Motorcycle tourism is an opportunity to support and grow the economy and at the same time the sustainability of the territory that Bergamo cannot afford to miss. This is the message that forcefully emerged from the conference “Bergamo City of a Thousand… motorbike tourists, two wheels to make economy and sustainability travel”, organized in Selvino on the occasion of the Valli Bergamasche Revival Internazionale, a re-enactment of one of the most legendary enduro races in history which saw 231 drivers from all over Italy and half of Europe show up at the start.
A message “signed” by the three protagonists of the conference, organized by the managers of the Motoclub Norelli, the Motoclub Careter and Confcommercio Bergamo and hosted in the conference room of the Hotel Marcellino: Giancarlo Stranipresident of the Environment commission of the Italian Motorcycle Federation; Oscar Fusinidirector of Confcommercio Bergamo; Jonathan Lobatiregional councilor and president of the Territory, infrastructure and mobility commission of the Lombardy Region.
Everyone is absolutely in agreement and above all ready to team up immediately to start a project which, they stated with conviction, «can truly represent the best “way” to support the commercial activities of the area, especially the smaller villages». «Because focusing on two-wheeled tourism favors both the economy, especially of the mountains and small villages, and sustainable mobility, considering that two wheels instead of four can provide a very important contribution to combating traffic and pollution», he underlined Fusini, protagonist of a speech that highlighted his two skills as communicators, opened by highlighting how «the motorbike not only represents the salvation of the urban centers of metropolitan cities, where stopping the motorbikes would be enough to paralyze the traffic», but how it also represents «a winning bet for the future development of the territories and local communities of northern Italy. Something new but with excellent potential prospects.”
Fusini then highlighted the “added values” of traveling by motorbike: «The drastic cut in pollution, thanks to the CO2 emissions of two wheels equal to less than half of those emitted by petrol and diesel cars; economic support for small commercial businesses considering that the spending multiplier of motorbike tourists is among the highest of all tourist segments”. Pure oxygen for a mountain economy often in serious difficulty, as the director of Confcommercio Bergamo has always illustrated, illustrating a brief analysis of the trend of tourist flows in the mountain area of Bergamo, which he highlighted «with the data of arrivals and presences from 2017 to 2022 the structural difficulties of mountain tourism in Bergamo, with presences that in five years, from 2017 to 2022, grew by only 6.33 percent with many areas even losing compared to the strong recovery recorded by tourism post-Covid.”
A situation in which we need to act immediately, concluded Fusini, inviting the associations «to stimulate companies to invest in the motorbike tourism product; businesses to believe in the economic return of this tourist segment and invest; and the municipalities, mountain communities and promotion bodies to contribute to the creation of routes, attractions and services available to motorcyclists”. Following the example of a concrete initiative already started by Confcommercio itself on the eve of the conference: a “mapping” of the hotel facilities in the area available to “open the doors” to motorbike tourists, with special agreements and services offered which was well received 15 hoteliers enthusiastically joined in the space of just a few days.
A first important “maneuver” carried out by Confcommercio Bergamo which, through the voice of its director, immediately launched two other proposals: the first addressed to the managers of Orobie Lab (newly established body born from the Bergamo 2030 Table, coordinated by the Mountain Observatory of the Province of Bergamo and with the scientific direction of the University of Bergamo), to whom Fusini addressed the invitation to «deepen the phenomenon and the consequences of motorbike tourism in the Bergamo area and to develop a project for the development of motorbike tourism»; the second to the managers of VisitBergamo, so that, «in collaboration with Promoserio and VisitBrembo, they immediately include the motorcycle experience among the twenty proposals of “Discover the land of Bergamo” with the visit by motorbike as the common denominator».
Thus reiterating the importance of communication for which Fusini wanted to offer applause in particular to the managers of Scuderia Norelli who, precisely to make people travel more and more on two wheels – and not just those of a well-known one – has launched a new website, Bergamo 2.0. All reflections listened to with great attention by the audience gathered on the veranda of the Marcellino restaurant, as well as by the other two speakers, with Strani who, precisely to demonstrate with facts and not just words the IMF’s desire to “push” the movement tourism, illustrated the collaboration started with FAI, the Italian Environment Fund, to guide, through the Internet, many motorcyclists «to discover routes rich in charm, history and culture, offering quality and eco-sustainable motorbike tourism near renowned points of interest » (including Palazzo Moroni, «the starting point to then discover the Bergamo valleys and Lake Iseo»); and with Lobati ready to assure everyone of his commitment to supporting similar and other initiatives.
«Because it is not possible to imagine a future for the mountains without supporting it with new projects», stated the regional councilor and president of the Territory, infrastructure and mobility commission of the Lombardy Region, citing the “Foppolo model” for which, he said, it is «it is impossible to imagine sustainability based on an economy that lives on a single winter season of three or four months, snow permitting» and citing a personal episode which confirms how the abandonment of the mountains continues unstoppable: «In elementary school in Lenna, my town in Valle Brembana, there were 11 students in class: today there are only two of us left living there.”
An escape from the valleys to be interrupted by “intervening on the infrastructure”, concluded Lobati, specifying that this does not only mean creating connections, but also “opening the passes for longer periods of time, for example”. «What would the Stelvio be without the pass?», asked the last of the three speakers to speak before launching one last possible project: «Diversifying the routes on the mountain paths, in order to allow those who have a passion for walking and those who love to go on two wheels at high altitudes don’t have any points of conflict.” A suggestion, the latter, which saw many guests of the conference in the audience nodding with conviction. Starting with Gianfranco Moretti, a very well-known entrepreneur from Bergamo in the insurance sector who had put forward this proposal in recent months as a “policy” precisely to avoid clashes on the paths between those who go walking and those who cycle. Or, perhaps, riding a motorbike, possibly as less polluted as possible…
