Huw Irranca-Davies blogs for us on the power and potential of the Great Outdoors - and how the Alliance's Reconomics report is helping it to creep up the political agenda.
I was delighted to have recently had the opportunity to host a debate on outdoor sport and recreation in Westminster Hall.
It was great to see a united front from all parties towards the outdoors, the greatest free gym, and the benefits it can bring to all of our lives.
Studies since the 1960s have shown that an active lifestyle has a significant and beneficial impact on a person’s mortality, the length of their life and their likelihood of developing serious medical conditions later in life.
But there is more to the outdoors than health……much more!
Recently a six-point strategy was released by a whole range of organisations including; Wild Network, the Sport and Recreation Alliance, the Youth Hostel Association, Living Streets, Putting People First, the British Mountaineering Council, Britain on Foot, Ramblers GB, the Open Spaces Society, the Campaign for National Parks and the English Outdoor Council.
The strategy proposes cross-government support for a long-term strategy on outdoor recreation, improve access to coast and countryside, increases opportunities for young people to get outside, maximise the economic contribution of outdoor recreation, strengthen planning guidance and protect the outdoors and to provide better public transport in rural areas.
The report Reconomics released this year, underlined how beneficial all types of outdoor recreation is.
The report highlighted that outdoor recreation is the UK’s favourite pastime from potholing and caving to going on a bike ride with the family.
One of the astonishing figures from the report was that walking tourism alone in England generates up to an estimated £2.76 billion for the economy.
One of the main focuses in my speech was the landmark and ground-breaking all-Wales coastal path. A wonderful achievement that in its first 12 months attracted 2.82 million visits and added £32 million to the Welsh economy.
The coastal path is having a great impact on the local economies surrounding, helping 5,400 tourism related businesses and an extra 120 plus jobs created within 2km of the route.
The path has led to exposure for Wales on the BBC and ITV, in The New York Times and USA Today, and on Fox News, because it is an all-country, all-nation coastal path. People can hit the coast in Wales and turn left or right without stopping; it is phenomenal. The Wales coast path was included as one of the nominees in VirtualTourist’s campaign to find the “8th Wonder of the World”, alongside spots such as Yellowstone national park in the United States of America. National Geographic magazine named the Pembrokeshire coast section in its top 10 places in the world to visit. In Lonely Planet’s 2012 “Best in Travel” guide, the Wales coast path was voted the greatest region on earth.
As somebody who is a proud rambler, I’m pleased that my debate received such fantastic coverage. We are a beautiful island nation and sometimes we forget it too easily. Let us get out there and use it a lot more.
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