My Research Topic, 'Cycle Tourism'

As a part of my postgraduate study I have undertaken a research in Cycle Tourism this year. I have been well suffered in writing this research and so it was a big relief when I have submitted the research. Although, it is not perfect yet, as I have to polish my research skills well more but it is a completed research. I would like to share a bit with you as I have attached the abstract of my research as follows:

Abstract

Cycle tourism is a growing and high yield sector of the tourism industry in many countries and regions. This article attempts to identify the demographical and motivational characteristics of Organised Cycle Tourists (OCTs), who travel with commercial cycle tour operators as opposed to Independent Cycle Tourists (ICTs), who travel and plan themselves.

The literature review revealed that there is limited scholarly attention given to cycle tourism which may be misleading in the marketing of and developments in the cycle tourism industry. Moreover, it was identified that current studies of cycle tourism mainly focus on ICTs while there is a lack of research concerning OCTs.

A self-compilation survey was undertaken by cycle tour operators from around the world including Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania in order to capture the general picture of OCTs and the current tendencies of cycle tour operators. For the analysis of travel motivation, the research applied the concept of Travel Career Ladder (TCL) and Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivations.

The findings of the study suggest that OCTs are older, and having shorter travel durations in comparison with ICTs. In addition, OCTs are motivated to travel with partners as opposed to ICTs who are likely to travel solo. These notable differences between OCTs and ICTs lead to drawing recommendations which can be further utlised as marketing and product development tools for cycle tourism operators and to base information to develop national or regional cycle tourism strategies.

KEYWORDS: Cycle Tourism, Organised Cycle Tourists, Travel Career Ladder, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

If you are keen to read more in details I am more than happy to send you the full report as long as you can respect the copyright of my research.