Many of the new cycle trails are bringing tourists to small towns. Tourists spend money on accommodation, food, and hire of bicycles. One of the earlier cycle trails, the Otago rail trail, has made a big difference to small towns in Central Otago. Now other towns in New Zealand are finding they need to provide facilities for cycle tourists.
Hawkes Bay has 200km of off-road cycle trails – mostly flat – around Napier and Hastings. Cyclists are visiting wineries in the area, tasting and buying wine, and dining at their restaurants. Oakune, at the base of Mt Ruapehu in the central North Island, has opened more motels and cafes for cyclists on the Mountains to Sea cycle trail. Ohau Lodge near Mt Cook, had twice as many cyclists staying in November and December 2014 as in the previous year. The lodge is near the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail.
New Zealand is competing with European countries like France and Denmark which are famous for cycle tourism. Many of these cycle tourists are baby boomers, around 50 years old, who are wanting enjoyable ways to stay fit. New Zealand has the advantage of offering summer weather during the European winter. The fall in the Kiwi dollar is also attractive to tourists.
Vocabulary
• wineries – vineyards which make wine but are also open for visitors to taste and buy wine. Many have a restaurant also.
• base – the bottom of the mountain
• baby boomers – born after the Second World War, from 1946 to 1964
Pronunciation
economic – note the stress is on the 3rd syllable: nom. Compare this with the noun, economy, where the stress is on the 2nd syllable: con
Structures
- Comparisons
Twice as many (cyclists) as in previous years. You can also say: three times as many, four times as many etc.
This is a difficult, but useful, structure. We also have other (difficult) ways to say this.
Another way to say this is: double the number (of cyclists) as in previous years.
You can also say: 100 percent more (cyclists) than in previous years. - Present continuous tense: are visiting, are finding, is competing etc. This tense is used to show this is happening at the moment, this summer.