Outdooractive
Visit Herefordshire Outdooractive App
As part of our ongoing work to develop the Visit Herefordshire consumer brand, HCBID has launched a new app to help visitors explore more of the County and discover local businesses along the way. The app has been delivered in partnership with Outdooractive, the world-leading outdoor platform used by over 60 million people globally. The Visit Herefordshire app supports visitors to have new experiences and visit businesses along the way.
HCBID’s partnership with Outdooractive will drive footfall to local businesses by combining our Visit Herefordshire content with Outdooractive’s advanced mapping technology. This gives visitors accurate routes, interactive maps, accessibility information and the ability to discover your business when it’s most relevant.
Who Are Outdooractive?
Outdooractive (www.outdooractive.com) is the leading digital platform for outdoor activities and tourism, bringing together a global audience of 60 million active consumers alongside over 8,000 industry experts, including tourism organisations, mountain guides, and trail managers, to provide reliable route suggestions and make officially recognised outdoor and destination content easily accessible.
Outdooractive helps outdoor enthusiasts enjoy their experiences in nature to the fullest with its comprehensive web and app features as well as unique routing technology, from ambitious hikers to casual walkers, from weekend mountain bikers to professional riders. For tourism organisations, Outdooractive offers a unique full-service digital platform to help understand and manage trail mapping, visitor management, digital marketing, enhance accessibility, and support responsible tourism. For brands wishing to connect with active consumers, Outdooractive delivers a range of content and engagement marketing opportunities.
Outdooractive is “Europe’s largest digital outdoor platform” with over 60 million active consumers worldwide. This gives Visit Herefordshire international reach without the cost of building an equivalent platform yourself.
- Advanced Mapping, Routing & Trail Management Technology. A unique routing engine adapts to activity type (walking, mountain biking, road cycling, canoeing etc. and provides terrain, elevation and difficulty insights giving us Trail management, visitor flow insights, footfall heat‑maps and accessibility layers.
- Strong Destination Branding & Full Integration With Visit Herefordshire website. The Visit Herefordshire app is fully branded and free for users, removing barriers to adoption
- Powerful Marketing & Content Distribution. Content is distributed through Outdooractive’s partner network, driving increased visibility for Herefordshire’s routes and businesses. This is not just technology it’s a marketing engine that promotes the whole County and drives real visitor engagement.
- Outdooractive content encourages longer stays and wider rural engagement
About The App
Free to download, the app brings together the very best of Herefordshire in one easy-to-use place. Showcasing Herefordshire routes, landscapes, villages, attractions, and Points of Interest (POIs), all supported by Outdooractive’s advanced mapping technology. Providing visitors with accurate, interactive maps, high-quality route guidance, and a modern, reliable digital experience.
You can see this mapping technology in action on one of our walking routes here: Ramble on the Wye.
The app connects directly with VisitHerefordshire.co.uk, ensuring consistency, branding conformity and accuracy across platforms.
Download Here
See the Mapping Technology in Action on the Visit Herefordshire Website
You can see this mapping technology in action on one of our North Cider Circuit walking routes in the image below (click the image to go directly to the page).
The app connects directly with the Visit Herefordshire website, ensuring consistency and accuracy across platforms. The same content also appears across the wider Outdooractive platform, extending reach beyond the app itself.
Visitors can:
- Explore curated walking, cycling and driving routes
- Discover nearby businesses and attractions
- Save favourites and plan days out with ease
Benefits For Visitors
Designed to make exploring Herefordshire easier, richer and more enjoyable, the app draws directly from Visit Herefordshire and showcases:
- Beautifully curated walking and cycling routes
- Easy discovery of nearby cafés, pubs, shops, venues and attractions
- High-quality route information, imagery and guidance
- A modern, reliable and accessible digital guide
- Trusted mapping technology from Outdooractive
By making it easier for visitors to plan their time here, the app encourages longer stays, repeat visits and deeper engagement with local businesses and destinations.
Why This Matters for Your Business
This project strengthens rural tourism and helps visitors discover local businesses while they’re already out exploring Herefordshire. By linking routes directly with nearby Points of Interest, the app helps turn outdoor activity into real visits, whether that’s stopping for food and drink, visiting an attraction, shopping locally or extending a stay. This is a free promotional opportunity to increase visibility with both domestic and international visitors across the Visit Herefordshire app and the wider Outdooractive platform. If you already have a Visit Herefordshire listing, you’re well on your way.
Points of Interest (POIs): How to Be Included
Only businesses with an active listing on the Visit Herefordshire website can appear as POIs on the app. This ensures data accuracy and automatic updates across Visit Herefordshire, the app and the Outdooractive platform. If your listing isn’t live or up to date, now is the time to act to make the most of this opportunity:
- Check your Visit Herefordshire listing is live and up to date
- Use the promotional assets to encourage visitors to find and engage with your business
Taking these simple steps will help maximise your visibility and turn exploration into footfall.
Marketing Assets to Support the Launch
To help you promote the app to your customers, we’ve created a set of ready-to-use marketing assets for businesses.
- ‘Download the App’ graphics for your website
- ‘Find Us on Outdooractive’ badge – We recommend adding the badge to your website with a link to the Outdooractive page on Visit Herefordshire
- The ‘Visit Herefordshire App’ logo to use on your social media posts
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Is the Visit Herefordshire app free to download? Yes. The Visit Herefordshire app is completely free to download and use on both Android and iOS. Visitors who already use or subscribe to Outdooractive can also access all Visit Herefordshire content directly within the Outdooractive app.
- How does my business appear in the app? Businesses appear in the app as Points of Interest (POIs). POIs must have a Visit Herefordshire directory listing that is active and up-to-date to be included as a POI.
- I already have a Visit Herefordshire listing — do I need to do anything? If your listing is active, you’re already well placed. We recommend:
- Checking your details are accurate and up to date
- Making sure images, opening times and contact information are current
- What types of businesses can appear as Points of Interest? A wide range of visitor-facing businesses can appear as POIs, including:
- Cafés, pubs and restaurants
- Accommodation providers
- Attractions and experiences
- Shops and artisan producers
- Cultural and heritage sites
- How will the app help drive footfall to my business? The app links routes with nearby Points of Interest, helping visitors discover places to stop, visit, eat or stay while they’re already out exploring Herefordshire. This means your business can appear:
- Along walking, cycling or driving routes
- When visitors are nearby and looking for places to go
- It supports real, in-the-moment discovery as well as advanced planning.
- Will my business also appear on Outdooractive, not just the Visit Herefordshire app? Yes. Visit Herefordshire content also appears across the wider Outdooractive platform, including Outdooractive.com and the Outdooractive app, extending your reach beyond a single channel.
- Does the app work in rural areas with poor mobile signal? Yes. The app uses offline-capable mapping, meaning visitors can still follow routes and view information even in areas with limited or no mobile signal, particularly important in rural parts of the County.
- Is there a cost for my business to be included? No. Appearing as a Point of Interest within the app is a free promotional opportunity for businesses with an active Visit Herefordshire listing.
- How do I update or create a Visit Herefordshire listing? You can update or create your listing via the Visit Herefordshire website.
- What marketing assets are available to help promote the app? We’ve created a set of ready-to-use assets for businesses. These can be added to your website or digital channels to encourage customers to download the app. including:
- “Download the App” graphics for your website
- “Find Us on Outdooractive” badges
- Visit Herefordshire App logo for social media posts
- When will the app be officially launched to the public? The app is live now, and the public launch will take place at the end of January 2026.
