TAIPEI, Taiwan (BRAIN) — In a coup for the Taiwan bicycle industry, the European Cyclists’ Federation has chosen Taipei as the host city for its 2016 annual conference—Velo-city Global.
Industry leaders, including staff from TAITRA, had been quietly working to promote Taipei as a host city for the federation’s annual conclave. Taipei’s selection also puts it in the top tier of international cities where the conference has been held—cities like Copenhagen, Vancouver, Vienna and Adelaide, said Berhnard Ensink, the federation’s secretary general and Velo-city director.
“Taiwan is well known in the cycling world as one of the leading manufacturing bases for the bicycle industry and already hosts the globally important Taipei Cycle Show in March of each year,” an ECF press release said.
The organization also noted a strong collaboration between the city of Taipei, the trade show, the bicycle industry, universities and ECF. Giant’s King Liu has led Taiwan’s efforts to re-brand the island as a leader in efforts to improve commuting and recreational cycling in Taiwan and Asia.
“The commitments from Taipei City and from the federal political level of Taiwan are strong, with a powerful support from the bicycle industry,” said Manfred Neun, president of the European Cyclists’ Federation.
The Velo-city conference series has brought together the world’s leading transport planners, economists, health experts, cycling advocates, cycling tourism promoters, politicians and other cycling experts for more than 30 years. Since 2009 it has operated two bi-annual series with Velo-city Global complementing the highly successful Velo-city series in Europe.
In 2013 the City of Vienna broke conference records with more than 1,400 delegates and thousands of people attending side events throughout the city. Cities that host the prestigious conference generally see substantial growth in cycling numbers in following years.
The 2014 edition of Velo-city Global will be held in Adelaide, Australia, May 27-30, and Velo-city 2015 will be held in Nantes, France. Bidding for 2017 in Europe has opened and will close in August 2014.
