Cycling tourism needs a boost! And we need events like the one organised by European Cyclists' Federation at ITB Berlin 2026.
"Cycling tourism trends 2026: innovation, knowledge and public-private strategies" - in practice six presentations, full of interesting numbers and observations.
The session was reliably moderated by Agathe Daudibon, head of EuroVelo. Right after her, Heiko Riekenberg took the stage to present CycleSummit, connecting cycling tour operators. Wanda Nowotarska spoke about the development of cycling routes in the West Pomerania region in Poland. Then Christian Tänzler from ADFC Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club e. V. discussed developments on the German cycling tourism market, referring to data from the latest ADFC Bicycle Travel Analysis. After that Bastiaan Overeem from NBTC Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions spoke about cycling tourism in the Netherlands and Isabell Eberlein about events organised by Velokonzept GmbH, including Velo Berlin.
It was efficient, informative and engaging. Experts in cycling tourism development from different countries, working at different levels and with different experiences. Each of them shared positive examples showing how much has already been achieved in cycling tourism, but also how much still remains to be done in other countries, regions, organisations and events.
The most important slide? "Cycling tourism needs a boost" from Christian. It showed that cycling tourism has already a huge reach in Germany - in 2025 more than half of the population (39.3 million people!) used bicycles for leisure and holidays. At the same time it highlighted that safe infrastructure, an easy entry into cycling tourism through day trips or cycling holidays, and communication focused on enjoyment and recreation are key for further growth. This means building high-quality infrastructure, creating bicycle-friendly mobility chains and introducing concrete actions within national tourism strategies.
It is good that cycling tourism has its place at ITB. And that green on the Green Stage... perfect, because bicycles are green!
+ 662 others joined this month
Comments
Cycling tourism needs a boost! And we need events like the one organised by European Cyclists' Federation at ITB Berlin 2026.
"Cycling tourism trends 2026: innovation, knowledge and public-private strategies" - in practice six presentations, full of interesting numbers and observations.
The session was reliably moderated by Agathe Daudibon, head of EuroVelo. Right after her, Heiko Riekenberg took the stage to present CycleSummit, connecting cycling tour operators. Wanda Nowotarska spoke about the development of cycling routes in the West Pomerania region in Poland. Then Christian Tänzler from ADFC Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club e. V. discussed developments on the German cycling tourism market, referring to data from the latest ADFC Bicycle Travel Analysis. After that Bastiaan Overeem from NBTC Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions spoke about cycling tourism in the Netherlands and Isabell Eberlein about events organised by Velokonzept GmbH, including Velo Berlin.
It was efficient, informative and engaging. Experts in cycling tourism development from different countries, working at different levels and with different experiences. Each of them shared positive examples showing how much has already been achieved in cycling tourism, but also how much still remains to be done in other countries, regions, organisations and events.
The most important slide? "Cycling tourism needs a boost" from Christian. It showed that cycling tourism has already a huge reach in Germany - in 2025 more than half of the population (39.3 million people!) used bicycles for leisure and holidays. At the same time it highlighted that safe infrastructure, an easy entry into cycling tourism through day trips or cycling holidays, and communication focused on enjoyment and recreation are key for further growth. This means building high-quality infrastructure, creating bicycle-friendly mobility chains and introducing concrete actions within national tourism strategies.
It is good that cycling tourism has its place at ITB. And that green on the Green Stage... perfect, because bicycles are green!