An Importance-Performance Analysis of the Bike Virginia Event

Road cycling has grown in popularity, and events that cater to these dedicated recreationists can fulfill needs for both participants and hosts alike. The Bike Virginia Tour is a 6-day cycling event that celebrates long distance riding while participants enjoy scenic and natural environments. This event is held at a new location within the state of Virginia each year and it has significant economic impacts for the host sites. Event location attributes lead directly to participant satisfaction and subsequent decisions of where to hold the event each year. The purpose of this study was to use Importance-Performance Analysis to investigate and evaluate host site attributes, in order to aid future decision-making as well as gain an understanding of the attributes that are important to this growing segment of recreationists. An online survey captured input from 294 respondents, and results were analyzed based on the sections of the event in which they participated. Attributes such as condition of roadways, friendliness of locals, nearby amenities, traffic conditions and availability of bike lanes were considered important by recreationists, though some were not met with satisfaction by the host site location. Additionally, when results are broken down by different host site locations, certain attributes shift in importance and satisfaction among cycling participants. Management implications include planning bike lanes according to local traffic patterns, establishing cycling event schedules that consider temporal traffic patterns, planning riding routes that make use of well-managed roads or established bike routes, and conducting an internal review of community constituents to ascertain their understanding and willingness to host cyclists.