Date: 27th of March 2015

 

Place: Goriška brda Wine Cellar, Zadružna cesta 9, 5212 Dobrovo, Slovenia

 

GPS coordinates: 45°59'54.15"S,  13°31'24.33"V

9.30 The start of the Bike Alpe Adria conference, Goriška brda Wine Cellar conference room, Dobrovo.                                  

Mayors, BiMobis project partners and representative of the Managing Authority / Joint Technical Secretariat Cross-border Cooperation Programme Slovenia - Italy speeches

Conference facilitator: Andrej Dekleva

10.00

Presentation of the Bimobis project – bike mobility between Italy and Slovenia

Miro Kristan, Project Manager, Soča Valley Development Centre, Slovenia

10.05 Presentation of the iCon project

Vesna Kozar, Project Manager, Soča Valley Development Centre, Slovenia

10.10 Bike Alpe Adria as a biking destination and association Peter Dakskobler & Jan Klavora, Organizers and owners of Soča Outdoor Festival, Slovenia
10.20 What mountain biking really is? Peter Zajc, Mountain biker and geographer, RRA Koroška, Slovenia
10.30 The role of biking in the reginal economic development: a case study of Scotland Dr Steve Taylor, Project Manager, University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland
10.50 How to develop a mountain biking destination? Darco Cazin, Owner, Allegra Tourismus GmbH, Switzerland
11.10 I became the mayor because I had vision Pavel Hornik, Mayor, Černá Voda, Czech Republic
11.30 Coffee break  
11.50 How to become a bicycle-friendly hotel? Fabio Giacomelli, Lungolivigno, Italy
12.10 How to turn a farm into a cycling centre? Dušan Štrucl- Dixi, Owner, MountainBike Nomad, Slovenia
12.30 Destination branding: Questions and statements that need to be coordinated among stakeholders Maja Konečnik Ruzzier, Associate Professor of Marketing, Faculty of Economics, Universty of Ljubljana, Slovenia
12.50 Destination branding: A destination attractive for mountain biking

Andrej Žigon, Owned, Alliance ASE – Alliance Institution, Slovenia

13.10 Promotion of cycling destinations through mountain biking competitive teams and athletes Tine Mahkovec, Product and sales manager for bicycle tools at Unior and director of Unior Tools Team Slovenia
13.30 Why are events important for the destination? Iztok Kvas, CEO at action sports agency SPANK
14.00 Press conference  
15.00 Organized bike trip of a part of BiMobis route, the meeting point is in front of Goriška Brda Wine Cellar Anyone interested is welcome
15.30 Workshop 1: How to become a successful cycling destination

Facilitator: Andrej Dekleva
Collaborators: Steve Taylor, Darco Cazin, Pavel Hornik

15.30 Workshop 2: How to become a successful cycling provider?

Facilitator: Peter Dakskobler
Collaborators: Fabio Giacomelli, Dušan Štrucl- Dixi

15.30 Workshop 3: How to attract cycling guests?

Facilitator: Andrej Žigon
Collaborators: Maja Konečnik Ruzzier, Tine Mahkovec, Iztok Kvas

 

Presentation of the BiMobis project – bike mobility between Italy and Slovenia

Project Bimobis – bike mobility between Slovenia and Italy – connects three different senses: mobility, cycling and tourism. The core of the project is the establishment of a cross-border cycling circuit, its integration into the range of tourism products and services through the connection of the tourism providers and the formation of a new cross-border tourism product. Publications and an online portal will connect a broader region into a unified cycling story, while the ambitions stretch to an even wider area of the Alpe Adria region. For more information visit: www.bimobis.eu

 

Bike Alpe Adria as a cycling destination and association

Cycling guests bring a new mind set and push us to finally establish a product oriented and integral tourist destination. Ideas and the promotion already exist, but our focus now is on trying hard to make up for arrears in stages like legislation, signalization, databases, infrastructure and specialized tourism providers. Recently established routes such as Cross-Border Circular Cycling Route, Adriabike and Trans Slovenia together with the interactive regional map and internet platform Bike Alpe Adria set up the basis for a successful and recognizable cycling destination. One goal is also to connect small and medium size tourism providers, public institutions and non-governmental institutions into a regional cluster supporting cycling tourism – at the beginning in the pilot area and later on in the whole Alpe Adria region. Connecting these providers will improve their marketability and competitiveness through the integration of their complementary activities..

What mountain biking really is?

We use the term "mountain biking" as self-evident, but, is it? Does mountain biking have to be practised in the mountains? But what is a mountain anyway? And what about biking? And why does all this matter? In this discourse we shall try to put mountain biking in a broader framework of cycling and argue that a clearer definition of mountain biking is needed – for the mountain biking community and for the societal dialogue with other relevant stakeholders and policy makers. Further more we shall argue for the need of a clear understanding of the relationship between the target group, the infrastructure needed and tourism product in cycling in broader sense as well as in mountain biking specifically.

The role of biking in the regional economic development: a caste study of Scotland

This presentation is based on Dr Steve Taylor's doctoral research in the UK and New Zealand, Master’s supervision on mountain bike development in the Yukon, Canada, and consultancy studies undertaken for the national mountain bike body, as well as his ten years’ experience of mountain biking and cycling worldwide.
It will explore a little on his academic research on the setting characteristics of trails or destinations that influence where people want to visit and the value of cycling and mountain biking for economic development, before moving on to discuss, in the specific context of mountain biking, how these developments can help to create more attractive and desirable cycling destinations.

How to develop a mountain biking destination?

Destinations worldwide are looking for new markets to develop. How convenient is it then that there is a huge mountain biking market? However, most resorts and destinations still fail to cater for the needs of mountain bikers and to access the potential revenue streams. In his presentation Darco will share the methodology used in the most prestigious destinations in the Swiss Alps for the development of a mountain biking product, including the critical development elements and a selection of economic indicators.

I became the mayor because I had vision

Pavel Hornik presentation.pdf

Destination branding: Questions and statements that need to be coordinated among stakeholders

Destination branding is gaining recognition among academics and practitioners. Strong destination brands are well accepted by the target consumers. However, strong destination brands are developed and managed by internal stakeholders, who co-create and live the brands and thus enable their consumers to experience them. The presentation will cover this supply side perspective to destination branding and therefore review the main questions and concepts, which should be discussed among internal stakeholders of destinations before and during their process toward developing and building a successful destination brand.

Destination branding: A destination attractive for mountain biking

As the number of destinations that provide widespread trail systems and bike parks rapidly increases, the development of strong destination brands has never been more important. With an increasing number of trails and trail standardization, the positioning of successful mountain bike destinations will largely depend on emotional and self-expressive benefits. This is where brands come in handy as one of the most efficient marketing tools which enable the creation of emotional connections with visitors and the target market. The process of destination brand creation and management requires the destinations to follow certain models and strategies. Since many destinations do not have any in-depth knowledge of branding and mountain biking, this presentation will provide some key success factors needed to successfully engage with the mountain biking community and create long term relationships based on a strong destination brand.

Promotion of cycling destinations through competitive mountain biking teams and athletes

This presentation will be based on the benefits and opportunities that a local cycling destination can have in collaboration with mountain bike teams & athletes.

Why are events important for the mtb destination?

An event is the heart of every action sport tourist area. It is particularly important for an area that wants to expand its sport/tourism recognition. With its positive impact on all partners involved in tourism, an event is or it can be, one of the strongest marketing tools for the promotion of your MTB environment. On the other side, an event can also be a ''counter'' promotion if we do not consider all the risks that come with it, for example, if we do not plan our events strategically and for a longer term.