Rome, 04/05/2016. In a press conference held on the 4th of May the Italian Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Graziano Delrio introduced a new Cycle Tourism Masterplan which aims to create a national infrastructure network for touristic cycle routes.

The masterplan was presented alongside the results of a Confindustria-Ancma ( Italian Industrial Federation) study on the economic impact of the incoming GRAB ( Grande Raccordo Anulare delle Bici di Roma), a under construction project that aims to build a Great Ring Junction cycle route for bicycles around the city of Rome. According to the study’s results, more than 600.000 tourists are expected to be travelling on the cycle route in the first year only, generating a profit for local economies which should be five times bigger than the initial amount invested for the construction.

The GRAB project is one of the four national cycle routes included in the Cycle Tourism Masterplan which foresee a cycling related investment of around 96 million euros for the 2016-2019 period.

The other three cycle routes are the The Sun Route (Ciclopista del Sole), a 3000 km touristic cycle route which is part of the EuroVelo 7 itinerary connecting the North Cape in Norway to Malta, the VenTo touristic cycleway, a 680 km route which connects Venice to Turin along the river Po, and the Aqueduct Cycle Way (Ciclovia dell'acquedotto) a 500 km touristic cycle route along the roman aqueduct between the southern regions of Campania and Puglia.

"Cycle routes are even better than motorways in terms of infrastructure for the government” highlighted Delrio during the press conference. “A motorway pays back its cost in 30 years, a cycle route in only 3”

Delrio also reflected upon the foreseen economic gain for the country. “Cycle tourism should not be undermined:  the related profit in the EU is around 44 billion and in Italy it could reach 3 billions”. The minister also stated his intention to include a fifth national cycle route in the masterplan, a route around the Garda Lake. “We want the cycling tourism infrastructure to become one of the biggest focuses for our country’s tourism sector” concluded Delrio.