Attracting Cyclists To Your Holiday Home

Cycling as a form of transport and as a recreational past-time has, arguably, never been more popular, so ways of attracting cyclists to your holiday home can be the key to unlock a large and growing market.

Cycling has always been popular in the UK but has soared recently with historic successes in the Tour de France and medals in the Olympics. Also, more and more local authorities are building cycle lanes and cycle-friendly roads so the amount of people looking to take their cycling on holiday with them is growing. Here are a few ideas to make your holiday home the sort of place any cyclist would be glad to stay, from the serious sportsperson to the casual recreational cyclist.

Storage Space

Somewhere to securely store at least a couple of bike is a minimum requirement if you are to attract cyclists to your holiday home. There are plenty of space-saving, clever ideas and devices available to store bicycles with prices to fit most budgets. An outside, covered and lockable space like a shed or purpose-built bike shelter is, of course, ideal but there are many options for inside your home that are less expensive and easy to install.

Publicise the best cycling routes near your holiday home

It is a good idea to start by promoting the available cycling routes to your guests. This can be part of your welcome pack. However, to attract cyclists in the first place it should be in your marketing materials. If possible, put pictures of local cycle paths and the views guests can see from them up on your website.

It is a good idea to rate the various routes in terms of their difficulty and type. Let your guests know what to expect. Include as much detail as possible with distances for round trips and to the nearest sites of interest. Local coffee shops are always appreciated by cyclists, so remember to include cafes in your information too.

It is a little extra effort but the care you show will be truly appreciated by cyclists. If a guest is looking to simply roll around and take in the views, they will appreciate being warned off the hard climbs and hair-raising descents. The thrill seekers on the other hand will be pleased to be able to head straight for the more exciting terrain and test their skills.

A wet area and washing and drying facilities

If there is room in your holiday home, it is a good idea to create a wet area. Even in the summer, in the UK, cycling can be a messy business. A dedicated area to shed soaked and dirty outer layers and cycling gear is a real gift to cyclists. If you already have such an area, be sure to feature this in your publicity.

Tools

It is also a good idea, for not much of an outlay to provide some basic universal tools just in case your guests have forgotten something or have come unprepared for whatever reason. Keep a universal spanner, an adjustable wrench, a universal bike pump, a puncture repair kit and some tyre levers in your holiday home. This will probably go unnoticed and unused most of the time but that one time it is needed could make a huge difference to someone’s stay. You could save them a lot of time tracking down what they need in the local area and going to get it without their bike. This sort of extra thought is what makes for returning guests and repeat bookings.

If there are any local bike shops, which also provide bike repairs and maintenance, then this could be valuable information for any cyclists staying at your holiday home. In addition, guests may want to hire bikes if it’s not practical to bring their own, so provide any relevant local information about bike hire too.

Provide bikes for your guests

Alternatively, you could provide bikes yourself. This means you have to take responsibility for their maintenance to high safety standards and any repairs. Keep an accurate, documented record of any maintenance or repairs you do and a photographic record of the state of the bikes before guests take up their tenancy.

If you do provide bikes, you will need to check with your insurance cover can be extended to include the liabilities associated with this. Or you could take out separate insurance to make sure you are covered.

Helmets and safety gear

Providing a few adjustable helmets is also a good idea, particularly if you are providing bikes at your holiday home. They should be tested to sufficient safety standards and be Snell, CE or ANSI approved. Hang them somewhere prominent. You could also include some high-viz sashes or tabards and don’t forget to provide lights if you are providing the bikes. You might want to place some signs encouraging your guests to use them.

It is also important that your guests understand that they are using the bikes and/or safety gear at their own risk. You cannot predict their level of competency or experience at cycling.

Road Use Information

A copy of the highway code for cyclists is a useful addition to your welcome pack or send the link to the government website in an introductory email in your post-booking correspondence with your guests.

Appeal to cycling fans

Cycling is also a very popular spectator sport. If any cycling tours or events are passing through areas close to your holiday home, then be sure to promote this to potential guests.

These small steps should go some way to making your holiday home that bit more attractive to cyclists and hopefully open up a large and growing market for your holiday home.

This is a marketing article from My Holiday Home Insurance, a specialist provider of insurance for holiday homes, leisure homes, holiday lodges and static caravans. Our team of experienced advisers are always happy to help, so for more information call our Northampton office on freephone 0800 988 0890.

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