Taranto is the first municipality in Puglia to have joined the Bike Hospitality, a project that aims to promote the use of bicycles for daily mobility, tourism promotion and youth activity.
The initiative, which the Municipality of Taranto has joined by signing a memorandum of understanding, is promoted by the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) for Sustainable Mobility. During the event, the new official jersey of the Apulian representative of the Italian Cycling Federation was presented, which from this year also contains the Anci Puglia logo. An example of the official uniform was delivered to the vice-president of Anci Puglia Onofrio Di Cillo, accompanied for the occasion by the deputy secretary Domenico Sgobba. Also present were the deputy mayor and councilor for Sport, Gianni Azzaro, Carlo Pasqualini, national representative of the Fci for Bike Hospitality, Carmine Acquasanta, deputy national vice-president of the Fci, Giuseppe Calabrese president of the Fci Cr Puglia and Angelo Turitto, provincial delegate of the Fci Taranto.
The subjects involved, public administrations, accommodation facilities, food and wine producers, renters, cycle tour guides, artistic, historical and cultural attractions, are qualified by the FCI as “Bike Hospitality” with the logo of the same federation and included in all promotional activities. In Puglia, where the cycle tourism offer is increasingly spreading and where, thanks to the scenic beauty and other regional tourist resources, the attention of bike lovers from other Italian regions and from abroad is growing.
“This project – began Deputy Mayor Azzaro – is not only a step forward towards a greener and more sustainable city but also represents a way of conceiving tourism in different forms, alternatives to the traditional ones”. Taranto’s role in this initiative is very important since in Puglia it is a “pilot municipality” for the promotion of cycling mobility, as was demonstrated by the signing of the relevant membership document which will be formalized in the next few days by the council. Azzaro then announced that the municipal administration of Taranto “aims to create its own Biciplan, an offshoot of the PUMS (Urban Sustainable Mobility Plan, ndc), with many other km of cycle paths and dozens of velostations: Bike Hospitality – concluded Azzaro – will be one of the tools we will adopt to make this expectation concrete and usable”.
According to the vice-president of Anci Puglia, Onofrio Di Cillo, “Puglia can benefit enormously from the bike economy and cycle tourism, sectors that are experiencing strong growth. By investing in cycling infrastructure and support services it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions and promote healthier lifestyles. The joint action with the Puglia Region, Pugliapromozione, Federciclismo and other stakeholders – he concluded – is also fundamental to intercept the support of European, national and private funds, in order to build an increasingly prosperous and sustainable Puglia”.
