On 2 October 2020 the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) - Thematic Pillar 2 (Transport) and Thematic Pillar 4 (Tourism) hosted an online workshop under the headline “Cycling Tourism and Cultural Routes”. The Workshop was supported by EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) PA3 (Tourism, Culture, People to People Contacts) and participants from the other two macro-regional as well as European Commission representatives.The Workshop was organised by Mrs. Blanka BELOŠEVIĆ, from the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Croatia has been a Member State of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) since 2016.

Following the opening by the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sports, numerous presentations and discussions were held throughout the entire day. The workshop started with an introduction to cycling tourism, its development and sustainability as well as its demand for infrastructure, followed by good examples of national interventions within the EUSAIR and EUSDR. In addition, participants from other macro regions described their experiences and interventions concerning cycling tourism. Among the mentioned initiatives was also the Routes4U programme, a joint programme between the EPA and the European Union DG Regio, which fostered regional development in the macro-regions and terminated in July 2020. Another matter discussed at the workshop was the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the development of tourism and the contribution of cycling tourism towards sustainable development goals.

Mr. Stefano DOMINIONI, EPA Executive Secretary and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, gave a keynote speech at the conference about the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Programme and Cultural Routes crossing the Adriatic and Ionian Region and the Danube Region, followed by presentations of examples of cycling tourism along certified Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. The represented Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe were the Iron Curtain Trail, the Routes of the Olive Tree and the Phoenicians’ Route. Cycling tourism and its expansion is an essential part of the development of sustainable tourism strategies along the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.

A detailed agenda and presentations of the event are available at the website of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR).