From September 24 to 26, the most renowned event in the field of cycle tourism in Europe and beyond was held in the Hungarian town of Balatonfured, titled “EuroVelo and Cycle Tourism Conference 2025”. Before the conference itself, the annual meeting of EuroVelo coordinators was held, where the president of the Center for the Environment, Tihomir Dakić, participated as the national representative of EuroVelo for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On this occasion, Tihomir went to the conference by bicycle. On the way to Balatonfüred, around the lake, and back, Tihomir covered 770 km. At the conference itself, he received a symbolic award of products from Lake Balaton for this bicycle trip, which was presented to him by Máriusz Révész, State Secretary for Active Hungary. The award was given to the participant who came to the conference by bicycle from the farthest place.
This year’s conference theme was “Cycling towards a sustainable future”, which covered several sub-themes: investing in cycling for sustainable economic development, developing cycling routes to combat climate change and maximising social impact through cycling. This event brought together an international community to reflect and exchange ideas on common challenges, threats and opportunities related to sustainability, with a particular focus on EuroVelo and cycling route networks.
“Our hosts this year were Hungarians, and a large number of institutions that provided support for this event. What surprised me was the level of development of cycling tourism in Hungary, and specifically around Lake Balaton itself. Through their initiative “Active Hungary”, you can see how much they love their country, on the one hand, and on the other hand, how much they work to encourage all generations to engage in tourism, first of all in Hungary. There are a large number of actors who use Hungary’s potential to create offers and thereby strengthen their economy, and on the other hand, citizens are becoming more aware that natural resources can be used in other ways. I think that the institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina working on tourism development would have a lot to learn from the Hungarians. Just travelling by bike to the conference was an experience in itself, even though it was a short trip, I experienced a lot of nice moments and analysed the routes and infrastructure along the way” – Tihomir added.
Cycling is a healthy and inherently sustainable means of transportation and leisure. That is why it should be part of all strategies to reduce carbon emissions, as it helps achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Transport accounts for one-fifth of global CO2 emissions, while the tourism industry accounts for 8.8% of global emissions (including direct and indirect emissions). More cycling and cycling tourism should be part of innovative approaches to make our societies more resilient and sustainable, now and in the future. Cycling and active travel also have numerous concrete social and economic benefits: they are positive for local communities, both rural and urban, with a high return on investment in the infrastructure and services offered by cycling routes. Even over longer distances and outside cities, when combined with public transport, cycling can be a turning point for access to destinations and local mobility. And cycling brings joy to everyone, across generations.
