The economic contribution of cycling festivals on tourism sector: A study on cycling festivals in Turkey

Abstract

This study was carried out on cycle tourism which is one of the alternative tourism types within the scope of tourism. Both the sensitivity to nature and contribution to the economy of bicycle tourism have become important in recent years. Cycling tourism is very new concept in Turkey; however, it has gained importance in the world for last 50 years. Turkey's geography is suitable for events brought by this concept, and Turkey can compete with other countries after the completion of infrastructure and superstructure works on the bike. In this context, this work leads to the discovery of bicycle potential and cycling activity of Turkey. The main purpose of this research is to determine the amount of expenditures made during the festival by the individuals participating in the bike festivals in Turkey. These amounts are clearly given in many studies on other countries in international literature. However, data on expenditure in the bike festivals could not be reached in the context of Turkey. For this purpose, it is considered that this study will make a significant contribution to this context by eliminating the related gap in literature. The survey also examined whether expenditure trends changed according to personality traits. The fieldwork of the research was carried out on the participants of the Canakkale Bicycle Festival held between 24-26 March 2018. The study was conducted on 291 people determined by guided sampling method among the 3500 participants who participated in the festival. The results show that expenditures are made in accommodation, transportation, food-beverage and other services respectively.