BikeToursDirect Media Kit

Media Kit 2012

One-Stop Resource for Bike Tours Worldwide.

BikeToursDirect represents 75 local bike tour operators around the world, with 300+ bike

tours in more than 60 countries. Through the company’s website, BikeToursDirect.com,

clients can easily find, choose, book, and pay for high-quality, locally-run bike tours in

popular destinations like France, Germany, Italy and Holland, as well as far flung locales

like Cambodia, Panama, Vietnam, and Nepal. Partnering with local operators allows

BikeToursDirect to offer a large and diverse selection of affordable bike tour to match a

variety of interests, ability levels, and budgets. The company’s website offers extensive

planning tools and tour information, and the company’s tour specialists help clients

throughout the planning and booking process.

The BikeToursDirect Difference

Until recently, travelers had few options for overseas bike tours.

They could book generally upscale and expensive tours with

North American companies. They could research their own

routes, book lodging and tote their own gear. Or they could try

to track down local bike tour companies, which tend to offer

lower prices. But time and language differences and making

foreign payments often made the last option a challenge.

Enter BikeToursDirect, “the one-stop resource for bike tours

worldwide.” Rather than offer its own tours, it currently

represents more than 75 local overseas bike tour companies

with more than 300 tours in 60 countries across five continents.

BikeToursDirect handles the entire process – booking,

confirmation, payments, and tour documents – and helps

clients with tour selection.

BikeToursDirect.com

BikeToursDirect consolidates the local operators’ tours

into a single website: www.biketoursdirect.com.

Search tools help travelers sort through the tours to

find those that match their preferences, including

countries, dates, level of difficulty, duration, cost, daily

mileage, and interests. Each tour page features

extensive information on daily programs, pricing,

included services, terrain, hotels, highlights, and other

helpful details.

Clients book through the website, and the company

takes it from there, handling the complete booking and

payment process. The site also features extensive

information to help clients choose their destinations

and tours and to plan their trips.

Why Tour with Local Operators?

Expertise: Local companies know their areas better than

anyone else. They know the “secret” insider locations, routes,

and restaurants and are eager to share with their guests.

Low Cost: Thanks in part to low overhead, local companies’

tours often cost 50 to 70 percent less than those offered by

their American counterparts, while still offering high quality.

Variety: Local tour companies offer a depth of variety in their

regions that can’t be rivaled by international companies.

Frequent Departures: Many tours are offered on a weekly, or

even daily, basis.

International Camaraderie: When booking a guided tour,

clients are likely to be touring with international travelers rather

than just Americans.

Supporting Local Economies: Most client funds stay in the

local economy at their destinations.

Great Value for Consumers

Thanks to the lower tour prices charged by local

overseas tour companies, a full 10% of the tours on

BikeToursDirect.com cost less than $700/week, and

nearly half of the 300+ tours cost less than

$1,000/week. Clients can generally book tours at the

same prices they’d pay booking directly with the local

tour companies

Many clients are turning to self-guided tours, a familiar

concept in Europe that is growing in popularity

worldwide and among American cyclists. Self-guided

doesn’t mean self-contained. Packages include lodging,

breakfasts, luggage transfers, detailed maps and route

information, a service hotline, and other services. They

often cost 20-30 percent less than guided tours, which

add a support van, ride-along guide and dinners.

Extensive Variety and Depth

Until this year, BikeToursDirect focused exclusively on Europe, with perennial cycling

favorites like Tuscany, the Loire Valley, Holland and Austria’s Danube Bike Path and

emerging cycling regions such as Croatia, Bulgaria and Poland. In 2012, the company

is expanding to four more continents with less-traveled destinations such as Tibet,

Laos, Peru, Argentina, and Namibia.

Local bike tour companies offer great variety in their home markets, with multiple tour

choices concentrated in specific regions, where the companies have local expertise.

Add to this the number of tour companies BikeToursDirect represents in many regions,

and some areas have a dozen or more tours to choose from. For example,

BikeToursDirect features 15 tours in Provence, 10 in the Loire Valley, 14 in Tuscany

and Umbria and more than 60 in Germany alone. Most tours cater to recreational

cyclists, although some target more adventurous riders. BikeToursDirect can often

work with its tour operator partners to customize itineraries to suit specific needs or

interests.

European Bike Tours

BikeToursDirect spent its first eight years in

business exclusively selling bike tours in

Europe, and today its highest concentration of

tours is still in Europe. From the storybook

landscapes of Austria to the rolling

countryside of Provence and amazing cuisine

of Tuscany, Europe is unmatched in culture,

scenery, and bike-friendliness.

Some perennial favorites among their

European tour destinations include Austria’s

Danube River Bike Path and Salzburg Lakes

region, Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, the French

wine country of Provence, and the Italian

countryside of Tuscany.

Global Expansion in 2012

New for the 2012 cycling season, BikeToursDirect

is expanding its offerings beyond Europe to

include over 325 bike tours in more than 60

countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, South

Pacific and the Americas. This expansion has

given BikeToursDirect.com one of the most

comprehensive collections of worldwide bike

tours, allowing travelers to easily find and book

the bike tour of their dreams..

Highlights from these newly expanded

destinations include tours such as “Tibet: Road to

Everest”, “South Africa Cycle Safari”, “Israel

Classic Adventure”, “Jordan: From Dead Sea to

Red Sea”, “Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh

City”, and “Bali Paradise Ride”.

How BikeToursDirect Got Started

The idea for BikeToursDirect came from president and founder Jim Johnson, an avid

cyclist and former corporate America nine-to-fiver whose bike brokerage epiphany

came from his own experiences abroad.

In the early 90s, Jim was a part-time travel writer who realized that bicycling is the best

way to explore and experience a country. He made direct contact with European bike

tour operators to help organize his tours. In the late 90s, Jim told some friends about

his travels, and they asked if they could come along. Over time, more friends—and

friends of friends—joined the group.

So in 2003, he left corporate America and launched BikeToursDirect—representing the

local companies he’d been working with for years. During that first year, the company

sent about 150 clients overseas. This year, the company is on track to send more than

2,000 clients on their dream vacations.

BikeToursDirect in the News

“Do as the locals (in Amsterdam) do – hop on a bike. It’s one of the

best ways to see the city. (For tours,) check out a company called

BikeToursDirect.” - Peter Greenberg

“Shunning the high-priced,

escorted, group bicycle

tours for non-escorted, do-

it-yourself biking along a

prescribed route has

become a major, budget-

priced vacation activity,

and no service handles

this better than

BikeToursDirect.”

- Arthur Frommer’s

Budget Travel

“A Five-Star bargain by my reckoning” - David Lamb, Chicago Tribune

"The easiest way for American cyclists to

book an overseas cycling tour may be

through BikeToursDirect”

-Melissa Adams, Suite101.com

“ ”

Media Contacts

Steve Szczecina

Account Manager

Adventure Media [email protected]

970.568.7423

Natalie Roberson

Director of Marketing

BikeToursDirect [email protected]

423-756-8907