FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2006
CANAL CORPORATION AND PARKS & TRAILS NY ANNOUNCE FREE ROUNDTABLES TO PROMOTE CYCLING ALONG THE CANALWAY TRAIL
Bicyclists Bring Business!
Free Roundtables in Waterford and Canajoharie Will Discuss
How to Attract and Profit from the Growing Canalway Trail Bicycle Tourist Market
The New York State Canal Corporation is partnering with Parks & Trails New York to present a series of free roundtables on the growing bicycle tourist market along the Canalway Trail. The roundtables are scheduled for Monday, October 23 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center, Tugboat Alley, Waterford and Tuesday, October 24 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Arkell Center, 55 Montgomery Street, Canajoharie.
Titled “Bicyclists Bring Business,” the roundtables will focus on how to attract and profit from the growing number of Canalway Trail bicycle tourists. Local business people, elected officials, Chambers of Commerce, Tourist Promotion Agencies, and interested citizens are invited to attend.
“With more than 245 miles of completed trail stretching from Buffalo to
Albany, the Erie Canalway Trail offers extensive close to home recreational
opportunities and serves as a destination for long-distance bicycling and hiking
tourism with linkages to local communities and attractions along the way,”
Carmella R. Mantello, Director of the New York State Canal Corporation, said.
“The Canal Corporation is proud to sponsor these free roundtables to help local
communities and businesses benefit from this tremendous resource.”
Robin Dropkin, Executive Director of Parks & Trails New York, said, “The Erie Canal Corridor has all the right ingredients to become an international bicycle touring destination: a premier off-road trail, peaceful country roads with wide shoulders, picturesque villages, impressive historic sites and museums, charming B&B's and inns, ample campgrounds, and country stores and farm stands. Through these roundtables, we want to help businesses and communities along the Canal corridor attract bicyclists and outdoor enthusiasts and thereby increase their share of economic benefits from the Canalway Trail.”
Studies consistently show that bicycle and other outdoor tourists come from high-income households, typically spend between $100 and $300 per day, and will travel significant distances to regions offering a good mix of cycling, attractions, and services. With the Canalway Trail expanding across the state and the renown of the Erie Canal growing, more and more cyclists will be choosing to take vacations in Upstate New York.
To help local business people discover how to make the most of this emerging
opportunity, the New York State Canal Corporation and Parks & Trails New York
are organizing the roundtables.
Topics to be covered include understanding the demographics and needs of the
bicycle tourist, making communities and businesses more bicycle-friendly,
developing infrastructure to accommodate bicycles and bicyclists, and marketing
to outdoor enthusiasts. The program will also include networking time and light
refreshments.
Parks & Trails New York is the only statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and expanding a statewide network of parks, greenways, and trails for all New Yorkers to enjoy. Since 1998, Parks & Trails New York has been working in partnership with the NYS Canal Corporation to help canal communities plan, develop and promote the Canalway Trail. Parks & Trails New York organizes the Cycling the Erie Canal, the highly successful 400-mile, eight day bike tour, now in its eighth year, that annually attracts 500 participants to ride from Buffalo to Albany, and has published the popular, 136-page guidebook, Cycling the Erie Canal: A Guide to 400 miles of adventure and history along the Erie Canalway Trail.
With more than 245 miles of trail constructed, the Erie Canalway Trail is nearly two-thirds complete. The Trail will eventually encompass more than 348 miles of contiguous multi-use trail, connecting Lake Erie and the City of Buffalo to the Hudson River. When completed in 2009, the Trail will be the longest multi-use recreational trail in the U.S.
To learn more about the New York State Canalway Trail System or to obtain a free map, please call 1-800-4CANAL4 or visit the Canal Corporation’s Website at www.canals.state.ny.us/canalwaytrail/.
Roundtable space is limited. RSVP to Parks & Trails New York at B3roundtable@ptny.org or by calling 518-434-1583.