Deputy mayor sharing Rotorua’s mountain biking story at Aussie summit

Rotorua’s growing reputation as a world-class mountain biking destination has resulted in an invitation for deputy mayor Dave Donaldson to be keynote speaker at the 2015 Australian Mountain Bike Summit next month (7-8 December).

Australia’s second annual mountain bike summit is being staged in the resort town of Mount Buller in Victoria, with mountain bike operators from across Australia and other countries attending.

Mr Donaldson (pictured) said his invitation was recognition of the enviable reputation that Rotorua has built as the world’s best year-round mountain biking resort.

“Aussies are prominent among the hordes of overseas mountain bikers hitting Rotorua’s trails on a regular basis so this event provides an opportunity to further promote Rotorua and attract even more.

“It’s a huge compliment to Rotorua, to its biking clubs and volunteers, bike operators and our local visitor industry that the movers and shakers of Australian mountain biking want to hear our unique Rotorua story.

“They’ve asked that my key note address be on “Rotorua – building a world-class MTB destination,” which is acknowledgement of what we’ve achieved here in recent years.

“I’ll be sharing with delegates how we’ve been able to develop an impressive network of trails and associated facilities, how we became the New Zealand Centre of Mountain Biking Excellence and how we achieved Gold Ride Centre status from the International Mountain Biking Association.

“I’ll also be talking about how innovative partnerships - with the council, iwi landowners, forest managers, mountain bikers, business and central government - have helped get us to where we are today.

“And I’ll cover some of the world events we’ve attracted here such as the 2006 UCI MTB World Championships, 2010 Single Speed World Champs and the world’s largest mountain bike festival, Crankworx.

“I won’t be giving away too many secrets, and anyway we already have the advantage here in Rotorua of being blessed with an outstanding and unique environment for mountain biking at all levels. We’re also a year-round destination with a predator-free outdoors.

“However it’s certainly in our interests for Australia to grow its own mountain biking offering so that between the two countries we can attract more northern hemisphere bikers ‘down under,’ and so more Aussies come across the ditch to our events,” Mr Donaldson said.

Mr Donaldson’s airfares and all travel costs to attend the Australian Mountain Bike Summit are being hosted by the event’s organisers.

ENDS

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