Cycle Tourism as a Driver for the Sustainable Development of Little-Known or Remote Territories: The Experience of the Apennine Regions of Northern Italy

Abstract

One form of cycle tourism can be represented features tourism that focuses on the relation between biking and the discovery of a territory. Geared toward forms of holiday that allow for the low consumption of natural resources and a connection with the landscape, cycle tourism represents a concrete expression of sustainable tourism. As an emerging phenomenon in Italy, cycle tourism requires further understanding in order to identify methods of development and applicable business models. The aim of this paper is to explore the characteristics of cycle tourism's development in northern Italy in order to identify the links that exist between sustainability and the group of cycle tourists who prefer to spend their holidays discovering little-known or remote territories. For this study, we selected three different destinations in sensitive mountain areas that converge on the common goal to use cycling to rejuvenate the tourism sector. It has been found that the development of cycle tourism in areas not characterized by mass tourism, such as those considered here, is economically, socially, and environmentally beneficial. The business models through which cycle tourism usually develops include a bottom up approach or a top down approach, involving the cooperation of several local destination stakeholders.

Trends in the Fashion Industry. The Perception of Sustainability and Circular Economy: A Gender/Generation Quantitative Approach

“…It is only from the 1990s that sensitivity towards environmental and social problems has taken on a new value, not only communicative, but above all anchored to the actual productive and organizational capacity of companies [56]. The attention to sustainability, including all those interventions of attention to the territory and the community in which the company operates, respect and protection of the environment, enhancement of human resources, safety of working conditions and protection of health [53], have thus become fundamental drivers for the development of the fashion industry [15,16,57]. In a broader sense and in a strategic key [58,59], the concept of sustainability embraces the search for well-being, for a better quality of life and a sense of responsibility towards the community [60].…”

“…Sustainability has recently become an important new driver in consumers' purchasing decisions. Phenomena such as the global population growth, climate change, and land and water scarcity have intensified in recent years and sustainability pressures related both to product and production processes became more relevant in this industry [15,16]. The speed of fast fashion, which has emerged in recent years as a new phenomenon with great impacts on the industry, amplifies problems, as it is causing high water consumption, high discharge of hazardous chemicals, an increase in waste, an increase in violations of human rights, together with bigger greenhouse gas emissions.…”

“…Online platforms are supposed to grow also in both premium and luxury segments; in this context, fashion companies are trying to improve the customer experience and to increase the quality and variety of services offered. Increasing the importance of online shopping for mass market and luxury fashion items has forced fashion brands to collaborate with online platforms [10,16,17]. Most traditional fashion companies are still skeptical about making collaborations with online giant e-commerce players, because they are scared to lose some control over their brand/company.…”

Development of a Cycle-Tourism Strategy in Greece Based on the Preferences of Potential Cycle-Tourists

“…Traditional coffee-shops acting as meeting points and convenience stores for local people are interestingly an important place cycle-tourists seek to find. These stores in non-touristic places could gain the most by their cycle-friendly certification, a finding enriching knowledge about how cycling tourism could foster development in remote territories [29].…”

“…The results in Scotland were opposite, where a national Cycle-tourism Forum was established in 2010 in order to promote such a collaboration [28]. In this direction, Gazzola, et al [29] point out that collaboration between public and private stakeholders is necessary in order for a well-defined strategy to be developed. Through such a cooperation procedure, attention may be paid to: (a) Analysis of the reference features in order to highlight success factors and critical issues, (b) creation of a long-term strategy, based on resources and opportunities of each area, (c) development of an action plan that indicates the necessary investments and actions in order for the goals to be caught [29].…”