The "Milestone" is a great honor for Lenzerheide, but the award is more a reflection of the current situation in mountain bike tourism in Switzerland. Never before has a mountain biking project taken home this Milestone. This is no longer the case, and this is not simply because mountain biking is currently in vogue. Because there is much more behind "Bike Kingdom". Namely a new form of tourism, which has now been consistently implemented for the first time thanks to and with mountain bikers.

Radical focus on guests

Despite all the euphoria, at first glance "Bike Kingdom" appears to be primarily a trivial marketing campaign for Lenzerheide. A graceful video clip and a playful mobile app. That in itself is nothing out of the ordinary, and it won't win you a flower pot, let alone a milestone. The uniqueness of "Bike Kingdom" can be seen elsewhere. For example, the radical focus on the guest. You no longer pack all possible target groups into one destination, into this potpourri of all sorts of things. "Bike Kingdom" is a new approach, a themed destination. Within "Bike Kingdom", Lenzerheide has shifted its previous geographical boundaries, adapted its language and created its own world. And with one premise: The guest is uncompromisingly in the foreground. "Bike Kingdom" embodies a new way of thinking about tourism: authenticity instead of arbitrariness. This radical focus on the guest makes "Bike Kingdom" unique.

The DNA of "Bike Kingdom" is not only remarkable in terms of its external impact. The internal effect is at least as important. "Bike Kingdom" provides a setting for service providers such as hotels or mountain railroads to realize independent products or marketing campaigns in this context. A story that they can jump on and develop further themselves. "Bike Kingdom" thus creates a regional identity within a theme through the common thrust. This is unusual in tourism, where otherwise everyone knows everything better and everyone goes their own way. "Bike Kingdom" creates a remarkable unity with the sport of mountain biking.

A new generation of tourism professionals

However, it is no coincidence that "Bike Kingdom" was created in Lenzerheide of all places. A new generation of tourism professionals has taken the helm here. This new generation is breaking with previous patterns, confidently and consistently breaking new ground and radically putting the guest at the center. This is why "Bike Kingdom" won the Milestone. Not for the promotional video or the mobile app, but for the new ways of thinking and acting behind it. In its statement, the Milestone jury said that Lenzerheide had set a high point with the "Bike Kingdom" app. They are wrong, because the app is not a highlight but a starting point. It is a first milestone on the path that has just been taken with "Bike Kingdom" and the structures behind it.

The milestone for "Bike Kingdom" comes exactly one year after "Ride" was named the best trade magazine in Switzerland in 2019. This means that mountain biking has finally freed itself from its niche and is now playing in the top league. Both "Bike Kingdom" and "Ride" were honored in particular for their innovative drive and the fact that they break through entrenched structures and thus write extraordinary success stories within very demanding industries. The fact that the most important tourism and media awards were won by mountain bike projects is no coincidence, but a symbol that the sport is (finally) being taken seriously.