Cycle tourism at FITUR 2023

Last Sunday it closed its doors FITUR, the first year of the fair after the pandemic. The figures are very relevant, more than 220.000 visitors. 136.000 the first three days, dedicated to professionals in the sector.

As on other occasions, we want to share with you what we have seen at the fair in reference to the bicycle tourism and the bike.

If years ago you had to search and search to see a bike in the brochures or on the stands, this year the opposite was rare. There are few destinations that do not contemplate the promotion of bicycles in one way or another.

I have to say that from Wednesday morning until Friday noon I saw a FITUR that looked very similar to the one from other times.

Perhaps this perception helps a lot to be in a clearly electoral year, the presence of politicians at the fair has been constant, President of the Government, presidents of many Autonomous Communities, presidents of Provincial Councils, General Directors, Mayors,... everyone wanted to go out in the photo and FITUR, as always, is one of the best showcases of the year.

This year I have barely moved from the odd-numbered pavilions, my fair has taken place almost exclusively in pavilions 5, 7 and 9. For those of you who know FITUR, you already know what that means, that in an international fair, we have stayed in the pavilions of Spain. And yet we haven't stopped.

There have been very numerous presentations related to cycle tourism, understood in a broad sense. Provincial councils like that of Castellón with their ambitious project Castelló Cycling, an investment plan with European funds of four million euros to promote the cycle tourism project that seeks to stimulate the sector in the province of Castellón. Without leaving the province “Maestrat, Ànima Interior” has presented the project Maestrat MTB Grand Tour, a bike-park that seeks to be a national reference with more than 500 km of cycle tourism routes.

The mayor of Tarragona and Councilor for Tourism, Pau Ricomà, presented on Thursday the cultural cycle route of the Via Augusta, which has received funding of €442.500 from the Next Generation EU Funds, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The new route of the Via Augusta covers 1.600 kilometers of the ancient Roman route following a route linked to the Roman sites that can be found in the fifteen municipalities of the four Autonomous Communities through which the itinerary runs.

Town councils such as Nerja or the tourist enclave of Islantilla (Lepe and Isla Cristina) join the cycle tourism by proposing new routes. And many more Castalla, Plasencia…

Ainara Hernando at FITUR

On Wednesday we accompanied our friends from Camino del Cid in the presentation of his documentary series The Camino del Cid: Diary of a Cyclist with Ainara Hernando. It is a delight to see how one of our favorite routes is consolidated year after year.

Then we went to nature trails, whose stand, together with that of Greenways, has been the spearhead of the promotion of cycle tourism at this fair for years.

Caminos Naturales presented its new wave of media campaign to make the Natural Paths known to the general public. The event was opened by Isabel Bombal Díaz, General Director of Rural Development, Innovation and Agri-Food Training, and, among others, Paco Nadal, as brand ambassador, and Sebastián Alvaro, who has actively participated in the campaign, were there. The event was closed by none other than Minister Luis Planas, an evident sign of the importance that the Ministry gives to the Natural Trails Program.

Luis Planas, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

We have also seen more sporting proposals at FITUR, such as the Andalucía Bike Race, promoted by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía and which this year passes at some point along the route along our beloved Vía Verde del Aceite.

On Wednesday afternoon, at the stand shared by Barcelona City Council and the Provincial Council, Cycling round to spain, Involving “Purito” Rodríguez and the president of the return, Javier Guillén. At the event they talked about the Vuelta and the stages in Barcelona, and also about the projects of the blue roads/blave roads, a great commitment to cycle tourism in Barcelona

Purito did a double, he accompanied Alberto Contador in the presentation of the Alberto Contador March, which will be held on September 23 in Oliva (Valencia). A destination in the Valencian Community that knows perfectly well the return left by the presence of the thousands of cyclists who frequent its roads in the winter months.

Perico Delgado has been promoting at the fair Bedelalsa March, the Salamanca test that will be held on May 21 in Béjar, and which is now in its 10th year.

The strength of the image of ex-professional runners is evident and, although the relationship goes back a long way, it is very important to see how, in the world of tourism today, they are counted on as a key element for the promotion of events, tests and/or directly for tourism promotion.

On Thursday, materially, we could not be at all the presentations we would have wanted.

The Minister of Economy, Business and Employment of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, Patricia Franco, presented Rural Bike ConnectThe new

Presentation of Rural Bike at FITUR

proposal for a cycle tour that, with more than 2.000 kilometers, connects the five capitals of the region with its most emblematic natural spaces. With her, at the Castilla-La Mancha stand, was Rubén Martínez Obispo, who has participated in the design of the proposal since its inception and who is in charge of another of the initiatives present at the fair: Zentro Zone, which is establishing itself as an increasingly well-known destination for bicycle lovers.

Luis Martín Izquierdo at the Ciclamadrid Assembly

Also on Thursday we had the Assembly of CiclaMadrid, the cycle tourism product club in Madrid. The association that was born precisely in FITUR in 2019 and that works to revitalize cycle tourism in Madrid. At the assembly, the General Director of Tourism of the Community of Madrid, Luis Martín Izquierdo, He assumed the position of Vice President of the Association, which will undoubtedly translate into new momentum for the organization.

From there we went to the Natural Trails stand of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. We were fortunate enough to moderate a round table to talk about cycle tourism, in very good company. They were present at the table Jose Luis Soro Domingo, Minister of Territorial Structure, Mobility and Housing of the Government of Aragon, Maitena Ezkutari Artieda, General Director of Tourism, Commerce and Consumption of the Government of Navarra and Francisco Martin Simon, General Director of Tourism of Extremadura. After the presentation of the table by Cristina Clemente Martinez, Deputy Director General of Irrigation, Natural Paths and Rural Infrastructures, we focused on knowing what they are doing at the moment and the future plans of these Autonomies in the field of cycle tourism. A huge smile appeared on our faces when we heard the Councilor of Aragón mention Empty Mountains in his intervention. Those of you who follow us know that our connection with this route is very special and that we find it one of the most inspiring examples of how experiences can be promoted in the territory far beyond the mere layout of an itinerary. Many familiar faces stopped by and we enjoyed a good time chatting, discovering current and future projects in the field of bicycle tourism in the Autonomous Communities present.

There were also many interesting presentations on Friday. The Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Planning of Castilla y León presented the project Alfa Leon Zone, located in the Central Leonese Mountain and which focuses on MTB routes. Councilor Suárez-Quiñones pointed out that Zona Alfa León is an opportunity for a depressed region after the end of mining. Rafa Bergua, from

Zero Zone at FITUR

hand in hand with one of the most inspiring projects in our entire geography, Zero Pyrenees Zone (more than a thousand cyclable kilometers, mostly made up of old disused roads that Zona Zero Pirineos has been recovering over the years) told us about the expansion of the network in the Sierra de Arbe sector presented this year's edition to us of the Smugglers, a cross-border race that celebrated its first edition last fall, and whose route runs along the paths formerly used by smugglers, ranchers, exiles or merchants. Without a doubt, the best thing about attending the event was devirtualizing Martin Campoy, The creator of Wild Ara

This year FITUR launched a new section, Fitur Sports. There were several panels, one of them, panel 4, under the title “Product development and sports tourism experiences. “Cycling as a lever for development: Road cycling, MTB, Gravel, Cycle tourism” and which was moderated by Jesus Freire, general secretary of the Association of Brands and Bicycles of Spain (AMBE) and in which they participated Gabriel Llobera, Vice President of Garden Hotels; Albert Balcells, CEO of Ocisport; and Arancha Villar, Sports Tourism Technician of the Costa Blanca Tourism Board. The space was clearly small and many visitors were left wanting to follow the interventions.

Meeting with Martín Campoy

But of course, FITUR is huge and there is always much more. We were with Vías Verdes, we visited the Pilgrim stand, we met and chatted with many friends from the sector such as Nuria from OnBizi, Pablo and Javier from Bike Spain, Javier from Cumbres Travel, Bernard from Bicimap, practically the entire Bikefriendly team, Matías from Cycling Friendly, Víctor from IMBA, Gloria and Luis from Runbaik, Iván and Carmen from Kolotrip, the Eurovelo National Coordination Center, Javier Bañón from Bikepackers, Arturo Sancho from La Ciclería, the entire Ciclosfera team, Ricardo Dómine from Radio Viajera, Laura from Dos Ruedas Dos Pedales… Anyway, the bike continues to grow, bicycle tourism is experiencing an exceptional moment and everything indicates that 2023 will be a year of great routes.

However, before saying goodbye, we also want to point out some not so favorable issues. At these fairs, year after year, we witness the presentation of new routes and new projects. On many occasions with million-dollar investments. Many of these projects are presented, launched, and then languish, often disappearing almost without a trace.

Today, our humble opinion is that it no longer makes sense, except in very specific cases, to focus on the creation of new itineraries. In our country there are already thousands of kilometers of routes and hundreds of itineraries. We would not have the life to pedal all the existing proposals. However, it is not easy to access that information. And if we get to the information about a route, on many occasions, we are missing key data, how to get there, what services it offers, what conditions it is currently in...And of course, maintenance continues to be the pending issue on many routes.

The routes that work have someone behind them, a management, a person who cares for the project, a team that maintains and energizes it... If that is not created together with the route, it is very likely that the proposal will not work in the medium and long term.

We continue to need a national network of cycle tourism routes, with accessible and clear information to be able to compete with other destinations that are doing their job very well. We also need more bicycle tourism product and more bicycle vacation programs. The routes do not stop being just the infrastructure, they need services and there are companies that create programs and market them so that cycle tourism serves what we talk so much about: contributing to the socioeconomic development of the territories through which it runs.

We must continue with the digitalization of routes and destinations, making services accessible online, but without allowing ourselves to be blinded by technologies, which are and always will be a tool, not the objective in itself. The cemetery of applications related to routes and destinations does not stop growing and we have buried many euros of public money there.

And last but not least, we need a common, strong brand to promote cycle tourism in Spain and to be recognized internationally. It is an ideal time for the sector, many destinations, companies and routes are doing very well, but a “country strategy” is needed to ensure that Spain reaches the position it deserves, which is neither more nor less than that of leading this tourist segment. We have the routes, the landscapes, the gastronomy, the climate and the tourist services, we must work in a coordinated way and turn Spain into the destination that tourists think of when they want to choose a bicycle trip.