In professional cycling, there is nothing greater than 'the Tour'. Every year, different destinations compete for the right to this (usually) multi-day promotional campaign for their region. Tour organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) has gold in its hands with this. Since the first start outside France took place in 1954, many foreign destinations have been competing for the honour. This year, it was the turn of Florence and Emilia-Romagna. In this blog, we focus on a few standouts
A Grand-Depart has a number of key drivers:
- Direct economic impact during the event. Horeca spending is leading for this
- Mid- and long-term economic impact.
- Hosting large events -> can you do it?
- As a flywheel for socio-economic growth. More movement etc.
Keeping this in mind, you may wonder about all sorts of things.
Does Florence need more tourists?
Many places in the world groan and groan because of overtourism. Venice is perhaps the best-known example. But even in Florence, you can sometimes see it squeaking and creaking. With the knowledge that a Tour start often creates MORE tourists. So why the conscious choice. Plus: the budget for a Tour start is not bad. The numbers are yet to be confirmed, but think in the region of 20 million euros. That's a lot of money, which Florence could perhaps have put into something else. In building better cycling infrastructure, for example.
Are Italians cycling more now?
The socio-economic impact of a major sporting event is always overestimated. Is this a hard truth? I would certainly dare to say yes to that. It takes a lot of effort to get people moving. Yorkshire in 2014, Utrecht in 2015. Two examples where this went very well. Utrecht and Yorkshire are the great examples. What about that legacy of, say, Denmark? The Basque Country? but also cities in France? Nice? Florence's infrastructure could really still use a push. As in Emilia-Romagna, where roads are sometimes poorly maintained. Low hanging fruit? Making the centre of Florence car-free.
What is the marketing plan?
Winners have a plan, losers have excuses. That is always the phrase used in sport. With a Tour start or a Tour passage, as a region or city, you literally get your hands on something cool. But without activation plan it can become an expensive joke. Take the example of Piacenza, starting city for stage 3. The activation for this city is, to say the least, 'a work in progress.' As the mayor described: 'yeah we hope the people will come next year'. But in all the communication frenzy, we have already almost forgotten what it looked like. Just as hardly anyone remembers where stage 3 of the 2022 Tour started, or finished. Or last year's stage 2? Without a well-thought-out plan, it's basically throwing money up in the air and hoping it ends up well.
So what is the story of this start-up?
The Grand-Depart was in Florence this year, but 75% of the party was in Emilia-Romagna. But did you know that Piedmont thus also got a piece of the pie? After all, Turin is not in Emilia. What I want to say is that in communication, the message was very fragmented. Because an important part of a successful tour start is also the impact of side events. Like a big touring event or an event like l'Etape du Tour. Copenhagen has now picked up that legacy with a l'Etape Copenhagen event. Italy also had it this year but in Parma. Because they missed the boat as a stage location. A l'Etape in Florence would have made more sense, but yes. They already have enough tourists and the bet is not on Florence being the cycling capital of Tuscany. Because that's Siena. Are you still following it? And the whole reason the tour was in Italy? There was a first Italian tour winner 100 years ago. Oh and the mayor of Florence knew Prudhomme.
Money well spent
I will predict in advance: the grand depart was a great success! The direct economic impact of the event is the main driver in this. The ROI is almost always 200%+. The media value is also correspondingly high. But what remains of it? The legacy of this tour start will probably be limited to beautiful images of the Tour in Italy. And that's a shame. Because Italy is a fantastic country to be in and to cycle in. But for Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Piedmont to come out on top as a cycling destination, there are still many steps to take.
