Bicycle tourism helps small town in Australia to “change its destiny”
2024-08-20
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The small town of Melrose in South Australia is developing a mountain bike tourism industry to cope with the difficulties caused by local population decline, and the development of this industry has also changed the lives of local residents.According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on the 19th, Melrose is a small town in the Flinders Mountains of Australia. Due to the continuous decline in the birth population, the town was once in trouble. Bruce, who runs a cafe and a bicycle shop in the local area, said that the post office and grocery store in the town were almost closed.But after the local tourism focus shifted to mountain bike travel, it attracted a large number of tourists. Last year, a 38-kilometer "EPIC" mountain bike trail costing millions of Australian dollars was opened in Melrose. Patterson, the designer of the track, said that this is "a pretty crazy road" and that cyclists can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Flinders Ranges while riding. At the same time, the local area has a unique climate advantage, allowing tourists to enjoy the fun of riding all year round.The new route is reportedly attracting more cyclists to Melrose, with official figures showing 577,000 day-trippers visited the Flinders Ranges and Outback last year, and 761,000 overnight visitors.Local officials said that Melrose has long been popular with bushwalkers, and in recent years has begun to transform into a mountain bike tour. Tourists from other places have created more job opportunities for locals. Bruce said that now the community here has gained more income, and more new businesses can be seen opening on the streets. (Chen Jia)▲
