RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colombia presents itself to the world as one of the best destinations for bicycle tourism and bets on making visible the characteristics that make it an attractive country for foreign travel, as reported Tuesday (17) by the state tourism promotion agency ProColombia.
“Colombia has unique factors that make it very competitive to be a world-class destination for bicycle tourism (…) In addition, this type of experience is in line with new tourism trends, as many travelers are in search of outdoor activities that connect them with nature,” said the president of ProColombia, Flavia Santoro, quoted in a statement.
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Through the initiative “Colombia: cycling tourism at another level”, the agency highlights the country’s biodiversity, its potential as one of the best cycling training destinations in the world, and its tourism offer specialized in this activity, characteristics that international travelers are looking for.
CRADLE OF GREAT CYCLISTS
To boost this strategy, ProColombia also recalled that the country is the cradle of great cyclists and the most biodiverse in the world per square meter.
“Colombia is the only country that has invested in competitive cycling since the 1950s. This discipline has been how Colombians have known their own country and have also managed to cross borders to win international competitions since the 60s and 70s in America, and the 80s in Europe,” said writer Matt Rendell in the statement.
Rendell, a cycling journalist, stressed that “in the 90s and 2000s, Colombia came back stronger than ever: Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Urán, Esteban Chávez and Miguel Ángel López have accumulated 13 podiums in the grand tours of Italy, France and Spain, and all this before Egan Bernal’s victory in the Tour de France in 2019.”
AUDIOVISUAL PROMOTION
ProColombia also presented four audiovisual productions to showcase the country as an ideal destination for cycling tourism and make visible three of the areas recognized for the practice of this activity: the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the department of Antioquia, and the Coffee Region.
One of the audiovisual campaign protagonists is Nick Perkins, a South African-British bicycle enthusiast who has lived in Colombia for more than 20 years, who pointed out that in the country, “you can make exciting tours” in which “you can live incredible experiences”.
“In addition, because the country is so big, today it has several means of transport very developed to move between various regions and know them by bicycle. If someone wants to come, they can aim for any region where they are sure to find natural beauty, whatever they choose they will love,” he said.
“We hope that this project will serve as a tool for entrepreneurs, entities, guilds, and all other allies to promote Colombia as an ideal international tourist destination for bicycle tourism,” said ProColombia’s Santoro.