From Independent Online.

Tourism officials in South Africa’s Western Cape region aim to attract 100,000 cycling tourists a year by 2023, but the challenge is to make the area safe for cyclists.

The Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour annually attracts 3,500 cyclists on a 67-mile route around the Cape Peninsula and tourism officials hope to build on those visitors, the report says.

“Aside from the Cycle Tour, the Western Cape is an ideal cycling tourism destination, what with our coastal routes, Winelands routes, our mountain biking – there’s an untapped variety of options for people,” said Dave Bellairs, director of the cycle tour.

Alan Winde, a Tourism, Economic Development and Finance officer, went on an official trip to the Netherlands where he met the Dutch Cycling Embassy, a network of cycling experts. The Netherlands has among the lowest cycling fatalities in the world, he said in the report.

The Cape road infrastructure is superb, Bellairs said, and better suited to cycling than many European countries.

“The one challenge we have is creating an environment conducive to safe cycling,” Bellairs said in the report.

Read more at Independent Online.