13 chad nelsen- us surf economics report

Highly Marketed but Undervalued:

An economic profile of US surfersChad Nelsen

Surfrider Foundation USA

California Beaches:17.8 million

visits $15 billion/year(Source: Pendleton et al. 2011, King, 1999)

(Source: CIC Research, July 2009)

Solana Beach, CA Beach Use

Surfrider / Surf-First Study

Who: 5,360 surfers

What: Surf behavior / demographics

Where: Internet-based opt in survey

When: November 2008 -September 2009

Why: 1st US characterization of surfers

Limitation: This is a non-probabilistic method of data collection and is not random so the results cannot be extrapolated to the larger surfing population

Surf Behavior

Parameter Median

Experience 16 years

Number of boards 4

Arrival time 8:15 AM

Duration 2.5 hours

Distance Travelled 10 miles

Annual visits 108

Surfer Demographics

Parameter Median

Age 34 year

Education 62% ≥ college

Household income $75,000 annual

Employment 67% fully employed

Expenditure $66/visit*

*Average

US Surfer Economics

Surfers 3.1 million

Visits / year 76 million

Expenditures $25-66 / visit

Economic Impact $2-5 billion / year

Sources: NSRE 2001, Hanneman 2004

More..

US Surf econ study: http://bit.ly/us_surfecon

Coastal Blog:surfrider.org/coastal-blog/c/surf-protection

Chad Nelsencnelsen@surfrider.orgtwitter: chadenelsen

Questions