With the showcase for the UK motorcycle industry – the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show – fast approaching, one segment of the biking industry is leading the way in terms of growth. The UK’s touring and leisure motorcycle sector has been growing rapidly over the past 12 months, a fact highlighted by the 38% increase in exhibitor space in the ‘Touring and Leisure Zone’ at this year’s Show at the Birmingham NEC (27th October – 5th November). Encouraged in no small way by the publicity generated by Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman’s ‘Long Way Round’ series, touring and leisure bikes and brands are gradually joining the mainstream biking market.
Although not exactly the same model ridden by MacGregor and Boorman, BMW’s 1200GS has sold well so far this year, making it the ninth best selling motorbike of 2006. The ‘Long Way Round Effect’ has in fact been great news for the industry as a whole over the past few years, with year on year sales of ‘adventure motorcycles’ showing exponential growth, according to research by the Motorcycle Industry Association. In the last three years sales have increased by 14% in 2003, 19% in 2004 and 28% in 2005. This area of the industry now accounts for almost 7% of all new motorcycles sold in the UK.
According to Finlay McAllan, Managing Director of the NEC Bike Show organisers MCI Exhibitions, demand for exhibitor space within the Touring & Leisure Zone has also increased year on year:
“It is definitely a growth area – for 2006 we have increased the size of the feature by 38% to accommodate touring and leisure exhibitors – a clear reflection of the ever growing importance of this part of the motorcycle industry and of the rising demand from touring and leisure companies to be part of the Show”
Now in its sixth year, the Touring and Leisure Zone returns bigger than ever to the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show, and is set to be hugely popular once again. Visitors will find a multitude of options to choose from including fly-ride holidays with H-C Travel, tours and package trips to MotoGP and World Superbike races with operators like MCI Tours, and adventure holiday ride outs to the far-flung corners of the globe with top guides such as famed round-the-world adventurer Nick Sanders!
According to Alastair McFarlane of MCI Tours, an established operator in the Touring and Leisure Zone at the NEC Show, the motorcycling fraternity’s thirst for travel and adventure on their bikes is getting bigger and bigger, and the NEC is the perfect place to showcase all of the options available:
“The NEC is now our most important promotional event, providing the opportunity to interface with over 150,000 motorcycle enthusiasts. We are witnessing an unprecedented demand for adventure tourism – the traditional packaged beach tour has now been supplanted by specialist niche operators familiar with the demands of their clientele. In our case that means offering packaged tours based upon the desire to travel by motorcycle. Our 2007 programme includes fly ride holidays to Canada, USA, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, as well as escorted tours in Switzerland, the Pyrenees and the Alps”.
Tickets for the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show are now on sale and the public can take advantage of the fantastic advance prices for both adult (£13) and family tickets (£30). All other tickets are also available in advance either by booking online at the link below or over the phone on 0870 352 2006. Standard ticket prices are £15 for adults, £13 for students, £5 for senior citizens and children between eleven and sixteen, and £35 for a family ticket. Children under the age of eleven are admitted for free.
Related Linkswww.motorcycleshow.co.uk
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