Scottsdale, AZ– Self-guided bicycle tours were a growth area for the cycling industry last year, according to Pure Adventures, sister company to Discover France Adventures that specializes in self guided and custom guided cycling and multisport tours in France.
Total sales of self guided cycling tours in 2010 were up significantly over 2009, said Loren Siekman, founder of the two brands Pure Adventures and Discover France Adventures. Pure Adventures differentiates itself from Discover France Adventures by planning self-guided cycle tours in other European countries, whereas Discover France focuses only on France. Pure Adventures sales increased by 20 percent in 2010, with key Western Europe countries Italy, Spain, and Ireland leading the way.
“We’ve seen a huge surge of interest in self-guided offerings. With the slow economy people can still tour and go on vacation but often at half the price and with more privacy and than a group guided tour with fixed departure dates,” said Siekman. He noted that self-guided tours offered by his company increased 95 percent in Spain, 25 percent in Ireland and nearly 10 percent in Italy in 2010 over the same period in 2009.
New self-guided trips that Pure Adventures will be launching this year in Spain are:
Costa Brava Explorer - http://www.pure-adventures.com/tours/cycling-road-catalonia.php
Costa Brava Deluxe Cycling - http://www.pure-adventures.com/tours/cycling-deluxe-catalonia.php
Catalonia Wine and Wheels - http://www.pure-adventures.com/tours/cycling-catalonia-wine.php
In Italy:
Maremma – Natural Western Tuscany - http://www.pure-adventures.com/tours/cycling-tuscany-maremma.php
And in the Czech Republic:
Vienna-Prague Greenways Multisport - http://www.pure-adventures.com/tours/cycling-czech2.php
Siekman underscored that these tours are “meticulously planned” with localized expertise in each destination, in the same manner as his French brand offers in France where they have extensive local expertise.
“The routes are carefully designed and tested, meals and luggage transfers are included and we offer a variety of hotels and inns to suit various budgets,” said Siekman.
Pure Adventures tours are now offered in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. On the drawing boards and coming soon are self-guided tours in Ireland, Sardinia Italy and Girona Spain.
Pure Adventures is an outgrowth of the success of Discover France Adventures, now in its 17th year in 2011. Discover France Adventures has been organizing bicycle tours and hiking tours in France since 1994 and has offices in both the USA and in France. Discover France is a pioneer in bringing self guided cycling and hiking and now multisport adventures to a broader market outside of Europe. Discover France Adventures and Pure Adventures award winning tours are “competitively priced yet high quality with substantial support,” reports Siekman, “a unique combination that makes a Europe adventure more easily accessible to more people.”
Visit http://www.discoverfrance.com and http://pure-adventures.com/ for all the details or contact them by phone at 800.960.2221 or by email at [email protected].