Save the date: 6 October❗ Barcelona hosts webinars on the challenges & opportunities for the cycling tourism sector from the #COVID19

As part of the official announcement of Barcelona being the host of the EuroVelo and Cycling Tourism Conference 2021, the city is hosting two webinars on the morning of Tuesday, 6 October 2020, focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cycling tourism and the EuroVelo network.

The first webinar on “The ability of territories to adapt to the COVID-19 context” is chaired by Octavi Bono, the Catalonia’s Director-General for Tourism, and will feature a presentation from the ECF’s co-CEO, Jill Warren. To highlight best practice examples on the national level, Camille Thomé, director of EuroVelo France, will present the results from their Summer 2020 campaign and explain the socioeconomic impact of cycling tourism in France. To consider the situation on the city-level, Gonçalo Peres, Advisory Board Member for FPCUB (Portuguese Federation of cycle tourist and bike users) from Lisbon, host of Velo-city 2021, will share their approach to urban cycling tourism and city connectivity against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The second webinar “The importance of specialisation in the cycling tourism sector” will take place in Catalonian and Spanish. Ana Bastida and Rosalia Pont, both from the Catalonian Tourism Agency (ACT), will introduce and present the Catalan strategical plan. The webinar ends with a panel discussion moderated by David Estellé (ACT) and a subsequent Q&A.

Prior to the webinars, the EuroVelo and Cycling Tourism Conference 2021 will be officially announced in Spanish and English press conferences. This fifth edition of the conference will take place on the 4th October 2021 in Barcelona in cooperation with the Government of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and the Federation of Bicycle Users of Catalonia (FEMBici).

The announcement coincides with the annual meeting of the National EuroVelo Coordination Centres and Coordinators (NECC/Cs), the Provisional EuroVelo General Meeting (EVGM), which will take place via Zoom in the afternoon following the webinars.

The day’s agenda:

* 10:00 – 10:30 Press Conference in Catalan and Spanish

* 10:30 – 11:00 Press Conference in English

* 11:00 – 12:00 Webinar 1: “The ability of territories to adapt to the COVID-19 context” (English)

* 12:00 – 13:00 Webinar 2: “The importance of specialisation in the cycling tourism sector” (Catalan and Spanish)

* 12:00 – 14:00 Break

* 14:00 – 17:00 Provisional EuroVelo General Meeting (EVGM)

We look forward to welcome you online!

For more information, contact eurovelo@ecf.com.