150 tourism experts gathered in Chur on October 20 and 21, 2016 to discuss trends and perspectives on mountain bike tourism at the Ride Mountain Bike Congress. Speakers and participants agreed that Alpine mountain bike tourism has now taken on such a strong role that it is at a turning point. The time of careless growth is over and market consolidation is imminent. Weak or less customer-oriented offerings and infrastructure no longer have a place. In future, only those who can satisfy clear customer needs will be successful. If they cannot, guests will switch to other regions.

There was also agreement at the Ride Mountain Bike Congress in Chur that the potential with mountain bikers has not yet been exhausted. However, simple and clearly positioned offers are increasingly in demand, and there is still a lot of catching up to do here. Peter Engler, among others, rejected the idea that mountain bikers could save Alpine tourism. As Managing Director of Bergbahnen Lenzerheide, he is relying heavily on mountain bikers, but they are and will remain a long way from the dimensions of the winter business.

The increasing importance of mountain bike tourism is also reflected in the fact that Thomas Bieger, an expert in tourism research, opened the congress. For the Rector of the University of St. Gallen, the demands for new structures in Alpine tourism can be implemented in an exemplary manner with mountain biking. The Destination Structures 3.0 model is virtually predestined to be applied to mountain biking. And with projects such as "Herbert", the first models have already been put into practice.

The Ride Mountain Bike Congress takes place every year in October in Chur and brings together tourism experts from the German-speaking Alpine region. It took place in 2016 under the theme of "Bikenonomics" and is scheduled for October 12 and 13 next year.


www.ride-kongress.ch