EuroVelo and cycling tourism at Velo-city 2019
New websites
We have been working hard over the past few months on the development of the new EuroVelo.com website which features the complete overhaul of our current web platform. In Dublin we will be finally ready to reveal the updated sites! You can expect to see several announcements through the conference. Make sure to visit the EuroVelo booth (Stand F2/F3), each day, between 10:00-10:15 AM during the coffee break.
Plenary and parallel sessions
The first ever plenary session dedicated to cycling tourism at a Velo-city took place in Rio last year and it was such a success that it has been included in the programme again in Dublin with some high-level speakers.
Cycle Tourism plenary (5:00 PM – Thursday, 27 June – Auditorium)
Tourism is one of the world’s largest economic sectors, supporting one in 10 jobs (319 million) and generating 10.4% of GDP globally. The tourism industry nevertheless faces some significant challenges, including unstainable transportation patterns, overtourism in major destinations and seasonality, for which cycling tourism can provide solutions. This growing segment of the market already contributes over €40 billion to the European economy alone and most destinations now provide offers and products to encourage visitors to discover their attractions more sustainably by bike. Joining this plenary to discuss the role that cycling tourism and active tourism generally can play in tackling some of the challenges of the tourism sector will be Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO); Orla Carroll, Director of Product Development, Fáilte Ireland; Virginia Sullivan from the Adventure Cycling Association in the US; and Ádám Bodor, Director of Advocacy and EuroVelo at the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF).
As always, there will be several parallel sessions related to cycle tourism and leisure cycling as well, which will feature some of our National EuroVelo Coordination Centres and Coordinators. Here we provide a little overview of some of the key sessions:
Standing out from the crowd: Developing new cycling tourism products and concepts (11:45 AM – Wed, 26 June – Hall 1)
The growth of cycling tourism over the past decade has meant that destinations have had to develop unique selling points in order to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace. This session will look at some of the new products that have emerged in recent years in Europe and further afield. It will also consider how to ensure that cycling tourism can be of benefit to local communities and cultural heritage sites, as well as tourists.
Cycle Tourism in Figures (14:15 PM – Thurs, 27 June – Hall 1)
As with other areas of cycling, finding data about cycling tourism can be frustratingly difficult. This makes it harder to communicate the current status of cycling tourism products; to assess the impact of new developments; and also to lobby for further investment. However, good practice examples are starting to emerge in Europe and this session will focus on some of these, whether it be collecting GIS data, quality assessments of routes or usage monitoring.
The full programme can be found here. For more information on the conference, including how to register, click here.
Not able to join us in Dublin? You can follow the event live on Twitter: @VelocitySeries and @ECFEuroVelo
Side event: National EuroVelo Coordination Centres and Coordinators meeting
The Annual National EuroVelo Coordination Centres and Coordinators (NECC/Cs) Meeting will be held the day before Velo-city starts on Monday 24th June. The event is primarily aimed at the NECC/Cs but let us know if you would be interested in attending by emailing: [email protected].
Velo-city 2019 will also feature a number of other side events, click here for more information.
