The Italian Bike Festival (IBF), taking place at the Misano World Circuit in North West Italy between September 9-11, will be devoting a large section of the show area to the area of cycle tourism.
IBF 2022 will feature a special Expo Bici Turismo area in the middle of its exhibition space to showcase destinations, tourist boards and consortiums with a bike tourism offering.
To further underscore the importance of the theme, Taking Off, the company that organises the IBF, will be restaging the bike tourism-dedicated Expo Bici Turismo as a standalone event in Rome between March 3-4, 2023.
The show organisers cite… ‘A good 4,900 bike trails and routes totalling over 90,000 kilometres, a choice of 4,940 tourist operators offering cycling tours, 4,450 hotels with specialist bike services, and an estimated 8 million Italians – or 16% of over-18s – with an interest in cycling holidays.’
These figures from a report presented by Banca Ifis illustrate the value of cycling tourism in Italy and the show organisers add that this is a proper business segment of the bike sector in its own right. While the expo will be shining a light on bike hardware, i.e. bike tech and design, the cycle tourism space will be underscoring the importance of cycling software as well as bike hire to guided excursions, organised hospitality and insurance cover.
Expo Bici Turismo is essentially a fair within a fair where districts, regional departments, local tourist offices, tourist boards and hotel associations will have the opportunity to present their bike tourism offerings to cycling fans.
“We have had huge faith in the bike sector since 2019, when we first devoted a section of the exhibition space to bike tourism and soft mobility, Francesco Ferrario of Taking Off. “Now the time is right to dedicate an entire area to the subject and we are hoping that area will grow still further in the future.
“Cycling holidays and outdoor excursions combine the likes of sustainability, safety, and healthy living, all of which can spark a virtuous circle that will enhance the value of local areas. This particular type of tourism has deep roots in Emilia-Romagna, the region hosting the IBF which is also supporting the festival through its Emilia-Romagna APT Tourist Board Services and Visit Romagna.”
