Who we are
The project has found ease of sharing thanks to the participatory planning activity organized in 2016 by the Piedmont and Lombardy Regions for the promotion of cycling tourism in the Lake Maggiore-Orta-Varese area. This concertation activity continued even after the conclusion of the works thanks to the interest of the District of the Lakes and the Salite del VCO, a committee that brings together some cycling associations of Insubria. Three other meetings were promoted (in the Verbano, in the Ossola and in the Cusio/north Novara area) involving the VCO province, the park management bodies (Ossola Protected Areas and Valgrande National Park), the FIAB of Novara (contact person for the VCO area), the cycling associations, the Ecomuseum of Lake Orta, the Lake Maggiore Holiday Consortium, the bicycle shops, the managers of San Domenico Ski (ropeways that manage a bike park ), VCO Trasporti, cycle-excursion and MTB guides, companies that rent bikes.
A similar route was carried out on the Ticino side by Bellinzona and Alto Ticino OTR with the involvement of the Blenio Bike association, sports shops, mountain bike guides, Nara and Airolo ski resorts, restaurants, huts and hotels that provide Bike services Stop or Bike Stop B.
The partner of the project
UNIONE MONTANA ALTA OSSOLA
Comune di Bedretto
Azienda Elettrica Comunale Bedretto
S.C.R.L. (SOCIETA’ CONSORTILE A RESPONSABILITA’ LIMITATA) DENOMI NATA DISTRETTO TURISTICO DEI LAGHI
SOCIETA’ CONSORTILE A RESPONSABILITA’ LIMITATA
Provincia del Verbano Cusio Ossola
Organizzazione Turistica Regionale (OTR) Bellinzonese e Alto Ticino.
TARGET groups
The project is aimed at different types of bikers:
– slow biker: touring bicycle/mountain bike that move on easy routes with little difference in altitude, also suitable for families and children
– racing bike enthusiast: 30-60 years old, travels on the road and is interested, for example, in routes covered by the Giro d’Italia
– mountain bike lover: 25-45 years old, looking for paths in nature, even adrenaline-pumping ones;
– itinerant cycle tourist: it also relies on specialized tour operators (e.g. Girolibero);
– hiker cyclist: 3–4-hours excursions in valuable environmental contexts.
Particular attention will be paid to the development of services for e-bikes, capable of bringing this activity closer to a much wider public, especially from a tourist point of view, who will be able to discover, thanks to assisted pedaling, the thrill of routes and itineraries that would otherwise be exclusive to expert cyclists.
The connecting route allows a 4-day itinerary from the Gotthard to Milan suitable for mountain bikes involving a vast territorial area.
The project also indirectly involves the world of schools, with targeted environmental education actions, and the local population with promotional and communication events.
In the creation phase of the cross-border service network, companies and private operators in the tourism sector will be involved (at least 40 in IT and at least 30 in CH between hotels, restaurants, tourist services, etc.).
Local administrations will be involved along the way with specific training courses based on visits to good practice cases.
Cycling associations and local stakeholders will be involved both in the technical design phase and in the construction of the offer.
The project makes it possible to involve 2 large potential tourist user basins: that of the Milanese/Lombardy area and that of the Swiss-German basin and, in general, beyond the Gotthard.
The leads
CAPOFILA ITALIA
Unione Montata Alta Ossola
CAPOFILA SVIZZERA
Comune di Bedretto