If last Sunday's vote showed one thing, it was that democracy works in Wolfenschiessen. Deputy mayor Thomy Vetterli is the top mountain bike developer in Central Switzerland. He has been working for years to turn his home into a bike destination. He had convinced his colleagues in office, but the electorate was not impressed and said no with 54.7 percent of the votes to 490,000 francs for trail and hiking path construction, unbundling, steering and upgrading the municipal area as a bike destination. "My dual role was, of course, a real feast for the opponents of the project," admits Vetterli, "but we made this clear from the outset. If the expertise for such a project had not been available within the municipal council, it would have had to be bought in externally, as we did with Allegra Tourism in 2015."

No money for tourism upgrades

Vetterli was not surprised that the people of Wolfenschiesser rejected the municipal loan. The SVP, CVP (center) and Greens had issued the "no" slogan; the SVP alone has almost 50 percent of voters in the municipality. The opponents' main argument was that Wolfenschiessen's high level of debt would not allow this investment. "You can stop any investment with debt," says Vetterli, "The question is what the alternative is. If we do nothing, we will be stuck with our debts." Alongside agriculture, tourism is the municipality's main source of income. "Wolfenschiessen is the only municipality in Switzerland that still believes that mountain biking does nothing for tourism," he states, and it is clear to hear that he believes this is a misjudgement. Allegra Tourism and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts calculated an annual added value of 17 million francs for the Engelberg-Wolfenschiessen bike destination.

Nevertheless, Vetterli doesn't seem frustrated on the phone. After all, the project was accepted in Engelberg, and in his role as the top mountain bike promoter in Central Switzerland, he can tackle its realization there. "In Engelberg, the plans are more for bike park-type routes. But because Wolfenschiessen is not included, we don't have the opportunity to develop attractive routes down into the valley towards Stans and Lucerne." Of course, this does not mean that biking from Engelberg towards Lake Lucerne will not continue. "But not on routes defined by the municipality, but as before on the existing paths and based on information from the bike scene."