Press release -
Premium cycling brand to inspire riders to visit Scotland
A premium cycling clothing brand is set to inspire riders to head to Scotland after launching its new clothing range on an epic two-day adventure in the Highlands, says VisitScotland.
Rapha launched its new range (released this week) with a photoshoot taking a group of cyclists to the Scottish Highlands via the Caledonian Sleeper for a 125-mile return journey from Fort William to Drimnin.
With cycling tourism, involving overnight trips, worth more than £100 million to the Scottish economy, national tourism organisation, VisitScotland, hopes Rapha’s decision to choose Scotland for the first time as the backdrop for its photoshoot, will encourage cyclists to similarly choose Scotland for their next adventure.
The route features on Rapha’s website announcing the new Explore clothing range and will be sent to members of the Rapha Cycling Club which has a growing international following.
Scotland is home to approximately 2,371 miles of National Cycle Network routes, including 644 miles of traffic-free routes which use a mix of railway path, canal towpath, forest road, shared-use path, segregated cycle lanes and rural footways.
With cycling becoming an increasingly popular way to explore, VisitScotland spent time working with the Cyclists Touring Club and the Scottish Cyclists Union to produce a ‘Cyclists Welcome’ scheme to meet the specific accommodation and visitor attraction needs of cyclists. Currently almost 1,000 businesses in Scotland participate in the scheme.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said: “Our beautiful and diverse landscapes are a haven for cyclists, so it is little wonder that Rapha has chosen Scotland to launch its latest clothing range. There are many ways to explore Scotland but with more than 2000 cycle network routes and a third of these traffic-free, few offer the complete freedom that you get when you take to the road, path or trail on a bicycle. Rapha is a prestigious brand amongst riders and to get its stamp of approval as a cycle destination will no doubt inspire many others to follow in its wake.”
James Fairbank, Central Marketing Director at Rapha, said: “Rapha recently travelled to Scotland for an out-the-door adventure that would test our new Explore collection. It started when five of our riders and wearing testers boarded an overnight sleeper train heading for Fort William. We've experienced incredible scenery and our weekend ended in high spirits, despite a few punctures and some typically varied weather that put our latest Explore collection through the motions.
“Our riders discovered new roads, warmed up in cafes and took in the sights before catching the last train back to London. A location such as Scotland, combined with the freedom that comes with travelling by bike and access to the overnight train, becomes the perfect UK destination.”
For more on cycling tourism go to https://www.visitscotland.org/binaries/content/assets/dot-org/pdf/research-papers/cycling-topic-paper-2017.pdf
Rapha’s feature on the collection and Scotland trip can be found here https://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/stories/rapha-explore-2018
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Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- rapha
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by five overarching strategies: Marketing, Events, Quality and Sustainability, Inclusive Tourism, International Engagement.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
2018 Year of Young People
- The Year of Young People (YoYP 2018) will inspire Scotland through its young people aged 8 to 26, celebrating their achievements, valuing their contributions to communities and creating new opportunities for them to shine locally, nationally and globally
- Central to YoYP 2018 will be a celebratory events programme that puts young people at the heart of its development and delivery, creating new and valuable experiences for young Scots and the wider public, with links to the inaugural 2018 European Championships.
- Over 200 young people throughout Scotland are currently being recruited to become YoYP 2018 Ambassadors. Ambassadors will ensure that people and organisations in their communities know about what’s happening and will lead on projects and activities to create events and opportunities to celebrate young people.
- The Year of Young People will have six themes which were developed in co-production with young people themselves:
- Participation – looking at how young people can influence public services and decisions which affect their lives
- Education – creating a stronger role for young people in shaping their learning
- Health and Wellbeing – supporting young people to lead healthier, active lives and have opportunities to learn about and improve their mental health and resilience
- Equality and Discrimination – broadcasting the value of young Scots, challenging negative perceptions of young people, and supporting young people to take leading roles in challenging discrimination in all its forms.
- Enterprise and regeneration – celebrating young people’s role in innovation, entrepreneurship and the Scottish economy as well as making Scotland a greener and more pleasant place to live
- Culture – celebrating young people’s talent and contribution to Scottish culture and arts.
- Further information on what’s happening and how people can get involved can be found on the new website www.yoyp2018.scot or @YOYP2018 on Twitter.
