Motivations and travel behavior of cycling tourists: a youth market analysis

Abstract

It is widely recognized that active travel, in particularly cycling, provides diverse economic, environmental and health benefits both for tourism destinations and for the tourists. However, the number of tourists who use the bicycle is still very limited, especially youth tourists. Moreover, the literature in this field is not fully explored. To expand the knowledge in this field, this paper aims to analyze the motivations, travel behavior and benefits obtained by young bicycle tourists. A Portuguese university student survey was carried out, in 2016, to analyze the cycling behavior of this segment. A total of 591 completed questionnaires were obtained. Results reveal that 44% of the students interviewed use the bicycle and 21% use it during their tourism activities. This paper only analyzes the motivations, travel behavior and benefits obtained of the students interviewed that use the bicycle in their tourist activities. The paper ends with some guidelines to promote the use of bicycle by youth tourists during their trips.