The Lleida Provincial Council, through its Tourist Board, aims to promote and invigorate hiking throughout the Lleida region. To this end, the Tourist Board has published the Hiking Guide to the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida, entitled "Step by Step." The guide's publication coincides with the creation of the Professional Hiking Association of the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida, which has received support from the Provincial Council's Tourist Board.
The new hiking guide includes 26 different routes, two per region, separated into the geographical areas of the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida. Each route includes the region it runs through, a map, its graphic altimetry and a brief description, points of interest, and pictograms with information on the duration, elevation gain, distance, difficulty, starting point, and time of year. The guide is adapted to new technologies. By activating the route on your GPS using a QR code, you can follow the route in real time using your mobile phone. The maps and GPS tracks with the QR code are adapted to Android phones, iPhones, and tablets.
The routes included in the new guide in the Pyrenees regions are: the Ansovell Way and the Corb Route in Alt Urgell; the Water Way and the Romanesque Route 1 in Alta Ribagorça; the Pera Lakes and Moixeró Peak Route in Cerdanya; the Rus Way and the Mont-rebei Gorge in Pallars Jussà; a walk around Montcortès Lake and the enchanted forest and along the paths of Las Voces del Pamano 1 in Pallars Sobirà; the Mare de la Font-Castellvell Way and the Sant Serni del Grau Route to the Sanctuary of Lord in Solsonès; and finally the Carlac Beech Forest Route and the 7 Colomèrs Lakes Route in Val d'Aran.
As for the regions of Tierras de Lleida, the following routes are included: the Stone Cabins Route and the Transllena Route, in the Garrigues region; the Mu Gorge Route and the Mont-rebei Gorge Route, in the Noguera region; the Ivars and Vila-sana Lake Route and the Canal Route, in the Pla d'Urgell region; the Aubaga-Solana Route through the Llobregós River Valley Protected Natural Area and the Cercavins Route, in the Segarra region; the Utxesa Reservoir Route and from Aiguabarreig to Montmaneu, in the Segrià region; and finally, the Bovera and Corb Route and the Sió Riverbank Route, in the Urgell region.
It's worth noting that hiking and trekking routes are breaking participation records on the various scheduled trips and have become a top tourist activity, largely thanks to the creation of itineraries that traverse some of the most enchanting landscapes of the Pyrenees and the Lleida plain.
The Hiking Guide to the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida has been published in 12,000 copies in six languages (Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Dutch, and German).
The Professional Hiking Association of the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida is born
The Lleida region offers an extensive network of hiking trails, and hiking has become an important axis of local economic development in some rural areas that are often left out of the mainstream tourist circuit. In response to this reality, the Association of Hiking Professionals of the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida was created with the support of the Tourist Board of the Lleida Provincial Council. Its objectives are to integrate entrepreneurs in the sector and promote the activity and its benefits.
The Association of Hiking Professionals of the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida was created with the aim of integrating all entrepreneurs in the sector, both individual entrepreneurs and legally constituted legal entities, in order to strengthen the business network and, at the same time, solidarity between the various tourism companies through the promotion and creation of common services based on the practice of hiking.
All hiking and/or ecotourism companies, as well as active tourism companies that offer a significant percentage of specific hiking activities in their product catalog, are eligible to join the association. The association is also open to guides and local workers with hiking-related activities, regulated tourist accommodations that organize and promote the activity to their clients, as well as taxi drivers or other business owners dedicated to visitor transportation who have links to hiking. Finally, all companies that demonstrate a certain level of dedication to the creation and/or promotion of hiking products specifically in the Lleida region are also eligible to join.
The association, in addition to representing companies in the sector in addressing their specific issues, has also set goals such as promoting hiking and creating information and training channels for its members. Finally, it will also work to promote the activity, as well as marketing activities carried out by companies, both individually and collectively, to make hiking a leading asset in the nature tourism sector of the Pyrenees and Tierras de Lleida regions.
At the founding meeting of the Association of Hiking Professionals of the Pyrenees and the Lands of Lleida, held on January 16 at the Lleida Provincial Council, José Luis García, director of the company Camins de la Val d'Aran, was elected president of the association. The founding ceremony was attended by several industry leaders from the Lleida region, the director of the Tourism Board, Jordi Blanch, and the Board's technical staff.
During the meeting, attendees emphasized that, given the country's current economic situation, it is necessary to work to achieve excellence in our region's tourism sector, in close cooperation with the various business initiatives emerging within the Lleida region. This is both to attract and consolidate the public from the Catalan market and the rest of Spain, and also to engage with the international market, which is increasingly demanding and requires greater professionalization to meet its expectations.
Hiking is a non-competitive sporting and recreational activity that in recent years has become a very attractive option for tourists and a key driver of local economic development in some rural areas often left off the beaten track. Thanks to the restoration and maintenance of paths and trails, all Lleida regions—both those in the plains and the Pyrenees—now have an extensive network of hiking trails with tourist, sports, and nature routes of varying difficulty and suitable for all ages. Many of these routes are also suitable for mountain biking.
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Ara Lleida/Lleidatur Bulletin for Chus Castillo
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