Tourism leaders gather for Wales Tourism Summit -
Conversation launched on the future of tourism and £50m Wales Tourism Investment Fund announced
More than 100 tourism leaders from the private, public and third sector convened at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells on Thursday March 28 for the Wales Tourism Summit 2019.
During the summit, Deputy Minister for Culture Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas launched a conversation about what tourism in Wales will look like in the future. As the current tourism strategy, Partnership for Growth, draws to a close, the summit was an opportunity to reflect on achievements and look at challenges and opportunities which face the industry in the future.
Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “A great deal has been achieved through working in partnership with the industry through the last strategy, but today, I’ll start a conversation to ask, what can we do better and what will the visitor economy look like in 10 years’ time?
“Over the next few months, we want to work with the industry in order to shape the priorities for the future, we want to hear from the tourism sector and the many other people who have an interest in the wider visitor economy, to think about the big questions ahead and the challenges we face.”
Delegates at the tourism summit were introduced to 10 questions which will start the conversation.
The Deputy Minister announced to summit delegates the creation of a £50 million Wales Tourism Investment Fund in partnership with the Development Bank for Wales. This is one of three new funds totalling £121 million announced by Economy Minister, Ken Skates, earlier this week.
Speaking ahead of the Summit, the Deputy Minister said: “Our ability to market Wales to new and ever-changing markets globally is wholly reliant on having a great story to tell – and part of that includes investing in experiences and places that defines Wales’ and appeal to future visitors.
“It remains vital that we continue to work with private sector investors to ensure we are continually improving the product offer in Wales. The Wales Tourism Investment Fund will allow us to continue to support the high number of very exciting proposed developments in every part of Wales.”
In conclusion, the Deputy Minister, said; “It is true that we are in uncharted waters and the climate is a challenging one but Wales is equal to the challenge and we can plan for the future together. Today is the first step, to listen to what people have to say before we develop an action plan around our tourism priorities. We’d like views on how we shape the vitally important visitor economy of Wales. Together we can shape new ways of developing tourism for the years ahead.” Read more here.
Help us to develop the next set of priorities for tourism in Wales. You can find out more, take a look at the ten key questions and join in the conversation by providing your feedback here .
Keep an eye out for further information from the Wales Tourism Summit 2019, including a short film of the day and the presentations, by following us on twitter at @VisitWalesBiz.
Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF)
The Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF) announced by the Deputy Minister at the Wales Tourism Summit, will be launched in April 2019. The £50m fund, which is a mix of £40m commercial repayable finance and £10m grant, will be administered by a partnership of the Development Bank of Wales (DBW) and the Welsh Government (‘WG’) Tourism team.
The fund will bring together both commercial and grant funding into one combined package of financial support to provide capital investment for the sector and will help finance capital investment in tourism projects which have the opportunity to create positive impact on growing the sector and Welsh economy. WTIF will support eligible capital projects which will enhance the tourism offering of Wales by supporting the strategy for the sector set out by Welsh Government.
The fund includes a two stage application process. The first stage includes an Expression of Interest form and if successful at this stage, the business will then be invited to make a full application.
Information about the Wales Tourism Investment Fund (WTIF) and some Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.
VisitWales.com – Visit Wales website refresh
During the Wales Tourism Summit 2019, it was announced that the Visit Wales website has been refreshed in design and with new content as part of a programme of continual improvement and digital marketing approach for the future. Throughout the day our tourism partners were invited to take a look at the site and share their thoughts before the refreshed site goes live next week.
The new version of VisitWales.com aims to provide users with a much more immersive and rich experience than previous versions of the website and its structure is informed by in-depth user-testing throughout the development process. Magazine-like in format and tone, it is designed to be a platform for showcasing and sharing outstanding, engaging stories and content - articles, photographs and video - about Wales with the world. The website also includes a much improved and simplified ‘Search’ function, which enables users to search for all articles and product listings relating to a topic or a place in Wales.
A website is never finished and you can expect to see continual improvements being made to the site over the coming months. Our primary focus is to significantly improve the way listings about specific businesses – accommodation providers, attractions, activities and events – appear on the website, linking these more effectively to the host of articles featured. Further information about how industry can get involved will be shared with you soon. You can also expect to see more enhancements to the website’s functionality, user-experience and content throughout the year.
With Easter approaching we encourage you to check your current listing and update your details. Further information around the future enhanced database features and how you can improve your listing will follow soon.
BREXIT – keep up to date
Make sure your business is prepared and keep up to date. Take a look at our Brexit web pages for useful links to information from Business Wales and Welsh Government which will help your business and people living in Wales be ready for Brexit.
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