Cycling Tourism: Characteristics and Challenges for the Developments and Promotions of a Special Interest Product

The growth of cycling tourism over the past decade emerges the need for the development of unique tourist products by the destinations in order to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace. This paper explores the challenges and possibilities of developing cycling tourism in Greece as a special form of tourism, offering multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. At first, important aspects and international trends related to cycling tourism are examined, focusing in particular on the conditions for its development, such as the development of cycling routes, the types of cycling, the existence of appropriate infrastructure, the transport of bicycles by public means of transportation, the design and promotion of the cycling tourism product. The next section explores the conditions for the development of cycling tourism in Greece through quantitative opinion research on domestic and foreign cyclists. The results of the survey illustrate important issues on the development of cycling tourism in Greece and establishes policy guidelines useful to stakeholders interested in the development and provision of cycle tourism.