Study tour on EuroVelo 10 and 13
Four days of seminars and study tours along Latvia’s Baltic Coast have brought wider awareness about EuroVelo 10 – Baltic Sea Route and EuroVelo 13 – Iron Curtain Trail and helped identify what needs to be done in order to complete those sections of the routes.
The autumn is always a busy time for conferences and events related to cycling. This year has been no exception and the ECF’s EuroVelo Team have been trying to support the National EuroVelo Coordination Centres and Coordinators and our other Project Partners wherever possible. The good news is that in just about all corners of Europe progress is being made towards the realisation of the 14 EuroVelo routes.
For example, a few weeks ago the ECF’s EuroVelo Director, Adam Bodor, joined a four day study tour along the route of EuroVelo 13 in Latvia. Organised by the Vidzeme Tourism Association (VTA) as part of the INRERREG IV Programme 2007 – 2013 project: ‘Central Baltic Cycling’, the tour started with a presentation to national authorities in the Latvian capital Riga. On the following three days, a panel of experts (both Latvian and international) combined tours of the proposed routes with formal seminars on route development to local authorities in Bīriņi, Bauska and Valguma Pasaule.
Adam was there to give advice on the latest trends in tourism, infrastructure development and mobility in Europe and practical training for bicycle route development. Daniel Mourek of the Czech National EuroVelo Coordination Centre, Nadace Partnerstvi / CDV, was also one of the invited participants. The event was a huge success with both the seminars and study tours being well-attended. It is hoped that they contributed towards the Central Baltic Cycling Project’s main aim, which is to encourage tourists to visit the Baltic Sea’s littoral countries, particularly the currently less well-known regions away from the capitals.
It is estimated that cycling tourism currently contributes 190 million Euros to Latvia’s economy and the participants of this study tour concluded that there is lots of potential for this to grow.
Article prepared by re-published from EuroVelo.org