There is a new effort centered on bringing two-wheeled thrill seekers to the Cabot Path space.
Many imagine communities alongside the Cabot Path have nice potential for bike trails, and Victoria County is hoping an formidable new mountain biking technique will result in an financial enhance for the world.
“Journey tourism is the quickest rising tourism business on the planet proper now, and proper right here in Cape Breton, we’ve … top-of-the-line locations to do it,” mentioned Patrick Austin, financial improvement officer for the county.
“In Victoria County, on the Cabot Path and round, there’s simply plenty of enterprise alternatives.”
Cape Breton’s Victoria County has an ambitous plan to lure extra vacationers to the world. It needs to grow to be a vacation spot for mountain bike fans. CBC’s Matthew Moore studies. 1:57
Austin mentioned there’s nice potential in bringing the fast-growing sport to the world, and there may be already infrastructure to assist make it occur.
A leisure path of previous logging roads by way of the county can provide the hassle a stable head begin, based on Dan Coffin, the county’s tourism and improvement officer.
“That path system was left by the legacy of forestry firms,” Coffin mentioned. “The problem with that’s they have not linked these trails to communities like this in St. Anns or in Baddeck.”
That is the place the county is available in.
Coffin mentioned the plan is to place mountain bike parks in populated communities, after which the path system can interconnect these parks that will carry individuals by way of the path system.
Victoria County’s new mountain biking technique contains utilizing current logging trails and roads, just like the Lewis Mountain path system. (CBC)
One instance could possibly be a 94-kilometre trek from Baddeck to Ingonish.
This business has already confirmed to be a significant financial enhance for rural communities in different components of the nation.
Martin Littlejohn, government director on the Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Affiliation, mentioned it has introduced more cash to the countryside in British Columbia.
“(It is) the small communities that positively see the best advantages, I believe, or the best influence from mountain biking,” Littlejohn mentioned.
“A whole lot of them are sort of single-resource cities initially, however at the moment are diversifying their economies and mountain biking, actually serving to to help that transition.”
Now that the technique is full, the county’s subsequent steps will contain getting group companions within the challenge and discovering places to develop the bike parks.