Masterarbeit aus dem Jahr 2013 im Fachbereich Geowissenschaften / Geographie - Sonstiges, Note: 1,0, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck (Institut für Geographie), Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: This study analyses the spatial expansion in bicycle tourism due to the innovation of electric bicycles (e-bikes) in German-speaking countries. Until recently cycling destinations were mainly limited to flatter regions. This study's objective is to evaluate whether the advent of electric bicycles expands the spatial potential for (electric) cycle tourism in any topographic setting. By means of an online survey of e-bike rental companies and expert interviews with the regional project coordinators, this study compares supply and demand of three sample destinations with different landscape types: the Tauber River valley region and the southern Black Forest Mittelgebirge in Germany as well as the Schladming-Dachstein alpine region in Austria. The results show that most tourists used the e-bike offers spontaneously and chose the destination by other motivations. However, the study also shows that many of these tourists would not consider a bike tour on a normal bicycle. Thus, for many tourists e-bikes hold the potential to extend the radius of the actively usable tourist areas in mountainous destinations. Although all sample regions record a slowly growing demand of e-bike users, the outcome did not quite meet most tourism service provider's expectations. Therefore, it is concluded that unless mountainous destinations intensively commit themselves to (e )bike tourism, this innovation will not bring a revolutionary change in the spatial diffusion of cycling destinations. Most e-bike offers will likely remain a supplementary service; however, it is premature to form definitive conclusions at this early stage. Furthermore, another online-sample of 139 e-bike tourists shows a shift of the favoured landscape types from almost exclusively flat cycle destinations towards the windy coasts, the low mountain ranges and (at a lower level) alpine destinations.
