The Municipal Library was the chosen venue this morning for the presentation of Lloret’s newly structured cycling product, designed over the first half of the year with the goal of promoting this sports product, in line with the 2017 action plan of Lloret Turisme.
The project, of great strategical importance to the destination, has been carried out in partnership with Extrem Team, a consulting company specialising in active and sports tourism, and with the support of Selva County Council and the Inverse sports brand. Specific materials have been produced in order to inform tour operators and end customers of everything the destination has to offer cyclists.
According to Jaume Dulsat, Mayor of Lloret de Mar, “Cycling is a strategic product for Lloret de Mar that helps us to reduce the seasonal nature of tourism, since this activity is mainly concentrated between November and June. Thanks to this structuring process we know we have a good product that will serve to position our city as a hub for cyclists in which to stay and from which to complete routes throughout the area.”
A total of six road cycling and six mountain biking routes have been defined with the goal of offering options with low traffic density and which incorporate elements of natural and heritage interest. Furthermore, two maps in five languages have been created for each discipline with technical information on the 12 routes. The maps have been uploaded to the Wikiloc and Strava apps, both popular with cyclists. The Lloret Cycling user club has also been created on Strava. A dedicated website has been launched (cycling.lloretdemar.org) that contains all the cycling services and products offered by both public and private organisations in Lloret de Mar.
Promotion of the new cycling product will begin at the Sea Otter Europe Fair, taking place in Girona from 2 to 4 June, where Lloret Turisme will have its own stand. In relation to this event, Lloret de Mar will be hosting a workshop next Saturday organised by the Costa Brava Tourist Board, which will be attended by 15 international tour operators and ten establishments from Lloret and the surrounding area. This year, Lloret Turisme has already been present at the Fahrrad & Erlebnis-Reisen cycling fair in Stuttgart and will be at the Eurobike Show in Friedrichshafen (Germany) and at the Unibike Show in Madrid in August and September.
As Elizabeth Keegan, Director of Lloret Turisme, explained, “After all this work, we’ve defined five reasons to train in Lloret that put us in a stronger position than other destinations: an unbeatable climate, a great atmosphere for cyclists in the area, a wide variety of roads and tracks to train on, 14 hotels specialised in cycle tourism and the fact that Lloret offers services of great value to cyclists, such as technical services and a wide range of eating options.”
Lloret de Mar has been a certified Sports Tourism Destination since 2006 and boasts 14 hotels specialised in cycling tourism, 12 of which are certified by the Catalan Tourist Board. More than 3,000 amateur and professional cyclists choose the destination every year for their sport stays.
