Lanzarote has been present this past weekend at two of the most important cycling fairs held in Spain: Festibike and Expobike.
Festibike 2012 was held in Las Rozas, Madrid, in an open-air venue of more than 6,000 square meters. The former cyclist and current commentator of this sport on the Teledeporte thematic channel, Pedro Delgado, and the athlete Chema Martínez, were responsible for inaugurating this outdoor fair of a recreational nature last Friday, September 14, in what was a professional day dedicated to the presentation of the novelties of the coming season of the almost 350 brands present at Festibike.
Saturday and Sunday were days open to the general public, who were able to learn first-hand about all the novelties in the world of bicycles and their accessories. The organization estimates that some 50,000 people attended Festibike 2012 or some of the parallel activities that were held, among which are the FIAT MTB 4 estaciones, a 35-kilometer mountain bike race through the mountains of Madrid that had more than 2,000 participants; the Bike Park, the PumpTrack, the Big Air Bag and the product tests on the demo circuits, among others.
Turismo Lanzarote, represented by a group of businessmen from the sector belonging to European Sports Destination, traveled to the capital in order to show the public the particularities and riches of the island as an ideal destination for mountain biking, road biking and triathlon, and to deliver the promotional technical material "prepared by professionals" that has been designed for this purpose, such as route maps, GPS tracks, event calendar and Bike database, among others.
In addition, the expedition established multiple contacts with specialized press with the aim of planning the elaboration of reports in Lanzarote during this coming winter. According to the Cabildo, "the interest generated by the Lanzarote stand was such that David Cachón, world champion of mountain bike trial and Guiness record of free fall, offered to perform an improvised exhibition on the spot before the astonished eyes of the crowd".
Expo Bike
Also, this past weekend Expo Bike was held at IFEMA, also in Madrid. Two hostesses from European Sports Destination, with the collaboration of the Teguise City Council, attended this event to distribute specific technical material to fans who went to discover the novelties of a market that is growing at a dizzying pace.
"We were able to verify that the island is increasingly recognized in the world of cycling as a destination that stands out for its great natural values, for the peculiarity of its landscapes and routes, for the climate and for alternative sports options," says the manager of European Sports Destination, Eric Yoldjoglou. "The excellent reception of Lanzarote as a bike destination in the fairs in which we have been present is the best reason to continue working on offering the best and most complete information about our routes on two wheels to such a demanding and quoted market," he concludes.
For her part, the Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Carmen Steinert, points out that "the island must be present in this type of events to consolidate the Lanzarote brand as a first-class destination in a growing segment such as sports tourism". Steinert also assures that "the good reception that Lanzarote has had in these thematic fairs supports the successful promotional strategy of European Sports Destination that, with the joint work of public and private entities, is fulfilling the objective of positioning the island at the forefront of sports tourism".
Turismo Lanzarote and European Sports Destination were also present at Ispobike 2012, one of the most important cycling fairs in Germany held last August.
The next events on the sports tourism promotional calendar are the international winter nautical fairs in Paris and Dusseldorf, in which Turismo Lanzarote and European Sports Destination will present a proposal that includes sailing, sport fishing, scuba diving, windsurfing, kitesurfing and surfing, among others.
