Archive for Outdoor PR

After revelations about drug taking the reputation of Tour de France cyclist Lance Armstrong is on the floor – literally.

Disgruntled cyclists have helped create an art installation in a Newcastle bike shop using pages from donated Lance Armstrong books as a floor covering.

We’ve written before about the dangers of brands sponsoring high profile sports stars, but we loved this example of turning a negative into a PR opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

Good news for the sector as a new survey reveals that two-thirds of Brits plan to holiday at home this summer.

The research by budget hotel operator Travelodge has revealed that almost two thirds (65%) of us will be spending our summer holiday on home turf this year, offering a potential boost to the outdoor sports and leisure sectors.

The survey of 3,000 British adults found that despite last summer’s bad weather, the majority were not looking to go abroad to sunnier climes this year. Instead, there was a 24% rise in the number looking to save money and remain in the UK for their annual break with a predicted boost of £12bn to the economy. Read the rest of this entry »

About 20% of outdoor retailers favour the introduction of charges for boot fitting according to a survey undertaken by OCC Outdoor.

The magazine has reported that retailers see it as one way of stemming the increasing frequency with which customers, having availed themselves of the boot fitter’s expertise, then go and buy elsewhere.

Although the majority of retailers believe such a move would prove impractical, findings revealed that a number have already given serious thought to introducing them. The survey further confirmed that footwear sales have become increasingly important to outdoor retailers over the past three years and on average account for 35% of total turnover. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost two thirds of hospitality and leisure businesses expect to create new jobs this year.

The Barclays Job Creation Survey 2013 has revealed that 61% of companies in the sector expect to take on new staff in 2013, up from 55% last year.

In further positive news for the industry, the majority (77%) are not planning on making any job losses over the next 12 months.

Half of all the hospitality and leisure businesses surveyed, including hotels, restaurants, pubs and bars, state that they are interested in hiring ex-public sector workers, this is consistent with last year (2012: 51%) and compares favourably to the business landscape as a whole, where 57% of businesses across all sectors state they do not want to hire ex-public sector workers. Read the rest of this entry »

The anniversary of the 1932 Kinder Scout Great Trespass is to be marked with an annual ‘Spirit of Kinder’ day.

Last year saw the 80th anniversary of the trespass being marked by a successful series of commemorative events.

The Kinder & High Peak Advisory Group has announced that the first Spirit of Kinder Day will take place on April 27th, three days after the 81st anniversary

Many believe the freedom to go walking on the mountains in England and the creation of national parks came about because the access movement was galvanised by the trespass, particularly as there was much public sympathy for five trespassers jailed for riotous assembly. Read the rest of this entry »

Tourism expenditure in the UK increased by £9bn during 2012 – a 6.9% jump from £125bn to £134bn.

According to the Tourism Alliance’s 2013 Tourism Statistics Review, the £9bn increase was sufficient to generate 180,000 new jobs for the UK economy – over one third of all additional jobs generated in the UK last year.

Speaking at the launch of the report at the Houses of Parliament in mid-March Tourism Alliance chair Michael Hirst said: “This strong increase in tourism expenditure comes despite the disruption in tourism flows associated with hosting the Olympics and the fact that 2012 was the second wettest year on record.

“The overwhelming success of hosting the Olympics and the likelihood of a better summer this year means that tourism expenditure in 2013 should produce another record year. Read the rest of this entry »

Dutch scientists have found that long periods of walking could actually be better for you than high intensity exercise.

Researchers from Maastricht University in Holland found that low intensity exercise improves insulin sensitivity and blood lipid levels at a better rate than an hour long, high octane workout, according to a study published in journal PLOS ONE. These levels are indicators of diabetes and obesity.

The scientists split 18 young adults aged 19 to 24 into three groups – one sat for 14 hours doing no exercise, the second sat for 13 hours but did an hour of vigorous exercise, and the final group sat for six hours, walked for four and stood for two. Read the rest of this entry »

The Cycle to Work scheme continues to boom according to the latest market figures.

The biggest providers of the scheme have calculated a 7.95 overall increase in the numbers taking up Cycle to Work in 2012, compared with 2011.

The Cycle to Work Alliance (Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycles and Halfords) said that 2012 saw over 86,000 new cyclists commuting to work by bike, exceeding the comparative figure for 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

UK hotels enjoyed a ‘solid’ 2012 but expectations for 2013 are low.

Hotels in London and the regions enjoyed increases in revenue per available room (RevPAR) during 2012 despite no noticeable recovery in consumer or business confidence.

UK hotels enjoyed a ‘solid’ 2012 but prospects are modest for the year ahead, according to figures released by PKF.

According to a report on leisure industry website Big Hospitality, new figures released by the hotel consultancy team at PKF show RevPAR grew by 3.5% in the capital last year and by 0.5% in the provinces. Read the rest of this entry »

With the festive season behind us and New Year’s resolutions made, it’s time to turn our attention to the year ahead.

As we all know 2012 was the year of the double dip recession, stagnant consumer confidence and Olympic glory for Team GB.

None of us knows what’s in store for 2013. But we thought you’d be interested to hear the predictions of several key commentators and trend watchers. So here’s our round-up of their top predictions for 2013.

Happy New Year. Don’t forget to give us a call in if there’s any aspect of your public relations or brand communications we can help with. Read the rest of this entry »