Cycling tourism is on the rise in Croatia. One more great addition.
“Zadar Bike” is the most significant and the most interesting tourism project that is being prepared for the next season by the Zadar County and the County Tourist Association. At the press conference on Tuesday, “Zadar Bike” project was jointly presented by the county prefect Stipe Zrilić and the director of the Tourist Board Mihaela Kadija, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on September 15, 2015.
This is a very attractive project because in Europe there are about 60 million cycling amateurs and tourists, and cycling tourism generates about 40 billion euros in turnover every year. Due to its geographical characteristics and diversity, the Zadar County is ideal for the development of cycling tourism.
During the first three phases of the project, about 3,000 kilometres of potential bike trails have been identified. The majority of trails are on hills and mountains, while the rest are road bike trails and trekking bike paths. The Zadar County has great potential for the development of cyclo-tourism and it should try to create the tourist package which would be of interest not just for cyclo-tourists, but also for potential investors in this type of tourism.
The investment needed for the project is quite affordable. So far, during the first three phases of the project, about 300,000 kuna were invested, while in the end, the public investment will be about a million kuna, which will include the development of a mobile application for bike tourists in the area, a detailed GPS system, etc.
The project will use the existing bicycle paths, as well as those newly discovered. As many as 28 local offices have already identified which bike routes could be interesting for tourists, while in the end a total of 31 local offices will be included in the project.
The county prefect Stipe Zrilić said that the “Zadar Bike” project is strategically important for the whole area, which will, according to his opinion, have the highest growth in tourism in Croatia in the coming years. This is supported by the fact that the bike tourism also tends to increase, as more and more Europeans want to have active holidays and to tour their destinations on a bicycle.
