App offers chance to explore – and keep fit
Jooks combines audio guidance and curated routes to help travellers explore cities while running, walking, cycling or using wheelchairs, with Belgian routes offering a different perspective on familiar local places.
A retired telecoms worker from Belgium is among those behind an innovative smartphone app that aims to keep you fit and discover “hidden gems” all over the world.
In his 5 August 2026 report for EU Reporter, Martin Banks described how Philippe Pleckspaen helped launch “Jooks”, an application that helps you navigate your way around a locality, spotlighting places of interest.
The idea is that users do this while running or cycling at the same time but the device can also be used if you are just walking or, for instance, in a wheelchair.
The mobile app combines geographical positioning with data and you can also book personalised experiences directly through the app, including hotels along your route, sightseeing runs and guided tours.
All circuits have been carefully selected and users can explore villages, towns and cities at their own pace.
Jooks describes its current offering as curated tourism, themed and training routes in hundreds of cities across more than 65 countries.
In his August 2026 report, Banks traced the first route to Lyon, France, and the first Belgian route to Braine l’Alleud, where he reported three circuits and Philippe’s involvement as a jogging-club coach.
Banks’s August report identified Auckland as the city with the most users and Namur and Leuven as the leading Belgian locations at that time.
The same report described five London routes, including one for wheelchair users. Users should consult Jooks for current route availability.
The idea behind Jooks
Philippe, who lives in Waterloo, Belgium, explained how he, and two associates, first got the idea for the app, saying, “We were on a business trip to Madrid and, after a day’s work, we decided to go for a run in the area before returning for dinner.
“We saw lots of what looked like very interesting places but the problem was that we didn’t know what they were or anything about them which was a shame.
“When we got back to the hotel we reflected on this rather sad experience. It was then that we came up with the idea of an application that would help guide people around an area so that they could get more from the experience than we did on that run in Madrid.”
Banks’s August 2026 report described an annual fee of €500 for participating tourism or commerce offices, which helped devise local walking and running routes. This was the fee reported then; current arrangements should be checked with Jooks.
The app provides local information, including anecdotes about notable people and regional culinary specialities. Banks described free access in his August report; Jooks also advertises a Premium offering, so users should check which routes and features are included.
It is usually marketed via social media, such as Facebook and LinkedIn or just word-of-mouth recommendations.
The August 2026 report listed 12 languages, including French, Dutch, Italian, English and Chinese.
Banks’s August 2026 report put registrations at an estimated 500,000.
The same report counted about 500 circuits, including 42 in Belgium and 80 in Paris. These were figures reported at the time, rather than current totals.
The report described routes starting at about 4km, averaging 10km, with cycling routes extending to around 40km.
The scheme is financed by each of the municipalities involved and Philippe and his two colleagues, Olivier and Christophe, help promote it.
Philippe, who was described as 69 in the August 2026 report, said, “The App is meant to be self guided so users can go around a place at their own pace, time and rhythm.”
“The idea is that you discover things on a given route, many of them ‘hidden gems’ that even locals may be unaware of, while, at the same time, keeping fit.
“We hope that with this application we can use geographical positioning to help make people’s lives simpler and better. The goal is to improve the well-being, fitness, health, cultural knowledge and safety of our apps’ users.”
He added, “We can very easily adapt things according to feedback from users.”
Exploring Gerpinnes on foot
The Gerpinnes circuit described in Banks’s report was launched on 2 August 2026 in Gerpinnes, a quaint municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut in Belgium.
This writer was among those who were the first to use the app in Gerpinnes which is located just 12 km south of the large industrial city of Charleroi.
One of the loveliest small towns in Wallonia, it is well known for its folk marches, the most important one being that of the Pentecost (gathering more than 2,500 walkers in typical costumes of the 1st and 2nd Napoleonic Empire) in honour of Holy Rolende.
Using the informative app, I and a small group of runners, based in Braine l’Alleud, jogged around the area on a hot Sunday morning, covering a distance of 11km.
The application took us around the town’s medieval monuments, castles, fountains and churches, including the church associated with Sainte Rolende. The local tourism office’s account of her tradition places her death at Villers-Poterie in 774, in the eighth century.
We stopped regularly as Philippe pointed out various places of interest. As well as being very informative there was also the verdant nature and the quietness to enjoy and admire.
Edmond Van der Meiren is president of the tourist office in Gerpinnes and, at the launch, told Banks he was “proud and delighted” to be involved with the new scheme.
He said, “I think it is a very good idea and we look forward to engaging with the initiative. We already attract quite a lot of visitors, including tourists, because this is a very pleasant and picturesque area.
“But being involved with this new scheme and the App will, we hope, help us boost tourism even more and allow even more people to discover the area.”
He added, “A very dynamic circuit has been devised here which allows even locals to find out about places they may have, hitherto, not known about. We look forward to welcoming lots of people to our locality.”
Full details about the Jooks initiative are available via its website (see below) which is also in English.
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