A practice that is becoming part of travelers' daily lives
You only have to look at the weekend departures, the families along the canals or the pannier-laden travelers in the stations to understand one thing: cycling is no longer a niche.
Today, it is one of the criteria influencing the choice of a destination.
A safe greenway, an accessible route or the possibility of renting a bike easily on site can be enough to trigger a stay. And this movement goes far beyond bikepacking enthusiasts or seasoned cyclists.
Cycling also attracts:
- families looking for an active vacation without complicated logistics;
- travelers who want to slow down;
- locals who are rediscovering their territory in a different way;
- tourists without equipment, but with the desire to pedal for a few hours or several days.
The success of major itineraries such as the Loire à Vélo, the Vélodyssée or the ViaRhôna illustrates this trend. But behind this growth lies a very real challenge: easy access to services.
The real brake on bicycle tourism? Organization
Finding an itinerary has become simple. So has booking accommodation. But when it comes to renting a bike at the right place, at the right time, the experience can quickly become complicated.
Scattered offers, lack of visibility, incomplete information, sometimes impossible to book online... Many travelers give up before they've even started.
And this is particularly true for occasional customers.
Someone who already owns a bike will get around the problem. But a family coming by train for a weekend, or foreign travelers wishing to rent locally, need a clear route.
Bicycle tourism no longer relies solely on infrastructure. It also depends on the quality of the services that revolve around it.
Ma Voie Verte: the gateway to cycling itineraries
Over the last few years, Ma Voie Verte has established itself as a benchmark for planning cycling trips and holidays in France.
Today, the platform references:
- over 800 itineraries;
- thousands of accommodations;
- services located along greenways and cycle routes.
The approach is simple: to enable everyone to easily visualize available routes and identify useful points along the way.
For many travelers, Ma Voie Verte represents the starting point for inspiration. They may be looking for a family outing, an idea for a weekend or a great itinerary to cover over several days.
But once they've found an itinerary, they still need to be able to take action quickly.
Lokki: making bike hire simpler and more visible
That's where Lokki comes in.
Since its beginnings, Lokki has been developing tools dedicated to rental professionals: bike rental companies, leisure centers, outdoor players and tourist activities.
The platform makes it possible to:
- manage bookings;
- digitize inventory;
- make offers bookable online;
- simplify the customer experience.
In parallel, Lokki is also developing a marketplace that makes it possible to find a bike to rent anywhere in France.
The idea has remained the same from the outset: to make renting a bike as easy as booking accommodation or transport.
Because, when you get right down to it, renting a bike for a day or for an itinerant trip should be a no-brainer.
A partnership designed to streamline the experience
The partnership between Ma Voie Verte and Lokki is based on a very concrete logic.
On the one hand, Ma Voie Verte helps travelers imagine their outing or adventure by bike.
On the other, Lokki immediately facilitates access to rentals.
By connecting the two platforms, the aim is to reduce friction between desire and practice.
In concrete terms, this means that a user discovering a route will be able to more easily identify suitable rental solutions nearby.
This continuity seems obvious. Yet it is still often lacking in the bicycle tourism ecosystem.
Good news for local communities
Local authorities have been investing massively in cycling infrastructure for several years now. And these investments are really transforming local areas.
A greenway creates traffic. It attracts visitors. It brings work to accommodation, cafés, restaurants and local shops.
But to maximize this impact, services must be visible and accessible.
The partnership between Ma Voie Verte and Lokki contributes to this dynamic by making the offers available along the routes easier to understand.
For destinations, this represents a number of benefits:
- boosting tourist appeal;
- encouraging car-free stays;
- extending the duration of visits;
- facilitating access to cycling for all publics.
The bicycle then becomes much more than a leisure equipment. It becomes a gateway to the region.
Bicycle rental companies also gain in visibility
For bicycle rental professionals, being visible at the right time changes everything.
A traveler who prepares his itinerary is already booking. They know where they want to go. Now he's looking for a way to pedal.
The partnership brings these two intentions together.
Renters can thus benefit from:
- an audience already interested in bike travel;
- a stronger presence along routes;
- simplified access to online booking.
And in a market where travelers' expectations are rapidly evolving, this fluidity becomes a real differentiating factor.
