The 38 page 2008 Etape Economic Assessment report has been made available by the Council for general circulation.

I thought I would take you through its salient points, click here for the full 2008 Etape Caledonia Economic Assessment report

The credibility of those conducting a survey is important, so I have added a bit about the consultants below;

The Consultants - are a very highly thought of - a company called EKOS who are based at St Georges Road, Glasgow, established in 1993 - they are a leading independent UK consultancy practice specialising in economic and social development. They work with organisations throughout the UK, their clients include :-
Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly, DEFRA, British Waterways, European Commission, Community Health Partnerships, Rural Partnerships, neighbourhood regeneration partnerships/forums, housing associations, community colleges, community development trusts, voluntary organisations, community groups,  private developers, consultancy practices, industry associations, and professional institutes, the list goes on ....

• Participant numbers increased from 1,022 participants to 1,702 (+67% on 2007)
• "Closed road event" was identified as being the best aspect of the race by 65% of the participants, followed by the "Scenery"
• 78% said they were "highly likely to recommend it to a friend"
• 89% rated the "Overall experience" as Good or very good
• 11% said "lack of food/drink at the finish"  was the worst aspect - I know the organisers are addressing this for 2009
• 77% said they were "very likely or likely" to return again within the next three years on holiday

Spectator views about Etape 2008 :-

• 91% rated the event quality as "Very Good or Good"
• 80% said they would "very likely/likely"  visit the Etape event in 2009

Total of 4,294 participants and spectators:-

• 1,702 participants (40% of the total)
• 1,953 friends or family (45% of the total)
• 639 other spectators (15% of the total)
• An average of 1.52 spectators were attracted by each participant - I thought this was an interesting figure - more spectators than participants!
• 81% stayed at least one night in the area
• 38% came from outside Scotland (staying an average of 1.9 nights compared to 1.2 nights for Scottish visitors)
• 85% came from outside Perth and Kinross

There you have my brief synopsis of the report. We in Highland Perthshire are extremely lucky to have this event taking place each year.

If you would like to down load all 32 pages 2008 Etape Economic Assessment report to read in full click here.