Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, 2020, BASE Milano will host the first Cycle Tourism Show in Italy.
Italians are increasingly choosing active holidays, and among the available options, cycle tourism is one of the most popular activities. According to a study by Unioncamere and Legambiente, cycle tourism in Italy alone accounts for 77.6 million overnight stays, representing 8.4% of the total national tourist movement. This means over 6 million people spent a holiday on a bicycle, generating a turnover of €7.6 billion per year.
The public sector is also taking action: in just three years, Italy has allocated over €750 million to create a national network of cycling routes. Local territories are responding with increasing speed, developing trails, signage, and dedicated services.
The lack of a meeting point between the demand and supply of cycling experiences has led to the creation of the first Cycle Tourism Show, which will take place on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, at BASE Milano, a creative hub in the heart of Milan’s design district.
The Cycle Tourism Show aims to create a logical journey of exhibitors who can showcase the perfect vacation or weekend: whether for families, adventurers, or athletes, but always on two wheels.
“Italy is a country to savor at the right pace and with the right attention,” says Paolo Pinzuti, CEO of Bikenomist and organizer of the show. “With the Cycle Tourism Show, we wanted to create a catalog of experiences and beauty for all those who want to cycle in new places, far from traffic, but without having to improvise.”
In addition to the exhibition space, the Cycle Tourism Show will also host the Bikeitalia Talks, a packed schedule of meetings, presentations, screenings, and stories about places, experiences, dreams, techniques, and travel tips that will enliven the two-day event.
On this occasion, the ARDA (A Ritmo D’Acque) project will be presented to the public. This series of cycling itineraries will start from BASE Milano, exploring the territory along the canals and major points of interest, highlighted and narrated through multimedia artistic installations.
The Cycle Tourism Show is organized by Bikenomist srl, a Milan-based company specializing in bicycle communication, in collaboration with BASE Milano as part of the “ARDA – A Ritmo D’Acque” project and under the patronage of ENIT Italia – the National Tourism Agency, the Municipality of Milan, and FIAB Onlus (the Italian Environment and Bicycle Federation). The media partner for the initiative is Bikeitalia.it, the most-read bicycle information magazine in Italian.
The main sponsor of this first edition is VisitDenmark, the Danish tourism office, a country renowned for its bike-friendliness and extensive offerings for two-wheeled travelers.
