If you're fed up hearing that cycling is the new golf, click away now. Golf tourism really is declining as cycling travel picks up, according to the WTM Global Trends Report 2014, released yesterday at World Travel Market in London.

The trend is particularly marked in the US, where golf has declined since the 2000s from around 25 million players to 19 million in 2013. The number of cycling enthusiasts grew from 3.5 million in 2012 to 3.8 million in 2013, according to Elliot Gluskin of cycling research firm Gluskin Townley Group.

Middle-aged men in check polyester have become middle-aged men in Lycra (MAMILs), says the report, as a portion of what used to be golf's core demographic has taken up cycling, and instead of travelling to play golf, they're travelling to ride bikes.

MAMILs are attractive to tourism operators because they spend more, the report says. Travel Oregon found that cyclists on overnight trips within the state spent 20% more than the average overnight traveller. Just as some areas of France have become destinations for riders wanting to emulate their Tour heroes in the Alps, Oregon has attracted cyclists with good roads, bike-friendly business programme, and scenic bikeways,

But the MAMIL cycling boom could be fragile. Gluskin warns as today's middle-aged men get older and fewer children grow up with a passion for cycling, a decline could follow.

Golf is striking back, though, with resorts targeting young professionals by offering Wi-Fi access and putting courses.

And as we've reported before, cycling may be the new golf, but some retailers think skateboarding is the new cycling as blokes in the lower reaches of middle age seek to relive their youth.