Businesses urged to welcome cyclists
Tourism businesses wanting to learn more about the booming leisure cycling market can take part in a series of free webinars starting on Thursday September 17.
Cycle tourism is estimated to be worth up to £239 million alone to the Scottish tourism industry and has seen a ‘spectacular increase’ in the last decade – nearly doubling in popularity.
According to VisitScotland research cycling visitors tend to stay an average of five nights, spending up to £65 per night where they stay, with more than half of visitors coming from Scotland and around 45 per cent from England.
Argyll and Bute’s position on the 234-mile east coast to west coast Caledonia Way puts it in the heartland of the highly scenic long-distance route linking Campbeltown, Oban, Fort William and Inverness. The series of one-hour long webinars will take place on September 17, 22, 24 and 29 featuring industry experts sharing experience and insight of how tourism businesses can serve and appeal to leisure cyclists.
The webinars, held at 6pm, will cover topics including current and future trends, meeting the needs and expectations of leisure cycling visitors and easy-to-learn tips for online engagement.
The webinars are delivered by Sustrans Scotland in partnership with funders Argyll and the Isles Tourism Co-operative, the Cairngorms Business Partnership, Forth Valley Leader and Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland.
Organisers say participating businesses will gain an ‘invaluable understanding’ of the sector and learn more about the steps they can take to support and benefit from visiting leisure cyclists. The first webinar will look at how tourism business can provide in-depth information about multi-day cycle tours and shorter, family-friendly day trips.
To find out more and register interest visit the event brite website and search for the leisure cycling tourism webinar series.