If you think there are a lot of cyclists on Vancouver streets now, expect to see even more in 2012 when the city hosts the Velo-City Global conference.
An estimated 1,000 delegates and their guests will attend the cycling-planning conference, which is a staged by the European Cycling Federation.
The conference went global this year in Copenhagen, with the international version of the conference to be held every even-numbered year on one of the six continents.
The City of Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver, TransLink and the VeloWorks Cycling Society prepared the bid for the conference.
Unlike the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Velo-City conference costs will be minor, according to Coun. Geoff Meggs.
No final budget has been prepared yet, but Meggs said the city’s portion “would be closer to $10,000 than $100,000.”
Organizers “have to go and recruit sponsors,” Meggs said.
TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said there are no figures yet on the transportation authority’s costs, but the contribution will likely be “in kind” – free transit passes for delegates, for example.
Tourism Vancouver president Rick Antonson hailed the announcement.
“Not only will Velo-City generate business for the local tourism industry, it reinforces Vancouver’s reputation as a clean and green travel destination with exceptional offerings for cyclists,” Antonson said in a news release.
Comments