THE family behind a landscaping business on the outskirts of York has diversified with a new venture to target a growing trend in cycling tourism.

After more than 30 years running Trevor Smith Landscaping, the Smith family has set up a second business, transforming unused land into a holiday park for cyclists.

York Holiday & Cycle Stop, at Holtby, features accommodation in the form of eco-pods, with accompanying secure cycle storage, and other cycle specific facilities including a bike wash and route map service.

Located on both the Way Of The Roses and Route 66 cycling routes, Trevor Smith and his son Ben are hoping the venture will capitalise on the UK’s cycling market, which has seen ten per cent year-on-year growth, and is expected to hit the £3 billion mark this year.

They hope to play a part in the 20 million overnight cycle tourism trips taken every year within Europe, which have an estimated economic impact of €44 billion.

Ben Smith said: “The concept of providing cycling specific pods will alleviate the need for cyclists to have to carry and pitch tents and instead offer a similar experience but at a more affordable price than with self-catering, B&Bs or hotels.

“This interest in cycling at a local level is visible in the local York area specifically around the east of York close to our premises by the increased traffic on local and national cycle routes mainly Route 66 and Way Of The Roses.

“As keen cyclists ourselves we have noticed this popularity of cycling and the lack of specific accommodation in the area for these long-distance cyclists to stay overnight.

“The whole idea of the site is as accommodation for everyone, but we are targeting cyclists, with lots of cycling-specific facilities.

“We are a landscaping business but we have diversified and set this up as a different venture.

“We have seen glamping is a big growth area, but there’s nobody specifically catering for cyclists.”

The venture was set up ahead of last weekend’s Tour de Yorkshire, and has already seen bookings as a result of the event.

As well as Trevor and Ben, the business was set up with support from Trevor’s daughter Chloe, who helped secured planning permission for the site, though she has since relocated to New Zealand.