The summer we have just left behind was the summer of cycle tourism. For the first time in Italy, sport became the primary motivation for travel, cited by more than 30 per cent of visitors for its recreational, aesthetic and health-related appeal; among the most popular activities was cycling itself (32 per cent), which now sits close behind trekking (39 per cent).

The figures come from the second Isnart–Legambiente report on cycle tourism, produced through the Observatory on the Tourism Economy of the Chambers of Commerce and presented at the Bike Summit 2020. The total spending by cycle tourists over the last summer amounted to 4.1 billion euros, bringing considerable benefits to the areas that chose to invest decisively in this category of traveller; the relative importance of certain holiday destinations that have strengthened their ability to attract sports tourism has shifted noticeably — this is the case with Abruzzo, Molise and Umbria.

The boom in tourist flows in Abruzzo

Abruzzo, in particular, saw its market share grow over the summer from 2.6 per cent last year to 5.5 per cent: the number of tourists in the region more than doubled, from 640,000 arrivals in 2019 to 1.5 million in 2020. And while nine per cent of Italian accommodation businesses declared a specific link with cycle tourism during the summer period, for Abruzzo that figure rises to 11.5 per cent. Credit is also due to a strengthening of regional strategies around pilot projects such as Costa dei Trabocchi Mob, as well as the material and intangible networks of mobility and tourist hospitality.

In the province of Chieti, work is also under way to complete the via verde Costa dei Trabocchi, the 42-kilometre cycling route that will run along one of the most evocative stretches of coastline in Italy. This corner of the region, as the president of the Chieti Pescara Chamber of Commerce Gennaro Strever points out, represents "one of the main routes to the area's recovery following this difficult period. A destination that perfectly reflects new trends and in which a proposition capable of combining contact with nature and the opportunity for outdoor sport is proving to be a winning one."

Cycle tourism remains more widespread in the north

The report highlights that cycle tourism is a phenomenon concentrated largely in the north, although some southern regions are beginning to make an appearance. Veneto, Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna together account for the starting point of almost half of all Italian cycle tourists, followed by Tuscany and Piedmont; the first southern regions appear midway down the national ranking and are Campania, Calabria and Sicily, each absorbing three per cent of total domestic movement.

Cycle tourists who choose to spend their holidays in Italy overwhelmingly opt for the northern regions, which offer, among other things, many kilometres of quality cycle paths and a wealth of ancillary services. The region that captures the largest share of this flow is Trentino–Alto Adige, chosen by 30 per cent of cycle tourists, followed by Lombardia (14 per cent) and Veneto (10 per cent). For Isnart president Roberto Di Vincenzo, "despite the dramatic period, new and important tourist flows have affected certain areas of Italy, and to this phenomenon cycle tourism and hiking tourism have been the main contributors. For this process to consolidate and produce a lasting increase in income, it is necessary to develop services for tourists that make it possible to enhance the offering and extend the season into spring and autumn as well."

The boost from the mobility bonus

Thanks to the incentives provided by the mobility bonus, which drove a significant increase in the number of bicycles and e-bikes sold, cycle tourism is set to develop further. This will have an impact not only on the choice of destinations, but also on the wider economic knock-on effects: from accessories to specialist travel guides, through to the availability of cycling infrastructure.

In essence, it is — in the view of Legambiente's head of tourism Sebastiano Venneri — "a future already written in the pages of the report and in what happened just a few days ago: 215 million euros distributed in just 24 hours to 600,000 people who have bought or will shortly buy a bike. A genuine pedal-powered revolution is now under way in this country." A revolution that will give rise to new flows of travellers and that will require regions to adopt new forms of tourism supply planning, as the positive example of Abruzzo has demonstrated.