Expedia and Trip Advisor to display official ratings
Many of you will already
be working with and promoting your availability through the Online Travel
Agents. To support that, Visit Wales has agreed with both Trip Advisor and Expedia to display official Visit Wales ratings on their websites.
This demonstrates the
importance that both Trip Advisor and Expedia place on official ratings and
will bring added value to Welsh product on global platforms.
As well as being
displayed on visitwales.com your data reaches a wider audience through our
partnership with TOMTOM and HERE, who integrate Welsh product into their
location based data solutions that display on the systems of 22 large
commercial organisations.
Visit Wales will continue
to explore opportunities to promote its grading schemes and
products to as many platforms as it can. Find out more about the Visit Wales grading schemes.
Visit Wales website
The visitwales.com
website receives over 5 million hits per year. Although the website is
not a booking engine, there are over 1 million people specifically searching
for information on accommodation, attractions, activities and events. You may therefore wish to link your
entry to a booking agent which can be done by contacting your data partner or
emailing Suzanne Rudall
Please also take a few minutes to review your entry on the website to check:
·
Description – is this up-to-date and accurate?
·
Photos – are they correct and up-to-date? Do you have interior and
exterior photos?
·
Are your contact details correct?
·
Your own website – does your entry link to your own website?
If
you need to discuss or update your details, please contact your data partner or Quality Adviser.
Complaints
From time to time
Visit Wales receives complaints about graded accommodation in Wales and part of
our role is to seek a satisfactory resolution though engagement with the
complainant and the business.
We have produced a factsheet for
businesses with information and advice on how to deal with tourism complaints.
Improper use of
Visit Wales and old Wales Tourist Board grading signage
The
majority of tourism businesses abide by the regulations and only display
correct and up-to-date information at their properties and on their own and
third-party websites.
However, we are aware
that there a minority that continue to display outdated signage and/or
references to Visit Wales grading on websites when not entitled to do so.
Displaying such
references is not only unfair to other businesses and misleading to potential
guests but is also an offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading
Regulations 2008.
Visit Wales will investigate
and does pass on any relevant information to Trading Standards.
If you come across any
businesses using the Visit Wales logo that aren't entitled to use it please
report it in confidence to 0845 010 8020 or email quality.tourism@wales.gsi.gov.uk.
Disabled
Access Day, 10-12 March
With just two weeks to go, this year’s Disabled
Access Day will run across three days from 10 – 12 March. The day was created
to celebrate good access and create opportunities for people to try something
new. It also highlights the great access
that already exists in places, such as touch tours, relaxed performances,
sensory experiences and level access. Find out
more and see how you can get involved.
If
you are planning an outdoor event for #AccessDay that could be affected by the
weather, you might have to plan carefully and deliver it in a slightly
different way, but it is still possible to make it fully inclusive. Read some top tips here.
Inclusive
tourism, promoting access for all in West Wales – 9 March, Theatr Mwldan,
Cardigan
Linking in with the nationwide Disabled Access
Day campaign, Theatr Mwldan is holding a free event focussing on the
opportunities surrounding Inclusive Tourism in West Wales to extend the main
tourist season and to open more diverse opportunities for tourism providers to
develop new markets and social networks throughout the community. Find out more.
Montgomery
Canal adapted boat trip
Another organisation linking in with the Disabled
Access Day campaign is the Heulwen Trust which runs two canal boats which have
been adapted for some impairments and they are running a free boat trip on the
Montgomery Canal from Welshpool at 12.00 for a two-hour trip on Sunday
12th March. Find out more and to book email info@heulwentrust.co.uk.
Don't miss out - follow us on twitter
Make sure you stay
up-to-date with our very latest news by following us on twitter on @VisitWalesBiz
Owner of a tourism business?
Please ensure your
details are correct and up-to-date on the tourism product database. Click here to find out how.
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