ABSTRACT
This chapter explores linkages between cycle tourism and wine tourism as special interest tourist activities that combine the distinctive quality of winescapes, as environments for cycling, and assesses the scope for cycle tourists to take advantage of hospitality, educational and commercial dimensions of wineries. It investigates the philosophy and role of travel companies in providing cycle tourism products linked with wine growing regions with comparisons with New World winery bicycle tours. There is a range of specialist tour companies offering products that combine walking, boating and cycle holidays, targeting wine-growing areas of Europe and the New World. Philippe Coupy hopes that regional governments and tourist authorities will be impressed by the economic potential of cycle tourism. The development of tourist routes specifically for the bicycle, such as the planned Wine and Gourmet Cycle Route, indicates the commitment of a combination of stakeholders to create alternatives to car-borne travel in the wine regions of Europe.
