Product Innovation and Sporting Tourism: The Case Of Terre di Casole Bike Hub

The aim of this study is to understand what are the process stages for creating an innovative tourism offer in a territorial area far from mass tourism and what role did the actors play. In particular, we have analyzed the case of Terre di Casole Bike Hub, a replicable project of cyclotourism product that aims to coordinate the actions of public and private actors in order to transform a particularly suitable territory into a real destination for cyclists. We adopted a qualitative methodology, specifically the single case study method with embedded units, and conducted in-depth interviews with several actors from both the public and private sectors involved in the project. As a result, five phases were identified: birth of the idea, formation of the network, implementation and communication of the bike routes, updating of the territory from a bike-friendly perspective, expansion of the project). The new product development required in some cases individual initiative, in other ones the joint work of the actors involved in the project. This paper offers both useful theoretical insights for scholars of cyclotourism and sport tourism for future research, and implications for practitioners (entrepreneurs and managers in the bike tourism industry) as well as for policy makers and destination management organizations engaged in innovative processes of tourist offer / tourism market.