On Friday, February 15^th, the “EU Partnership on European Tourism: Los Angeles” Conference was organized by the EU Commission in California featuring US and European tourism leaders, 

The EU Partnership on European Tourism, an initiative of the European Union aimed at supporting European tourism businesses and operators wishing to expand into Chinese and US markets, was keen on including the perspective of cycle tourism in the larger conversation on the adventure tourism industry. 

In the US, the concept of “adventure tourism” has grown significantly in recent decades, as tourists seek out personalized experiences that veer from the more traditional travel hot spots and into “the road less travelled. According to the US-based Adventure Travel Trade Association, “adventure travel” may be defined as any tourist activity that includes physical activity, a cultural exchange, and a connection with nature.

To this end, the EU Partnership extended an invitation to Mr. Adam Bodor, Advocacy and EuroVelo Director of the ECF and also vice-chair of the European Tourism Manifesto Initiative, to provide insight on the contribution of adventure cycling to the industry. Mr. Bodor emphasized the significance of the environmental sustainability and business opportunities of adventure cycling tourism in Europe, highlighting the shift of the industry in Europe from a niche category to a mainstream tourism trend in the last few years. He also noted the increasing demand for cycling tourism opportunities from families with children and road cyclists, as well as hand and tandem bicycle users.

This was important eye opener to the 100 representatives of the US travel industry to understand why the cycling tourism industry in Europe boasts an estimated 44 Billion Euro economic impact per year. This growing industry in turn creates local employment and tax revenue, contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions, and redirects the flow of tourists through less heavily trafficked locations in Europe.

A great example of this growing industry is the European cycle route network EuroVelo was presented as well highlighting especially the Rhine cycle route (EuroVelo15) and the most developed section of the Mediterranean cycle route (EuroVelo8). As part of the event EuroVelo and cycle tourism in Europe in general was presented on bilateral meetings to US tour operators and as an immediate result they already expressed several explicit bushiness requests towards European cycle tourism tour operators.