The province will invest almost 55,000 euros to give the Drenthepad a boost. The money will go to the Nivon Natuurvrienden foundation, which maintains the oldest walking route in the Netherlands on a daily basis.
The money will be spent on, among other things, the construction of thirty benches along the path, the addition of signage and the activation of entrepreneurs along the route.
According to path coordinator Luc Schepers, the money was badly needed. “The Drenthepad is the oldest hiking trail in the Netherlands, but a lot of people don’t know that. We saw in the online search results that there was a lot of search for ‘walking in Drenthe’, but that after that not many bookings or hikes were booked. So we left untapped potential. Then we put our heads together and submitted a subsidy application to the province.”
That application has now been approved. In addition to the subsidy, Nivon also contributes itself, bringing the total investment to almost €100,000.
In addition to tourists, it is also the intention that the local population gets to know the path better and better. “Many people don’t know what it means. It is the longest regional path that returns from Beilen station via the Hondsrug through Groningen and back to Beilen.”
In total, the path is almost 330 kilometers long. “It’s an iconic trail, which makes it well worth this investment.”