BULLETIN CONTENTS: Future priorities for Tourism in Wales, VisitWales.com refresh, Brexit and comms toolkit, ThisIsMyWales; Discover Wales for Business Events; Research and Insights
Shaping the Future of the Tourism Industry in Wales
At the recent Wales Tourism Summit key stakeholders in the tourism industry discussed the next set of priorities for Tourism in Wales. View a snapshot of the day here and take a look at the presentations and group discussions.
In 2020 our current strategy for tourism called Partnership for Growth, comes to an end and so this is the ideal time to consider progress and plan the way forward – a summary of our achievements can be viewed here . As part of our work towards developing the next set of priorities we want to continue to work with the tourism industry in Wales and the wider visitor economy to explore the challenges and opportunities that face the industry. We want you to help us develop ambitious new ideas for the future and help us to make difficult decisions about how best to focus our resources.
To assist with this, there are 10 questions we are asking you to initially think about as we plan ahead. Your responses will shape the discussion and help us to develop a uniquely Welsh action plan for the future of Tourism. You can find out more here.
So please join in the conversation; start by taking a look at the thought provoking key ten questions in our Let’s Shape the Future document. You don't need to answer all 10 questions but your views are important to us so please provide your feedback here.
To provide your views on any specific topic or issue relating to tourism you can email us on future.tourism@gov.wales.
Please also keep an eye on @VisitWalesBiz twitter and help us engage by sharing and using #FutureWalesTourism
VisitWales.com
The latest version of VisitWales.com was released earlier this week - having been refreshed in design and with new content as part of a programme of continual improvement to our digital marketing approach for the future.
Magazine-like in format and tone, the website is designed to be a platform for showcasing and sharing stories and content - articles, photographs and video - about Wales with our target markets. 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.
You will see ongoing developments being made to the site over the coming months: starting with work to significantly improve the way businesses are able to upload information about your own accommodation, attractions, activities and events onto the website – and making this information much more engaging for our users.
In the meantime, we would also like to remind you, as Easter is approaching, to check your current listing and update your details. We will let you know about new developments to this service very soon. You can also expect to see more enhancements to the website’s functionality, user-experience and content throughout the year.
Get involved with our campaign: This is Wales. Share Yours…
This is Wales. Share yours… our current digital campaign invites the people of Wales to share ‘their Wales’ with the rest of the world and showcase you or your friends /family at those special places that make Wales such an amazing place to live, visit, work and play.
Please get involved by encouraging others and sharing your images of your Wales with us – and tell us what makes it so special to you: Where do you like to spend your weekends in Wales? Where’s your favourite beach, pub or dog walk? Let us know by capturing these special moments in Wales and tag us #thisismywales on Instagram or Pinterest.
We’ll be tracking what’s shared and selecting the best images to use within our digital ads for the next phase of the campaign (subject to your permission). Keep in touch with us on social media and keep an eye out in the press for more news of our campaign. Find out more.
Leaving the EU and communications toolkit
Leaving the EU means a number of changes that will affect businesses and individual citizens and Welsh Government is working hard to protect the interests of Wales. Take a look at the Welsh Government’s website – Preparing Wales – which has information for people living in Wales covering business and the economy, health and social services, education and skills, environment and agriculture, community cohesion, local services and the third sector.
UK Government is also taking steps to ensure people and businesses are prepared for these changes and it has a cross-Government campaign targeting EU travellers to the UK. The campaign aims to:
You can help extend the UK Government’s campaign’s reach by speaking to customers and stakeholders and to help you do this take a look at their communications pack.
Information is also available on the Brexit Portal to help your business mitigate the risks, and identify the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for your business.
Discover Wales for business events
Follow the new Instagram account @meetinwales aimed at promoting Wales as a destination for business events, including meetings, incentives, conferences and team building. The account is targeting potential specialist MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions/Events) clients, media and agencies. The Visit Wales Meet In Wales team are encouraging the industry in Wales who have a product or service relevant for the MICE market to follow the account and spread the word using the #MeetInWales hashtag for any activity relevant to this market.
Tourism research and insights
Visit Wales is performing industry facing surveys during April and May and would strongly encourage and appreciate participation from tourism businesses to strengthen the data collection:
The Tourism Barometer Survey, which is a telephone survey to a random sample of tourism businesses from all sectors, is planned to start fieldwork immediately after Easter on 23 April for around one week.
The 2018 Attraction survey is the collection of visitor numbers to all of Wales’ attractions last year. This telephone/email survey is scheduled to start after the may Bank holiday weekend on 7 May.
The Wales Visitor Survey 2019 will be starting fieldwork after Easter and going on throughout the summer period. We will be interviewing visitors to Wales at attractions and other tourism sites, and will contact site managers to arrange fieldwork dates.
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