The annual Bike Trail Tourism Conference was held recently at the Hotel Pattee. Perry Chamber Director Bob Wilson felt it was a good way to show the community what can be gained by promoting the bike trail. The event was sponsored by Common Thread, and focused on the trail system, trail users, and trail businesses and how they can work together to maximize the tourism dollars from cycling. Dallas County Conservation Director Mike Wallace gave a presentation at the conference about an economic development study he had done. It included counts and surveys focused on the Dallas County portion of the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

Wilson felt Wallace’s presentation was valuable, “It’s cool to see these riders turn into dollar signs, and turning that data into a useful marketing tool that we can really use for small towns. Sometimes we don’t see the impact on a retail shop that a bike could have. These people are going to come in, they’re looking for an experience, they obviously are going to spend money at restaurants and bars. There’s a trickle effect that they’ll venture out throughout the town.”
To hear more about the Bicycle Tourism Conference, listen to last Friday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.