a small segment of cycling tourism in general as most cycling tourists plan their trips independently – the ADFC Bicycle Travel Analysis 2023 indicated that 90,9% of German cycling tourists organised their trip entirely independently in 2022. However, cycling tour operators are key players in the cycling tourism industry, with direct access to feedback from their clients and knowledge of new trends. Organised cycling tours are also a good way to get started with cycling tourism or make it easier to access for those who do not want to plan a trip themselves. EuroVelo.com includes a Bookable Offers search engine, giving visibility to a large number of tours for potential clients and facilitating the search for the best tours all around Europe.

The ‘State of the Cycling Tour Operators Industry (2024)’ report includes numerous insights from the tour operators industry and will hopefully support the growth of organised cycling tours and the growth of cycling tourism in general as a sustainable and responsible form of tourism.

ECF is also involved in two EU-funded projects with a strong focus on cycling products and cycling-friendly offers: the Interreg Central Europe project ICTr, aiming at developing innovative and sustainable cycling tourism products along EuroVelo 13 – Iron Curtain Trail; and Baltic Biking Upgrade, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in developing cycling friendly offers along EuroVelo 10 – Baltic Sea Cycle Route.

The origin of the first global online survey for cycling tour operators

To better understand the dynamics of the cycling tour operators industry, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, CycleSummit, and the European Cyclists’ Federation joined forces to launch the first independent online survey of cycling tour operators. From February to April 2024, 245 cycling tour operators from Europe and beyond contributed to an online survey. All contributions have been used confidentially and for aggregated analysis. The results of the survey are available for all with this report and ready to be brought to decision-makers, companies, and/or authorities to advocate for more support for cycling tourism.

The role of ECF in developing monitoring data on cycling tourism and EuroVelo

In 2021, ECF has launched the EuroVelo Data Hub to promote updated key figures and useful resources on the growth of EuroVelo and cycling tourism. The EuroVelo Data Hub gathers data on usage, digital statistics and route development, as well as on the cycling tour operators industry with this new report. It aims to expand to other aspects of EuroVelo and cycling tourism monitoring over time. Updated figures on the economic impact of cycling tourism in Europe and of EuroVelo would be needed as the last estimation was published in 2012 in a European Parliament report: 44 billion euros of total economic value for an estimated number of 2.3 billion cycling tourism trips in the EU.

Article by Agathe Daudibon