Aug 21, 2008 | Industry, MBTA Initiatives, Uncategorized
Adventure tourism operators, community leaders, land managers, park planners, bicycle industry representatives and trail advocates will gather October 26-28, 2008 at the Talking Rock Resort near Chase, BC (approximately 1 hour east of Kamloops on Highway 1) to discuss topics associated with mountain bike tourism. Topics include market research, economic impact, liability and risk management as well as developing bike friendly communities and services, partnerships and funding for trails, mountain biking tourism business opportunities and marketing community based mountain biking...
Feb 18, 2008 | Industry, MBTA Initiatives, Uncategorized
A new resource handbook for communities, land managers and mountain bike stakeholders is planned that will assist in the development and enhancement mountain bike tourism opportunities and experiences in British Columbia. The document will be based on the BC context and will feature best practices from a wide range of key stakeholders from around the province as well as from other jurisdictions. The project is supported by The British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts and will be published under Tourism British Columbia’s Business Essentials Program. The handbook will be researched and written by Jimmy Young (Tourism Planning Group) with the assistance of Martin Littlejohn. The handbook is expected to be completed and available for distribution Tourism BC by August 2008. Click here to view the current...
Apr 11, 2007 | Industry, MBTA Initiatives, Uncategorized
What’s on your ‘DO LIST’? April 11, 2007 If you do only one thing this summer, at least say, “Yeah, I put my entry in for the Bike Parks BC Ultimate Road Trip” Two winners and a friend of their choice will take in an 8 day and 7 night all expenses paid road trip to three of the world’s premier lift accessed bike parks in British Columbia, Canada. The trip begins in Vancouver on July 15 and finishes at Crankworx in Whistler on July 22, 2007. The winners will be accompanied by current Masters Downhill World Champion Shaums March and former Canadian National Downhill Champion Mike Jones of MMR Camps. Winners will arrive in Vancouver and then travel to Mount Washington on Vancouver Island, then onto Sun Peaks in BC’s interior and finally back to Whistler located in the Coast Mountain range. In addition to the amazing riding, each resort has put together a schedule of activities that will showcase everything the each resort has to offer, including extra activities, high-end accommodation and great restaurants. Marin Bikes will supply their latest freeride bike, the Quake XLT, For the 8 days of riding and other sponsors will also supply products, giving the winners the feeling of being a full pro team rider for the 8 day trip. If you don’t win the Grand Prize there is always the chance to win a spot prizes from sponsors like Bike Parks BC, Marin Bikes, Dangerboy Components, Fox, Kenda, Clif Bar, Hayes Brakes, WTB, E-13, ODI and others, Spot prizes will be drawn every two weeks during the build up to the...
Jan 18, 2007 | Industry, MBTA Initiatives, Uncategorized
VANCOUVER - Mountain bike trails in the Sea to Sky region generated $10.3 million in visitor spending this summer and there is room for further development, according to a study conducted by the Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA) in partnership with the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA). That figure jumps to $38 million when the Whistler Bike Park and Crankworx Mountain Bike Festival are included in the analysis. Download the Sea to Sky Mountain Biking Economic Impact Study (PDF - 275 KB) “The study at last provides us with some credible data on the economic benefits of mountain biking,” said Jimmy Young, MBTA Director. The MBTA, in cooperation with community partners and the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts undertook a pilot study to measure the economic impact of mountain biking along the Sea to Sky Corridor - which includes Whistler, Squamish and the North Shore - between June 3 and September 17, 2006. The study found that mountain biking draws visitors to Sea to Sky communities and generates significant overnight stays. Overall, 20% of non-resident riders stayed overnight in Sea to Sky communities, staying an average of 4.8 nights and having an average party size of 2.8 people. “The data supports the premise that if you build innovative trails combined with scenery and services the world will beat a path to your door,” said Rob McSkimming, VP Product Development Whistler Blackcomb. Not surprisingly, Whistler receives the greatest benefit from mountain bike trails in the region as the Resort Municipality of Whistler funds and maintains a sanctioned trail system and is able to feature mountain biking...
Jun 1, 2006 | Industry, MBTA Initiatives, Uncategorized
North Vancouver, BC June 1, 2006 – The Mountain Bike Tourism Association, in cooperation with community partners and the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts announced the launch of a study to measure the economic impact of mountain biking in the Sea to Sky Corridor. Spending data will be gathered from mountain bikers on the North Shore and in Squamish and Whistler from June-September. The data will be used to generate an estimate of economic impact at the community level as well as for the Corridor as a whole. There is a particular emphasis on tourism impacts generated by destination mountain bikers. Quantifying the economic impact of mountain biking will demonstrate the value of the trails and help trail management groups in their efforts to create, maintain, and upgrade trails. The study is being designed by Tony Fisher, Senior Research Consultant at the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance. Spending data gathered from mountain bikers will be extrapolated into CSTA’s newly developed STEAM-Pro Model, which builds on the success of the CSTA’s Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model (STEAM), by allowing the direct entry of tourist expenditure survey results to provide consistent and credible economic impact estimates of a sporting event on both the provincial and community level. Fisher has conducted similar economic impact assessments across Canada including the World Junior Hockey Championships held in Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops in 2006 and the UCI 2003 Road World Cycling Championships held in Hamilton. Fisher utilizes the Entryware-Pro system developed by Techneos Systems Inc., a Vancouver-based supplier of software for mobile survey automation. Richard Walton, Mayor of North Vancouver District, and co-founder of...
