Credit: MMTP
On Friday 7 May 2021, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, and the Minister for Tourism, Lex Delles, presented details of the "Vëlosummer 2021" cycling initiative.
Following the success of the first edition of the Vëlosummer initiative, in which more than 40,000 cyclists participated last year, a second edition will take place from Saturday 31 July to Sunday 29 August 2021. To allow a more active role for municipalities and more planning time than last time, a call for projects was launched in October 2020.
Luxembourg's Roads Administration, the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works and the General Directorate for Tourism then evaluated the various applications and analysed their technical feasibility. Participating municipalities received news of which cycle routes had been selected in April 2021.
Twice as many cycle routes and three times as many municipalities are involved in Vëlosummer 2021 than in last year's edition. This year, 65 municipalities are participating in the initiative, which features twelve cycle routes (instead of six in 2020) spanning more than 550 km. In addition, 112 km of roads will be closed to motorised traffic (except residents) during this initiative.
Following the presentation of the twelve cycle routes, Tourism Minister Lex Delles presented the tourism promotion of “Vëlosummer 2021”, which includes many projects. Building on last year's success, the General Directorate for Tourism will once again publish a detailed map illustrating the twelve routes and highlighting the hospitality offer as well as tourist attractions. The map and information about the different routes will be available on www.velosummer.lu as well as on the new “Tourismus-App”.
The participating municipalities and the five regional tourist offices (ORTs) will also contribute to the Vëlosummer 2021 tourism programme. They will place particular emphasis on hotels, restaurants and cafes as well as local businesses located in the vicinity of the chosen twelve routes.
In addition, the luggage service of the General Directorate for Tourism (movewecarry.lu) will again be available, thus allowing cyclists to have their luggage delivered free of charge from one accommodation to another. The €50 accommodation vouchers can also be used until 15 September 2021.
Minister François Bausch commented: “Since 2020, we have been experiencing a real renaissance in cycling in Luxembourg. The bicycle as an efficient, climate-friendly, safe and healthy mode of transport is increasingly becoming a serious alternative for citizens. The COVID crisis has underscored the need to change our mobility systems. The selection of national roads, which will be reserved for cyclists in August, will perfectly fill the gaps in our national cycling network. In addition, we have extended state subsidies on bicycles to respond to this trend”.
Minister Lex Delles added: “Following the great success of last year, which demonstrated that Luxembourg is an essential destination for bicycle tourism, we have decided to expand the 'Vëlosummer' offer. The 2021 edition will thus include twelve routes and a variety of tourist offers. In this way, we encourage residents, cross-border workers and foreign tourists to discover our varied and unspoiled nature, our cultural attractions, our local businesses and our friendly Horeca [hospitality] establishments”.
