Cycle tourism is one of the tourism trends that is growing the most in Spain; making many hotels seek ways to reach this type of customer and thus reducing the dependence of the high season.

In one of our previous posts, we discussed the rise of sports tourism where cyclists had been highlighted as one of the most increasing types of sports tourism in Spain. This time we will discuss how hotels benefit from this development, offering special services for the segment and the indispensable facilities hotels need to have to attract the cyclism segment.

In Spain certain hotels are already adjusting to the raise of cycle tourism. Since segmentation has become so important, hotels take profit of the climate and its environment and extends its target group with cycle tourism. A significant advantage of focusing on this type of tourism is to stretch the high season and therefore be less dependent of the high season.

For example one of our projects at the hotel factory, Hotel AyA in Playa de Palma, Mallorca, now offers facilities adapted to the cyclist segment and complementary services such as a basement in which guests can leave their bicycles, a mechanic workshop, maps of routes and facilities specially made for cyclists to rest. The services are organized by Easy-Tours, a tour operator specialized in cycle tourism. Hotel AyA offers 2 types of packages guests can choose from: the Basis Package and a Full Service Package. Those contain some extras the cyclists may need during their stay and their cycle trips.

Hotel AyA in Playa de Palma has a garage for the bikes of their clients and contains cleaning facilities, air pumps and locks among others.

HM Gran Fiesta as well as HM Tropical, both in Playa de Palma, highlight the possibilities for an active vacation and in particular its professional specialization in cycle tourism. Similarly Hotel Occidental Playa de Palma, previously known as Barceló Pueblo Park, positions itself as to be ideal for sport fanatics such as cycling, scuba diving, golf and hiking. It goes a step beyond with its’ facilities: as the first hotel in Mallorca offering hypoxia equipment in the rooms to create the best conditions to improve their physical performance before their efforts.

Likewise, Bahía de Alcudia (a bay in the north of Mallorca) is a popular destination for cyclists to settle for a vacation and there we can find several Iberostar hotels that provide the proper facilities for cyclists. Iberostar Alcudia Park for example, describes itself as “the hotel for cyclists” and Iberostar Playa de Muro is being visited by professional teams during the Iberostar Challenge Mallorca or the Marcha Cicloturista Internacional Mallorca 312. It provides accommodation for more than 1.200 bicycles and organizes guided routes for individuals or teams specialized in cyclism.

In Calpe, Comunidad Valenciana, Port Europa focuses on sports, specifically cycle tourism, and offers routes, special meals, bike maintenance and there are sports specialists available. Marconfort Essence in Benidorm offers the possibility to rent aluminium mountain bikes and high-end carbon race bikes for professionals as well as amateurs. Also they offer suitable services such as covered parking, a space to clean bikes and (guided) routes.

 An example of accommodation focused more on recreational cyclists is Apartotel Oliva Playa, which also offers a variety of watersports. Other examples are Marconfort Benidorm Suites, Ona Ogisaka Garden and Apartamentos & Villas Oliva Nova Golf, which offer different types of sports such as tennis, equestrian, rugby and football as well as watersports. Magic Tropical Splash, also located in Comunidad Valenciana, is focused on families and organizes routes especially for them with a tour guide. It even offers routes with electric bikes now.

Also tour operators are nowadays so specialized that they focus particularly on the cycle tourism segment. Max Hürzeler Bicycle Holidays for example, a Swiss organization, arranges bicycle holidays all over the world but only works with hotels in Mallorca, Andalusia and Lanzarote. It takes care of the above-mentioned excursions of the Iberostar hotels and Barceló Pueblo Park, and these are just a few of the many hotels they work with in Mallorca. The German organization Easy-Tours organizes the routes for Hotel AyA and additionally works with Aparthotel Platja Daurada, Hotel JS Alcudi Mar, Hotel Timor and Hotel Smartline Lancaster.