Invitation Issued To Experience Huntly
By Experience Huntly on 16/06/2021
An Aberdeenshire town has boosted its appeal with the launch of a new website and app dedicated to promoting local businesses and tourism.
Experience Huntly aims to provide residents and visitors with a wealth of information about Huntly and surrounding area, by promoting local businesses, community groups and activities for all ages.
The app is available for free download, and offers users exclusive deals and access to local events calendars and news, as well as local business and community group directory listings.
The project has been facilitated by funding made available to support towns and villages, following the restrictions and challenges imposed by Covid-19.
Helen Kings, Treasurer of Huntly Business Association, who helped to secure the funding, commented, “The funding that we received from the Phoenix Fund, Scotland's Towns Partnership and Aberdeenshire Charitable Trust Fund has enabled us to build Experience Huntly, which we believe will be a fantastic asset for the community, businesses and visitors alike.”
Businesses and community groups were invited to list on the app for free, with the aim of providing a one stop shop for everything related to living in and visiting Huntly. They are now able to utilise the tool as a real time communication channel with an engaged audience. It is anticipated the app will become the go to hub for relevant and up to date information for the town.
Bill Dean, Managing Director, Deans of Huntly, offered, “The Experience Huntly app and website will be an invaluable resource for Huntly residents, encouraging us to shop local and support our local businesses as everything reopens and we can see some normality returning. We are delighted to support an initiative like Experience Huntly which has such a huge potential to drive positive change for our local economy.”
Laura McNeil, event organiser for the Huntly Hairst added, “For businesses and clubs trying to rebuild coming out of recent restrictions, this is a great tool and I believe it will be beneficial to everyone, together we can make this an excellent opportunity for Huntly. I will be using the Experience Huntly app for Huntly Hairst so that we can have a wider community reach, keep everyone informed about what is happening during the event and post up to date information in real time.”
The project has been led by Experience Huntly’s Marketing Manager, Vivien Rae, who has worked alongside Scottish based app developers Our Community Hub to deliver the project.
As well as coordinating the website and app development, Ms Rae has been encouraging businesses towards participation in shop local initiatives, including the current Fiver Fest promotion which runs from 12 – 26 June, to boost the town centre appeal.
Ms Rae commented, “There has been a fantastic response to Fiver Fest, with over 20 local businesses taking part and an array of shoppers embracing the opportunity to grab a bargain. Within the first day of the promotion launching, businesses were already reporting increased footfall and higher sales. The launch of the app will complement these efforts longer term and really help to showcase what Huntly has to offer.”
Following the app launch, work will carry on to promote engagement in future initiatives, such as Scotland Loves Local Aberdeenshire, supported by Aberdeenshire Council and VisitAberdeenshire, to continue to encourage footfall into the town centre and enhance the tourism appeal of Huntly and surrounding area.
The new app can be downloaded for free from the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Experience Huntly.
For more information about the project and to get involved, contact Vivien at info@experiencehuntly.com