There is a crying need for information. People can find a lot on the internet, but in many cases it is not sufficient. In addition there is a need for personal contact. People want to ask questions and get an answer from an expert immediately. Moreover they want reliable information on bicycles and accessories and want to try these on the spot. The same is true for hiking shoes, outdoor clothing, camping equipment and other outdoor accessories. People want information on holidays, destinations, facilities at these destinations, and hiking and biking routes. These keen holiday goers want books and maps, they want to attend interesting lectures and workshops that meet their needs. They want to meet with other hikers and bikers who can give them to-the-point information.
Routes
The Netherlands is covered with a reasonably dense network of long distance cycle and walking paths (LF-routes and LAW-routes). The system with numbered nodes that can be combined to cycle routes as installed a the southern part of the Netherlands is gaining in popularity and is continuously being extended. There are countless regional signposted cycle routes and there is hardly a nature reserve without walking routes. Outside of the Netherlands the cycle routes expand like a spider’s web from the Arctic cape to the Mediterranean. Walking routes, sentiers de grand randonnée and pilgrim routes form a network that covers the European continent.
Accommodation and package deals
The cycling and rambling fair has shown a great need for information on local facilities and accommodation for walkers and bikers. It appears that many people increasingly prefer more, short trips spread over the year. This brings along an increasing need for shorter package hiking and biking holidays. Increasingly, national and regional tourist bureaus and information centers offer information and package holidays for both short and long holidays in regions with good facilities for hiking and biking. The catering industry has spotted the hiking and biking tourist as well. From a Swiss survey it appeared that tourists traveling on their network of cycle routes spend considerably more that the average amount other tourists spend.
Walking and biking
The approach to the cycling and rambling fair has turned out for the best, as has the combination of walking and biking. The surveys of last years has shown that more than 95% of the visitors likes the combination of these two activities. So it is considered very import that the presence of both activities is in balance on the Fiets en Wandelbeurs. This will be vissible in the offer of products and items but also in the programme of lectures and workshops. Nevertheless it is a clear that a couple of bicycles need more floor to show than a couple of walking shoes, that workshops as bicycle technique and reparation has no walking counterparts and that the bicycle track for testing need quite a lot of square meters. So the area for bicycle products will be significant larger than the area for specific walking products. Concerning tourist information, travel agencies and outdoor and camping equipment both activities are equally present.
Taylor-made information
The centre of the cycling and rambling fair is the transfer of information. The interested public will find a wide offer of products and services related to walking and biking. The Fiets en Wandelbeurs is an ideal platform for exhibitors to offer their equipment, activities, services and information to a large and interested public. The information on offer should meet the needs of the public. Taylor-made information, focused on what the visitor is looking for, presented in a thematic, well-organized, accessible and user-friendly manner in a relaxed atmosphere, that is what the cycling and rambling fair aims at.
