SAN DIEGO, Calif. (BRAIN) — Pat Cunnane stepped up to the podium at the National Bicycle Tourism Conference Friday and said he had to apologize. “I have to tell you that I really didn’t know about this conference until last year,” said Cunnane, president of Advanced Sports International, parent company for Fuji, Breezer, Kestrel, SE and Oval components.
Cunnane attended last year’s event in Iowa at the last minute after Nancy Maier of pedaling.com convinced him to go.
And Cunnane, like many in the industry, has paid scant attention to a quiet but quickly growing segment of the market—touring, whether for a day or a multi-day event, adventure travel, and a variety of cause rides and other one-day events.
And ironically, as organizers point out, these rides are attracting as many Millennials as they do Baby Boomers. Millennials just spend less, said Jim Sayer, executive director of Adventure Cycling Association.
All these segments comprise a diverse market that most here seem to refer to as “bicycle tourism.” And all these segments continue to grow, bringing in new riders who seldom have considered riding a bike until prompted by friends, family, a direct connection to cause or a simple desire for adventure.
“There is a real disconnect between the supplier side of the business and all of the good work you do,” Cunnane told more than 200 attendees at its annual conference in this Southern California city.
“You do more than most suppliers do in terms of bringing more new people into cycling,” he added. But Cunnane also pointed to the economics that tend to drive suppliers including ASI. And that is the preponderance of money spent by his company devoted to athletes and race-related events.
Despite what has been a no-growth sector for many suppliers serving the independent retail market, Cunnane, like others, said he has to support race-related activities just to help maintain his market share.
Athletes and racing influence the “influencers,” particularly at retail. “And we want to have a relationship with them,” he said. At ASI, after trade show costs, sales meetings, dealer meetings, advertising, athlete and race support, and advocacy costs are budgeted, there’s little left over to support cause rides or bicycle tourism, he added.
Cunnane also pointed out that the supplier side of the industry is relatively small. The Outdoor Industry Association calculates that the overall market size of all cycling related expenditures adds up to an $81 billion business. But the supplier slice of that revenue is only about 7 percent of the total or approximately $6 billion.
Nonetheless, Dave Edwards, president and CEO of Primal Wear and a conference sponsor, said his focus since 2006 on the event and tourism market has been a key driver of growth for the Denver, Colorado, company. And he cites a fast-growing sector most have dubbed urban tourism.
These are tour operators who lead single and two-day city tours for visiting tourists. “Some of these operators are making more money than dealers selling bikes,” Edwards said, noting their growth in cities as disparate as New York and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
