The SIBIT or Sustainable Interregional Bike Tourism project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, was launched at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. It is spearheaded locally by the Malta Tourism Authority and the Local Councils’ Association.
The project is estimated to cost around €1.1 million and will be co-financed by the ERDF and supported financially by the stakeholders involved: The MTA, the LCA, as well as the Sicilian provinces of Agrigento, Ragusa, Siracusa, Trapani, Caltanisetta and the Polo Universitario of Agrigento.
The main aim of the project is to introduce and support joint and standardised infrastructural development in both Malta and Sicily within a natural and rural environment aimed at promoting bike tourism as a form of sustained tourism development. In the run-up to the launch of the SIBIT project, it was agreed that EU funding would be sought to promote bike tourism. The SIBIT project aims to offer a tailored product to a growing niche market promoting the environment, a healthy lifestyle while helping to reduce the seasonality effects .
The project gives the possibility to both participating destinations to promote one another within a tourism oriented context.
At the SIBIT launch, MTA CEO Josef Formosa Gauci said this project was yet another example of how the authority was seeking to develop as many tourism niche opportunities as possible, especially in the sport segment, adapting to the changing trends, preferences and tourism patterns emerging, especially in Europe.
Source / Fuente: http://www.independent.com.mt
Author / Autor: Staff
Date / Fecha: 25/10/11
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