The Barcelona Provincial Council is committed to cycle tourism with the help of Bikefriendly Consulting.
Cycle tourism is a booming sector and proof of this is the increase in the number of people who choose this way of traveling year after year. This phenomenon occurs simultaneously with the increasing use of bicycles on a daily basis. And there is a clear correlation between the demand for cycle tourism and the cycling modal share. It can be seen that countries with more normalized daily use of bicycles, such as Holland, Denmark or Germany, are in turn the countries with higher demand rates for cycle tourism.
When it comes to destinations, France is the country that receives the most cycle tourists. However, Spain has been becoming an attraction for this type of tourism for some time, and a large number of administrations are already carrying out actions to work in this regard. Cycle tourism represents an opportunity to expand and deseasonalize the tourist offer of an area, and at the same time contribute to the more sustainable development of the territory, the creation of great diversity of employment and the redistribution of the socioeconomic impact generated through this activity. .Barcelona is more
The province of Barcelona is a territory with a great capacity for tourist attraction. According to data from Tourism Laboratory of Barcelona Provincial Council in 2016 welcomed 11.790.941 visitors, of which 76,9% chose Barcelona as their destination. For its part, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the province of Barcelona is, in relation to the rest of the provinces of Spain:
- First in number of overnight stays (34 million)
- First in hotel overnight stays (31,1 million)
- Fourth in overnight stays in campsites (2,5 million)
- The sixth in rural tourism (0,3 million)
Since 2012, the Tourism Promotion Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council has been developing the brand “Barcelona is more”, which promotes the sustainable development of the territory through tourism, in order to position the demarcation of Barcelona in the internal and external market. Among its main objectives is to promote and support tourism policies developed by the municipalities themselves and create specialized tourism products, among which it is proposed to incorporate cycle tourism as a consequence of its growing demand.
In this context, and prior to the development of a cycle tourism product, a project promoted by the Tourism Promotion Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council and in collaboration with Bikefriendly Consulting is launched with the aim of analyze and understand the characteristics of cycle tourism in the province of Barcelona, as well as its potential and resources.Data Collect
Before starting the project, Bikefriendly Consulting carried out a quantitative analysis previous with open data obtained through different sources. Thanks to this information and the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the analysis and design of cycle tourism products, it was possible to determine the location on the map and types of accommodation, resources of tourist interest and refreshment points. In addition, the mountain and road cycling routes best rated by users and the most important cycling flows that occurred in real time throughout the province were detected.
These data were then validated with the agents of the territory's cycle tourism value chain (public institutions, associations, accommodations, travel agencies, service companies and cycling clubs) through a qualitative analysis based on face-to-face work sessions in each of the 11 regions of the province of Barcelona.
We found that there was a large number and variety of agents, public and private, developing activities to promote cycle tourism, in most cases without the coordination of a unifying agent that would avoid duplication of efforts and optimization of resources. Therefore, it was a challenge to identify, contact and convene those agents representing all the rings of the cycle tourism value chain in each of the regions of the province.
However, during this work phase we met with 114 agents who work directly or indirectly in the promotion of cycle tourism, we interviewed by telephone with a dozen people who could not attend these sessions but whose testimony was relevant and we collected contributions of more than 400 through forms distributed among all regions of the province. In this sense, the help of both the Barcelona Provincial Council and the regional councils and the City Councils themselves was key to the preparation and holding of these work sessions.Situation diagnosis
With all this collection of information we were prepared to carry out a diagnosis of the situation from which results and conclusions could be drawn. This diagnosis focused on analyzing those aspects that in our opinion are essential when designing strategies to promote cycle tourism. These aspects are:
- Analysis of the product offer at destination
- Analysis and characterization of markets of origin
- Characterization of visitors
- Identification of alternative destinations
- Identification of products and marketing channels
- Actions carried out to promote cycle tourism in the destination
- Brand analysis
Once these aspects have been identified and defined, a SWOT – CAME analysis is carried out. On the one hand, the strengths and weaknesses of the province of Barcelona as a cycle tourism destination, the opportunities that are presented to it and the threats that may affect it in the development of a specialized cycle tourism strategy are presented in a summarized and schematic way. On the other hand, the aim is to define the strategic lines of action to correct the weaknesses detected, confront possible threats, maintain the strengths and explore the opportunities detected.
Finally, a report of recommendations is prepared in which, as an instruction manual, it is defined which aspects should be taken into consideration for the development of a territory specialization strategy in terms of cycle tourism.
Results presentation
On October 24, a prior presentation of results was held in Granollers (Barcelona) within the framework of the Tourism Cercle promoted by the Barcelona Provincial Council, a work environment that aims to promote the participation of companies in the tourism sector in the collective promotion of their products and destinations. The first data obtained from the diagnosis carried out with the different regions were presented to sector professionals and tourism managers from different public administrations.
Furthermore, in the coming weeks an event will be organized calling on all the agents who have participated in the preparation of this document and those who may be interested in communicating the results and conclusions obtained as a result of the preparation of this report, encouraging the appearance of synergies between the different agents of the value chain and identifying the next steps to take.
With all this, the Barcelona Provincial Council will have a very valuable resource to take the definitive step towards the specialization of the territory in terms of cycle tourism. A territory that has all the potential and assets necessary to position itself as a leading bicycle tourism destination, both nationally and internationally.
Results presentation April 2018
With the aim of sharing and validating the conclusions drawn in the report, two events were proposed in which all agents in the cycle tourism value chain in the province of Barcelona were invited to participate:
On the one hand, the day On October 24, a preliminary presentation of results was held in Granollers (Barcelona) in the framework of Tourism Cercle promoted by the Barcelona Provincial Council, a work environment that aims to promote the participation of companies in the tourism sector in the collective promotion of their products and destinations. The first data obtained from the diagnosis carried out with the different regions were presented to sector professionals and tourism managers from different public administrations.
The other event will take place this Friday, April 6 at 9:30 in the Sala Auditori del Pati Manning (Barcelona). This event will serve, apart from presenting the definitive study carried out for Diputació de Barcelona, to encourage the emergence of synergies between the different agents and identify the next steps to be taken. In this event, the Tourism Services Management of Barcelona Provincial Council will also present the objectives and lines of work that are being carried out to promote cycle tourism in the province, and a round table will be held under the title of “Cycle tourism as “new tourist product in the regions of Barcelona”
If you want to register for the Conference you can do so through (Enlace of inscription)
