Soon after it launched in 2003, BikeToursDirect became a go-to site for booking guided and self-guided bicycle trips through local tour operators in Europe as an alternative to more expensive US outfitters.

This year the company, founded and run by former longtime Boston-area resident Jim Johnson and based in Chattanooga, Tenn., went global. It now represents more than 75 overseas cycling outfitters offering hundreds of tours in more than 60 countries across six continents, nearly half of the trips costing less than $1,000 a week.