Bicycle tourism has remained on the fringes of the North American
tourism industry while it has been in the European mainstream. A recent increase
in bicycle tourism in Canada and the United States, however, has brought this
phenomenon to the attention of many jurisdictions, and they are viewing cyclists
as a potentially lucrative clientele.
Minnesota began developing a system of bikeways in the 1970s and several
trails in their system have developed into popular tourist draws and bicycle
tourism has been seen as a great success. This paper discusses the essential
ingredients of bicycle tourism and examines the role of trails in tourism development
using Minnesota as a case study