Aviemore to be hub for cycle conference

THE Scottish Government will be setting out its vision for one its fastest-growing sectors at a conference in Aviemore.

The Scottish Mountain Bike Conference 2018 gets under way in Aviemore today and delegates will be told the sport generates more than £257m annually for the economy.

Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet secretary for tourism, will provide a perspective on how mountain biking is helping the Scottish Government achieve a range of targets in her keynote speech.

The conference will be looking at the future of mountain biking in Scotland and there will be consultation on the new national strategy from 2019 to 2025.

The blueprint, currently out for public consultation, to make the country the European home of mountain biking and to grow the sector to £408 million per annum.

Other aims include increasing mountain bike visitor numbers to two million per annum and Scots to be world champions in every discipline by 2025.

Ms Hyslop said: "Mountain biking is an important contributor to Scotland's tourism industry – and a rapidly growing sector that presents real opportunities for our economy.

"This sector is very important to our economy and to our vision of a Scotland where more people are more active, more often.

"That is why we backed Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland with £50,000 funding in November 2017 to help oversee the implementation of the national strategic framework for mountain biking. We are committed to continuing our work to attract world-class sporting events to Scotland including mountain biking events."

The conference Future Proofing the Trail Ahead at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort runs until Saturday.

* Visit www.dmbins.com/conference for more details.