One-way rental may be very practical for those who want to explore only a section of EuroVelo routes, cannot use their own bike for their holidays, or want to include biking as part of a bigger, long-distance trip. For example, you may want to rent a bike on EuroVelo 15 โ Rhine Cycle Route in Basel, bike across the beautiful landscapes and vineyards of Alsace , leave your bike in Strasbourg, and take the train back to your starting point, or to anywhere else.
In short, a one-way rental looks like a win-win situation for many bike tourists. However, it is still an emerging service with a few issues to solve โ accessibility, quality of the offer, complimentary services, and promotion โ before becoming a strong reality in the cycling tourism market and offer.
Due to its nature, the concept of one-way bike rental implies cooperation between a variety of actors in the tourism industry. The first ones that come to mind are bike rentals, which provide quality bikes and materials, as well as customer service. Then come cycling organisations and associations promoting cycling tourism, who advocate and give visibility to the service.
Tourism boards and destination marketing organisations are important too, because they spread the word about such services, as well as tour operators, which include biking as part of their tour packages. Lastly, hospitality professionals are the ones to offer bike-friendly accommodations and amenities to make the trip comfortable.
To meet the demand of cycling tourists, all these actors must get organised to provide a uniform, convenient and accessible service: good bikes and components to avoid incidents along the way; convenient pick-up and return points, allowing intermodality; baggage transport, bike repair facilities, biker-friendly accommodation, safe parking and storage.
