Alberta Recreation Trends - 1988 to 2008

Alberta has condected the Alberta Recreation Survey every four years since 1981. The tables below are taken from two documents, 'A Look At Lesiure' No. 55 (http://tpr.alberta.ca/recreation/ars/surveypdf/LL55_trends.pdf) and the recently released 2008 Survey (http://tpr.alberta.ca/recreation/ars/default.aspx).

The top 15 activities, in terms of percentage of Alberta households participating, have remained relatively constant. The majority of participation rates have declined over the 20 year period - with the notable exception of video gaming, aerobics/fitness, golf and day hiking. In addition, the majority of these activities are individual or with a couple of 'friends' and relatively easily scheduled.

Top 15 Activities - % Household Participation 1988 to 2008

ranked in order of 2008 popularity

Activity	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008
Walking for Pleasure	88.8	87.3	88.9	91.3	93.0	79.3
Gardening	70.4		57.6	74.9	72.1	64.8
Attending Fair/Festival					56.7	62.4
Sports Spectator	63.7	58.7	57.2	62.3	60.0	59.1
Crafts/Hobbies	67.7	54.3	58.8	67.9	63.8	54.3
Video/electronic games	36.9	39.9	47.2	53.9	53.0	54.1
Visiting museum/art gallery	65.4	47.3	52.3	71.5	50.9	51.4
Bicycling	63.9	59.2	61.2	59.9	56.0	48.3
Swimming (in pools)	60.4	55.0	52.8	55.0	54.1	47.1
Fitness Programs	34.4	30.4	32.2	35.9	43.9	44.0
Attending Live Theatre					51.9	44.7
Golf	39.7	41.0	44.0	46.6	44.9	43.6
Overnight Camping	51.1	45.8	46.3	47.6	45.3	39.7
Swimming (lakes, rivers)	40.7	37.3	33.8	33.9	32.6	37.8
Day Hiking	30.5	30.9	36.1	38.3	35.8	37.0

The majority of group or team activities (generally sports) that require lots of organization are declining. Soccer is the one activity that maintained its overall participation level over the 20 year period, but has shown a significant decline in the last decade.

Group/Team Activities - % Household Participation 1988 to 2008

ranked in order of 2008 popularity

Activity	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008
Bowling/Lawn Bowling	26.4	24.4	25.5	22.8	23.9	21.0
Soccer	17.4	14.6	18.5	23.0	19.3	17.7
Ice Hockey	22.4	19.6	20.6	18.0	16.9	14.2
Basketball	17.0	17.7	19.9	22.3	18.1	11.8
Softball/baseball	33.7	30.6	29.1	22.5	17.2	11.6
Volleyball	21.0	19.6	18.7	16.4	13.6	11.2
Curling	21.3	16.6	14.5	13.1	13.1	9.6
Football	10.6	10.1	11.3	9.1	7.7	7.0
Rugby	2.4	2.0	3.2	2.7	2.7	1.8
Ringette	1.6	1.3	2.7	1.7	1.0	1.1
Other Group Activity						2.5