FILE. With its three famous cycle routes, Sète, the promised land of cycle tourists

Andreas et Sibylle font une pause pour consulter la carte de Sète. Midi Libre – Kelman Marti

l'essentiel Les touristes à vélo font vraiment partie du paysage Sétois depuis environ cinq ans.

While walking around Sète, it's difficult to spend 10 minutes outside without coming across bikes. Thanks to the beauty of its center, its numerous beaches, its proximity to the Etang de Thau, and above all, the passage of three major cycle routes (the Canal du Midi, the Via Rhona and the Eurovélo 8 along the Mediterranean), the unique island has become a real destination for French and foreign cycle tourists.

For some tourists, "almost everything is perfect"

"We come to Sète every year. There, we did the Lido by bike, it’was magnificent", say Alexandre and Éliane Ivaldi, both retired.

Andreas and Sibylle, a couple of German tourists, traveled the Canal du Midi from Toulouse on the handlebars of their fully equipped rental bikes "with the maid surprise to end the adventure on a greenway along the sea".

For Clément, who followed the Via Rhona from Lyon, "almost everything is perfect, except the city center which is difficult to pass through due to lack of cycle paths.

A bicycle-tourism policy to be developed

This upward trend in the number of cycle tourists "dates from four or five years ago. And this is only the beginning of the increase, announces Corine Beaujard, deputy director of the tourist office. Sète becomes a tourist city by bike. Wanting to travel in an ecological way while doing a sporting activity and discovering new places is very appealing."

For the moment, the organization, which receives a significant number of calls per day related to cycling in the city, has not developed a specific policy for this new clientele."But we are going to build a global offer around bicycles. This is an area to work on. For example, we were recently chosen to be a pilot for the Cycling Hub Occitanie program. The Region will thus promote “spots” of the Thau basin."

Developments that will benefit tourists

To continue to bring in other bicycles, the City intends to rely on the development of facilities. "There is the desire that Sète can eventually be visited by bike. However, the municipal desire is not to create more cycle paths so that it benefits tourists, but for the population. If it’s pleasant for us, it will also be pleasant for them and they will come, assures Vincent Sabatier. Example, with the new track on the Quai des Moulins."

Even without future developments, there are still many cycle tourists in Sète. "The town is fortunate to be the arrival town for the Canal du Midi ride, but also for certain travelers taking the Via Rhona and the’ Eurovélo 8", recalls Corine Beaujard.

Spillovers on the local economy

"Since we took over the Au Valérie hotel, the number of cycle tourists has continued to grow, while’ rsquo;we have expanded our services to their destination (rentals, luggage storage, on-site repair kits…). Now, this represents 40% of our clientele", reveals Romain Gener, the manager of the establishment with the very label “Accueil Vélo” among cycle tourists.

But it's not just hotels and Airbnb that benefit from the economic benefits: restaurants, shops and the seven bike rental companies too.

The success of bicycle rental companies

"Our forty bikes can be rented very well, mainly by the day. For example, we have customers who come by train and then spend the day with our bicycles", underlines Marine Dunan, saleswoman at the Flying Cat boutique.

"The 'one way', when people rent a bike in a city and return it to Sète, works more and more more", adds Corine Beaujard, who would like a study to be carried out to accurately identify the number and profile of cycle tourists in the Agglo.

Perhaps this will help to measure the reputation of Sète, a city where we come by bike, but which we visit on foot?< /p> I subscribe to read more