Cycling Development in Peterborough & the Kawarthas is on an Uphill Climb

Cycling has been identified as a province-wide opportunity in Ontario and is already a key economic driver for many destinations throughout the province, country and worldwide. Peterborough & the Kawarthas has its sights set on becoming a desired cycling destination and has made significant progress in the past few years.

In the spring of 2015, Peterborough & the Kawarthas Tourism (PKT) in partnership with Shimano Canada (whose North American Headquarters are located in Peterborough), as well as the County of Peterborough, City of Peterborough and various townships, launched close to 300 kms of signed road cycling routes throughout the region. The routes are called the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Classics.

In 2016, the partnership received provincial recognition winning the Economic Developers’ Council of Ontario Award for Private-Public Partnership for the development of these routes. In the same year, the routes were used as the basis for the development of a provincial cycling loop on The Greenbelt Route in collaboration with the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and Ontario By Bike.

As a culmination of these successes, PKT has seen a significant increase in interest in cycling in the region with more than 1000% increase in website inquiries related to cycling since the launch of the routes and close to 200,000 views of their promotional cycling video, through a variety of marketing channels being used to market the cycling experience in the region.

Moving into 2017-18, PKT will continue to work with the province on its #CycleON strategy, helping to ensure that Peterborough & the Kawarthas is a key cycling destination within the Province. PKT will also begin discussions for the development of a second phase of the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Classics Road Cycling Routes as well.

For more information on cycling in Peterborough & the Kawarthas visit www.thekawarthas.ca/cycling