Harrogate pioneers new Instagram 'wall' to capture Tour excitement

Hot off the back of this year's Tour de Yorkshire, Visit Harrogate is already looking to 2019, and the UCI Road Cycling World Championships which is now less than 500 days away.
Thrilling times - Flashback to 2014 when the Tour de France came to Harrogate's town centre.Thrilling times - Flashback to 2014 when the Tour de France came to Harrogate's town centre.
Thrilling times - Flashback to 2014 when the Tour de France came to Harrogate's town centre.

This week they put out the call for the people of Harrogate district to get involved and show the world how Harrogate welcomes a global sporting event.

Visit Harrogate is the first UK destination marketing agency to integrate UGC (User Generated Content) technology into their website to capture and harness the power of social media imagery from the user’s perspective.

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In their new Tour Wall they celebrate the uniquely Yorkshire welcome global sporting events receive, and begin preparations for the UCI World Championships in September 2019.

Richard Spencer, chief executrve of Visit Harrogate, said: “The Tour Wall shows the full visitor experience, not just the race but the carnival atmosphere, warm Yorkshire humour, and stunning settings.

He said: "We know that Yorkshire crowds, and Harrogate in particular will get into the spirit of the UCI Worlds in a way that has probably never been seen before. This is the perfect time to start showing that to the world.”

Visit the Tour Wall on www.visitharrogate.co.uk/tour-wall and share your images to Instagram using #VHTourWall, or email them using the link on the Tour Wall webpage.

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Yorkshire 2019 CEO, Andy Hindley, commented: "The Tour Wall was a fantastic addition to this year's Tour de Yorkshire social media coverage. Harrogate will be the focal point of the UCI Road World Championships in September next year, which Yorkshire 2019 are tasked with organising. We are looking forward to working with Visit Harrogate to develop our interaction with fans, residents and businesses in the town and surrounding area."

As well as the Tour Wall Visit Harrogate will be delivering a creative UGC campaign to showcase the best of the district from the visitor’s perspective under #myHarrogate hashtag, and will be using UGC at the centre of their campaign activities from now on.

Richard Spencer sees this new channel as key to Visit Harrogate’s goals. He said: “We curate our lives through our phones. This software allows us to amplify positive stories that residents and visitors capture create and share, whether it be a gallery of best views, photos from specific events or festivals, or even the best food and drink photos. "We want to nurture a sense of pride in Harrogate, as a photo is worth a thousand words.”