Giro E 2023,enit.it launches a project to develop the Italian bicycle tourism offer with the regions. The best tour operators promoting sustainability will be selected
COMUNICATO STAMPA
GIRO E 2023, ENIT.IT LAUNCHES A PROJECT TO DEVELOP THE ITALIAN BICYCLE TOURISM OFFER WITH THE REGIONS: THE BEST TOUR OPERATORS PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY WILL BE SELECTED
Special content for the world of tourism is coming to the ENIT website on the occasion of the Giro d’Italia, for which the Italian National Tourist Board is the official partner together with the Ministry of Tourism supporting the Pink Jersey. In order to increasingly promote Italy around the world and support businesses operating in the sector, the Italian National Tourist Board is putting together with the Italian regions a special selection of national and international tour operators specialising in bicycle tourism. This is a valuable tool for companies and destinations for developing a coherent and coordinated offer. The bike-related market is flourishing, producing 2.7 million bicycles in 2022 alone, with a surge in e-bikes (337,000 sold in Italy last year), thus also stimulating the positioning of electric power stations: as many as 36,772 are now available in Italy with an increase of 41 percent compared to 2022.
Once again, Italy is competing with ENIT until 28 May in the Giro-E, the eco-sustainable route with pedal-assisted bicycles on the same roads as the Giro d’Italia with a team that promotes the biking experience using the route of the Giro. This is a way to promote awareness of lesser-known routes and an opportunity for development through sport, which acts as a vehicle for the promotion of Italy’s local and folkloric beauty through the active spirit of the participants. The team includes highly diverse and qualified individuals including entrepreneurs, influencers, journalists and celebrities. The aim is to create a multi-platform debate on several communication channels.
This year’s team captain is Lello Ferrara, one of the most successful cycling influencers in Italy and well-known host of ‘Lo Squalo’ on Twitch with Vincenzo Nibali. For the duration of the Giro-E, the entire team, whose members change each day, will be followed by a team of professionals and a video maker who will be responsible for capturing the experience along the 18 stages across Italy. The campaign espouses the fundamental values of environmental sustainability, inclusiveness and protection of nature in line with ENIT’s promotion plan to spread a culture of respect and protection of the Italian territory.
‘The Giro d’Italia is a unique opportunity that the Ministry of Tourism, together with ENIT, has enthusiastically embraced because it represents an extraordinary promotional showcase for our country. It is also a way to make known those places that are not classic tourist destinations: those places that are more hidden but also more authentic, such as the small villages. A journey that must have a way of involving young people in this sport and in cycling, because bicycle tourism is a fundamental segment of tourism that is worth 5 billion, a segment that can and must grow in Italy, including in the area of deseasonalisation. Sporting events of this magnitude help tourism enormously and increase the GDP, with fundamental spin-offs for the country. Just think, hotel bookings to follow the Giro have reached 38,000. A very important number that makes it clear why the government believes so much in this event and in its success, also with a view to the awarding of Expo 2030, which is the big challenge on which we are working hard,’ commented Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè.
‘It takes an extraordinary medium to publicise the extraordinariness of Italian places and locations that are less frequented by the national and international public. The role that a bike ride, or a bike competition, can play in putting together an ideal Italian itinerary is incredible, but above all in bringing to life from the perspective of a bike rider the whole patchwork of varied landscapes of the Peninsula with its characteristics and peculiarities. Italy’s framework is also and above all formed by small communities and lesser-known places and this is a great opportunity to get to know them while having fun. Cycling can bring to light those places that are not visited by the extraordinary,’ says Ivana Jelinic, President and CEO of ENIT.
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