A new themed area at Bit 2010 will be dedicated to three great outdoor sports: golf, cycling and the mountains. Supply and demand for sport tourism will come together in 5,000 m², divided into an exhibition village and three fabulous environments for demonstrations by big-name champions and where visitors can try out their favourite sport.Milan, 18 February 2010 – This year sees a wealth of exciting sporting events. For sailing there is the 33rd America’s Cup already underway in Valencia: after the first regatta yesterday, now fans are waiting for Wednesday and the result of the second and Friday with the third to decide the winner between the defender Alinghi and the record challenger Golden Gate Yacht Club. From water to snow: in just a few days time, 12 February to be exact, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be inaugurated, continuing throughout Bit and until 28 February with participation by around 600 athletes from 80 countries.
Finally in the summer there will be the most eagerly awaited appointment for the Italians: the World Cup in South Africa, from 11 June to 11 July, with the Italian team playing in an atmosphere of expectation-laden tension as defenders of the title, the fourth for the National team, won in 2006 in Germany.
A YEAR OF SPORT, A YEAR OF SPORTLAND – In an intense year for all sports fans, Bit launches Bit Sportland, the new themed Bit area dedicated to outdoor sport tourism. Bit Sportland is a dedicated area of around 5,000 m², a strategically integrated part of Bit in halls 6-10. Focussing on three of the most popular open-air sports, golf, cycling and the mountains, Bit Sportland will provide two levels of interaction: an exhibition village will showcase both technical and tourism products and there will also be three themed show zones. Here, big-impact environments will recreate the settings most popular with fans, where the Public of Travellers will be able not only to admire professional demonstrations, but also personally try out the various sports.
SPORT EXPERIENCED ‘LIVE’ – Visitors will get an opportunity to experience the atmosphere of top-level golf in 850 m² housing the faithful reproduction of one of the most famous holes in the world, against a vivid backdrop copied from the original setting. For cycling lovers there will be a 40×40 m area suitable both for Mtb and e-bikes, power-assisted cycles, where they can have fun trying out the technical products on show. The mountains will be represented by a system of 16-metre tall overhanging towers and artificial Boulders, with climbing routes prepared in collaboration with the Mountain Kingdom Alpine guides, enabling even newbies to try the excitement of bouldering.
SPORT & BUSINESS – The exhibition village will be reserved for a selected group of Operators divided into technical (producers and distributors of sports articles) and tourist (hotel, resort, golf club, tourist operator categories). Exhibitors at Bit Sportland will have the opportunity to personally meet sports players, fans and the merely curious in a dedicated big-impact setting, identified as business opportunities by quantitative and qualitative assessment of the number of those practising the sport, their inclination to travel and average spending power. In this scenario, Bit Sportland suggests a new holiday concept that meets the needs of these users who are ready to become discerning aware Travellers who follow their sporting passion on the move.
A GROWING MARKET – Bit Sportland thus satisfies a market with growing demand, creating new opportunities for the development of tourism in Italy: according to statistics, 15 million Italians are ‘open-air tourists’. Over 700,000 people practise mountain sports (source: Cai), with 2,300,000 skiers and 450,000 snowboarders accounting for a turnover in the snow sector of over 1 billion euro, while at least 2 million are cyclists (source: Aicma-Federciclismo). Overall, 59% of the population in Italy actively practises sport, in particular in Northern Italy. A business worth 51 billion euro, 2.7-3% of the GDP (source: Censis).
The 30th edition of Bit – International Tourism Exchange will be held at the fieramilano exhibition centre in Rho from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 February 2010. For information updates: www.bit.fieramilano.it.
