PROLOGUE 12
Bike races have been encouraging tourism ever since the invention of the panoramic television landscape shot: never mind the cycling, just look at the scenery. There’s a reason why towns pay thousands of euros to host the Tour de France. The first wave of money comes back to them when the local hotels are full; the second comes when people who have seen the region on TV come to visit.
A group of researchers from the Faculty of Sports Science at the University of Murcia have looked into the impact of last year’s Vuelta a España on the communities it passed through, and found good reasons behind places bidding to host a race.
For their report, the academics interviewed over 5,000 people, both residents of the locations that the Vuelta passed, and those who visited to watch the race. Ninety two per cent of visitors said that they were “willing to return to the locality they had visited”, according to the report, and 94 per cent said that they would recommend that their friends and family go visit the places they had discovered thanks to the race.
This was reflected in the attitudes of the residents interviewed, with 91 per cent saying that the race would encourage tourism.
Who hasn’t watched the Vuelta pass through Galicia or the Giro pass through Catania and thought about visiting? Bike races help raise awareness of parts of the world that aren’t natural tourist hotspots.
Not everyone agrees that cycling races bring tourism, however. Professor Daam Van Reeth, of the Faculty of Economics & Business, KU Leuven, argues: “Honestly, I do not believe in a significant impact on tourism from hosting a grand tour stage, not for the Tour de France and therefore certainly not for the much smaller Vuelta.
“The reports that are usually made public are made for politicians who have to defend the public money they spend and for race organisers who try to secure sponsorship money.”
In an article for CyclingOpinions. com, Professor Van Reeth went on: “Impact studies generally overrate the long-term tourist impact of a sports event.”
Conversely, over the last two years, academics from Leeds Beckett University have been working with the Metropolitan Borough of
“It brings in loads of money. All these people from all over the continent have arrived. They’ve got to stay somewhere. They’ve got to spend money”
Professor Jim McKenna, Carnegie School of Sport
Doncaster to look into the impact of the Tour de Yorkshire on the area. Dr Neil Ormerod, of the university’s School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management, said that the research shows how bringing world class events to communities affects individuals particularly in terms of wellbeing, civic pride and community cohesion.
Professor Jim McKenna, of the Carnegie School of Sport, also worked on the project. He said: “From an economic perspective, the race brings in loads of money. All these people from all over the continent have arrived. They’ve got to stay somewhere. They’ve got to spend money.”
He warns that the impact can be limited, with only some shops and outlets benefitting. But overall the positive outweighs the negative.
“I think the broad feeling was it brought in lots of money, it brought in lots of visitors. It left people feeling positive about the area.”
This is reflected in the Vuelta statistics, which say that 92 per cent of those surveyed were in favour of their municipality investing public funds in order to host the race.
Professor McKenna said that the Tour de Yorkshire also helped in building some kind of community cohesion and pride: “People went to Doncaster and found it pleasant, which was really helpful to people in the town. They were working on countering this kind of reputation that they’ve acquired, and it was really positive on their part.”
While 93 per cent of residents interviewed in the Vuelta study thought that the race passing through their area would encourage younger people to take up a sport, the Leeds Beckett team found no evidence of this in Yorkshire.
The researchers spoke to focus groups in Doncaster and experts who told them that infrastructure would need to be improved before inspiring people to cycle more: you couldn’t just rely on the peloton whizzing by to get people on their bikes.
Bike races, then, are good for regions, but still need to work on actually being good for cycling.