Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Dempster Highway Research Project

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Dempster Highway Research Project

The Government of Northwest Territories' Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is jointly undertaking a Dempster Highway Adventure Motorcycle research project with the Yukon Government. The aim of this research project is to better understand Dempster Highway adventure motorcycle riders and the services, products and infrastructural improvements that are needed to enhance or support this experience.

As some of you are aware the Government of Northwest Territories is committed to the design, development, construction and maintenance of a highway extending the Mackenzie Highway from Wrigley to the Dempster Highway, and extending the Dempster Highway from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. When these two roads are completed, the Alaska, Campbell, Dempster, Mackenzie and Liard Highways would become an amazing gravel loop. :scooter:

The first phase of our study involves a telephone interview with people who recently done the Dempster. The interview should take between 30 to 60 minutes to complete and it is confidential and no personal data will be used or shared with anyone outside the research team. A $100 VISA Gift Card will be provided as an honorarium to interview participants. The interview questions are related to all activities involved in organizing and completing a Dempster Highway motorcycle trip.

The second phase of the study will be an online survey. I will provide details of the survey later.

At this point, I would like to talk to riders who recently completed a Dempster trip. Please send me a PM with the following information, if you are interested in being part of this project:

Date of travel:
Where are you from (city/province/country)

All our communication is strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team. If you have any questions about this research project or either territorial government, please visit our websites or contact me.

Government of Northwest Territories – Tourism and Parks:
Tourism | Industry, Tourism & Investment

Yukon Government – Department of Tourism and Culture:
Tourism - Department of Tourism and Culture - Government of Yukon

Thank you for your time.

Andras Lukacs
Research Analyst
Tourism and Parks
Government of the Northwest Territories
P.O. Box 1320
Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9
T: (867) 920-3245
E: andras_lukacs@gov.nt.ca

DempsterResearch

Just sent you a message.

Hello Andras. Congratulations on this excellent initiative; very proactive and it certainly will be appreciated by all adventure riders.

I live in Prince George, BC and will likely be touring the North in 2015. I look forward to participating in phase 2, your online survey.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Hi Folks. We have finished the first phase of the study and will start the online survey soon.

I will post the survey link in this thread once it is live.

If you have any questions, please email me (andras_lukacs@gov.nt.ca) or post in the thread. I'm not allowed to send private messages yet.

Regards,

Andras

Hi Folks,

I have some updates. It took a while to launch Phase 2, but it's finally live:

"The Dempster Highway Adventure Motorcycle Survey is being conducted by the Government of Northwest Territories and the Government of Yukon. The goal of this research project is to better understand Dempster Highway adventure motorcycle riders and the services, products and infrastructure that are needed to enhance or support this experience.

The survey is open to motorcyclists who have ridden the Dempster Highway or those who are still planning their northern adventure. The survey should only take about 8-10 minutes of your time. Your answers will remain completely anonymous. However, at the end of survey you will have the opportunity to enter your contact information to enter a draw for camping equipment packages valued at $500 each."

To fill out the survey, please follow this link: (be advised that you can only complete the survey once):

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Dempster

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Bump. (Need 5 posts to send send a pm)

/Bump

Folks - the survey is open for roughly 2 more weeks. If you have 8-10 minutes, please help us showcase the economic impact of adventure motorcycling. Feel free to post (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).

Cheers.

Hi Folks,

I wanted to give you an update. We completed the data collection and analysis for both phases and the final report was approved and published.

We completed our prize draw as well. The winners have been notified. Thank you all for participating. This was a really interesting and fun project to work on and the information will help us meeting the needs of the adventure traveler community.

If you are interested in the full report, you can download it here:

http://www.iti.gov.nt.ca/sites/defau...arch_final.pdf

There’s also a 2 page infograph available:

http://www.iti.gov.nt.ca/sites/defau...raphic_nwt.pdf

And finally, here is part of the Executive Summary:

Quote:

Overall Findings

Trip Characteristics
The overwhelming majority of Dempster Highway adventure motorcyclists were males between the ages of 45 and 64. They tended to be college educated and work in professional or managerial settings with higher than average income levels. Canadian travellers tended to be from Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Forty percent of travellers were from the United States.

The challenge of reaching Inuvik, the northernmost Canadian city by road and the remoteness and solitude of the Dempster Highway are the most important drivers for motorcyclists travelling the highway. The Dempster represents a significant portion of travellers’ overall vacation, but other northern roads outside of the Northwest Territories and Yukon, and even southern provinces are included in the trip itineraries.

Most visitors rode BMW motorcycles. The average length of the Dempster Highway portion of their motorcycle trip was between two and four days. During the trip they camped and stayed at hotels for accommodation and spent approximately $1,000. While mechanical issues were not common, some travellers had flat tires while riding the Dempster Highway.

The majority of riders were goal driven and preferred riding over activities off-bike. They participate in photography, wildlife viewing and sightseeing. They are not particularly interested in guided activities or traditional tourism products and packages, although 10% participated in guided airplane or helicopter tours.

Overall, the tourism experience of visitors is overwhelmingly positive. They were particularly satisfied with visitor information centres, the ferry service and safety in communities and campgrounds. Additionally, they were extremely eager to ride the highway again once the all-weather road to Tuktoyaktuk is complete.

Trip Planning and Media Usage
Dempster Highway adventure motorcyclists did extensive planning and bike preparation before their trip. They choose travel destinations based on outstanding scenery, wilderness and wildlife areas, and seek physical challenges while maintaining personal safety. Peer-to-peer advocacy (online adventure riding communities and conversations with other riders, family members and friends) was the most important trip planning and information source. Traditional travel resources, including motorcycle shows, were not commonly used, with the exception of The Milepost.

The research revealed that motorcycle magazine readership and subscription rates are relatively low among the adventure rider target population. Social media usage is also low and limited to mature platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. Further, the importance of social media in their daily life is low. On the other hand, motorcycling discussion boards are popular.

Dust to Dawson
The Dust to Dawson (D2D) motorcycle event is an annual gathering of motorcyclists in Dawson City, Yukon held each June. It draws hundreds of motorcyclists from all over North America. The survey results highlighted that the D2D event is an important information source during trip planning and many Dempster itineraries include attending the festival as well.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Cheers.

Andras Lukacs
Manager, Research and Planning
Tourism and Parks
Government of the Northwest Territories
P.O. Box 1320
Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9
T: (867) 920-3245
E: andras_lukacs@gov.nt.ca

I echo the sentiments of the final report...spot on!

I completed a ride to Inuvik just about a year ago and will definitely return to ride the all-weather road to Tuktoyaktuk when it opens.

I can't say enough good about the people I met along the way. Without a doubt, they were the highlight of the ride (and the scenery is tough competition).

Kudos on your efforts on this Dempster Highway report.

Hi Danny - thank you for your feedback and glad you enjoyed your trip and hopefully see you in Tuk in a few years :scooter:

Mackenzie Loop road

Is there any estimated time when the Loop Mackenzie road will be completed?
I have ridden the Dempster twice to Inuvik 2011 and 2015.
Great ride.
A loop road would really be fun.

Arctic grand loop

Sign me up for the Mackensie road.I have been thru the laird highway to fort simpson and yellowknife. I rode the Dempster in 1979 the first year it was officially opened. It would be great to ride another wilderness road. By the way not everyone rides a BMW up the dempster, I have done it on a T500 Suzuki, Moto Guzzy 850T3, yamaha XS1100, CB650 honda, CB750750 honda single cam. Only one flat tire and many many great memories.