March 14, 2025 - Check out this great interview with Jean-François Rheault, the CEO of Vélo Québec on the province’s new strategy for cycling tourism 2025-2030 as EuroVelo, the largest cycle route network in the world, explores travelling on the other side of the Atlantic.

Québec is a Canadian province of about 9 million inhabitants and it just released an ambitious strategy for cycling tourism, spanning the period 2025-2030. Cycling tourism generated more than $700M expenditures a year (6% more than regular tourists) and 1,6 million overnights in Québec. A strategy was needed, and the collaborative creation process involved more than 500 stakeholders.

To learn more about it, EuroVelo Director Agathe Daudibon interviewed Jean-François Rheault, CEO of Vélo Québec, the organisation that coordinated the process. Vélo Québec is the ECF associated member in Canada.

What is the ambition of ‘La Grande Traversée’, the roadmap for cycling tourism in Québec 2025-2030?
Jean-François Rheault (JFR): Cycling tourism has a lot of potential for international and domestic visitors in Québec and brings positive impacts on communities, especially in the economic sphere. To unlock its potential, we needed a clear vision. That is why, in 2023, we initiated a large consultation to design a roadmap for cycling tourism development in Québec. More than 500 participants from 14 regions and six different sectors connected to cycling tourism took part. In January 2025, we released the results of the consultation and published a summary and the full report of ‘La Grande Traversée’, both available in French.

Why a new strategy on cycling tourism in Québec?
JFR: In Québec, we have lots of great cycling infrastructure. We have over 10,000 kilometres of cycle routes. Our most famous cycle route, La Route Verte, is 5,000 kilometres long and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. This cycle route network connects all the province, and I invite everyone to discover the cycling facilities of Québec. Moreover, our long-lasting experience is recognised worldwide – we are regularly asked to share our knowledge with international partners. In addition to this, the regional partners within Québec have been channelling a lot of energy to develop and invest in cycling tourism over the past years.

The regional tourism agencies started to work more and more on cycling offers and promotion, but we still lacked a global vision for cycling tourism at the provincial scale. This is why we felt the need to launch this consultation, define a strategy together, and get organised to implement it.

Read the full interview here.