New uniform hiking signs;
Credit: MECO
Luxembourg's General Directorate of Tourism within the Ministry of Economy yesterday announced details of a new system of uniform signage for hiking trails in Luxembourg.
The Grand Duchy has a network of around 5,000 kilometres of marked hiking trails which testify to the country's enormous potential in this area. The trails cross the whole of Luxembourg and are certainly the best way to discover the five regions of the country. Following the growing success of hiking trails and in order to meet the demands of tourists and resident hikers, uniform standards for signage and markings are to be put in place in the future.
A good practice guide has been drawn up in this context by the five regional tourist offices (ORTs), under the aegis of the Directorate-General for Tourism and with the support of the “BTE Tourismus- und Regionalberatung” as well as the “Deutscher Wanderverband Service GmbH”. The standards presented in this guide correspond to those of the European Hiking Federation (FERP), of which Luxembourg is a founding member.
This guide to good practice, presented in two volumes (theory and practice), pays particular attention to ensuring that the markup is complete, continuous, unambiguous and visible. The markings on supports such as trees or poles will have a uniform shape and size. If several roads follow the same route, all the signs will be grouped together on a marking support and placed one below the other. A hierarchy of signals will also be established. The guide will be made available to all those who undertake to maintain and take care of Luxembourg's hiking trails.
Luxembourg's Minister of Tourism, Lex Delles, underlined that “the markup and the signposting of the pedestrian paths are more than simple aids with the orientation. They are a visible showcase of a quality trail. An easily understandable system will help make hiking in Luxembourg an even more pleasant and exhilarating experience”.
