CONNECTIVITY FOR CYCLING TOURISM

The so-called bicycle touring has developed throughout the centuries, but its meaning remains the same: people decide to ride their bikes in self-contained cycling trips benefit from sport but also for pleasure and adventure spirit. It gives the opportunity to find beautiful landscapes along the way, to discover unexplored places, to challenge yourself, or to share this experience with your friends or people you don’t know.

In recent years, cycling tourism has significantly grown in importance by expanding its target also by virtue of a raising awareness of responsible tourism and mobility. An example is given by EuroVelo cycle route project, a network of 15 long distance routes which is being developed in different countries by a wide range of national and regional governments and local partners.

EuroVelo is managed by the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), the most important European federation founded in 1983 with the aim of regulating a phenomenon that had achieved large proportions and an established interest also from travel agencies, tourist enterprises and hotel industry. Today, ECF includes 74 national cycling organizations and its goal is “to promote cycling as a sustainable and healthy means of transportation and recreation.”

Since 2009, also the European Commission has set up a dedicated Tourism Unit and has developed an official Tourism Policy including an increasing support for cycling tourism as a form of sustainable tourism. In particular, it has promoted this activity by co-financing various projects across the continent. In 2012, the European Parliament carried out a study mainly focused on EuroVelo, estimating the amount of cycle tourism trips made every year in Europe and its economic impact on the society.
(You can find the results in the Official Document)

When designing ESB® features, we also considered the opportunity for an enhanced user experience in the cycling tourism activity by providing Connectivity to e-bikes. Thanks to the vehicle geo-location and Anti-Theft system, the biker can control its real-time position and battery state of charge also when resting. Moreover, the ebikes equipped with ESB.Plus can count on a sensor embedded on board that is able to perform the Crash Detection. In case of critical alterations in forces due to a possible impact, the sensor notifies the GPS coordinates minimizing the Emergency response time.

With the aim of forming synergies between cycling and tourism, the 15th TRAVEL TALK congress of EUROBIKE Show 2016 will be focused on this topic by presenting the direct experiences of various Authorities, bicycle manufacturers and traders, travel agencies and hotel facilities involved in cycling tourism.  Join the event if you are nearby!