CONTENTS: Tourism Business Barometer findings, World Travel Market registration, Tourism Careers campaign, Chartist Tower development, Working Wales service.
Excellent Easter gives confidence for summer ahead
Initial findings from the Wales Tourism Business Barometer, reports that 85% of tourism businesses surveyed saw an increase or maintained their visitor levels over Easter.
The late Easter was a boost for the industry with one third of those seeing an increase in businesses citing this as a positive factor, in comparison with an earlier Easter in 2018. Of those who had increased visitor numbers, 39% reported ‘better weather’ as the most common reason and the vast majority (85%) of operators are confident for the summer.
Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “It’s of course excellent news that the industry are reporting a good Easter and are confident for the summer ahead. And while things are looking positive for the industry, we’re planning ahead and looking at how we can improve further still.
“At the Wales Tourism Summit I launched a conversation on what comes next for tourism in Wales, as the current strategy “Partnership for Growth” draws to a close in 2020. To start this process, we’re asking 10 big questions which will help to develop our priorities for the Visitor Economy. We want to hear the views of anyone who has an interest, whether you are a visitor, part of the tourism industry or indeed anyone who lives in Wales.
“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”. Deadline for responses is 31 May and the 10 questions can be found here.
A more detailed Easter Wales Tourism Business Barometer report will follow on the 17th and this evidence will be used for informing the development of the action plan. Read more.
World Travel Market (WTM), 4-6 November 2019 - register by 10 June
Interested in promoting your business to the international travel trade including tour operators and travel agents? Join us at World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, taking place 4-6 November 2019 at ExCel in London.
Exhibiting at World Travel Market provides a unique opportunity to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business with more than 50,000 international travel professionals, from more than 38 sectors of the travel industry. We’ve secured space for the Wales partners on the UKinbound stand, which is in a prime location at the front of the UK and Ireland Hall.
Discounted rates are now available for a partner pod (subsidy of 50% off stand participation costs for Welsh tourism suppliers, subject to de minimis regulation):
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Standard Partner Pod - £2,625 + VAT, if granted 50% subsidy, subject to de minimis aid regulation (full pod cost is £5,250 + VAT)
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Premium Partner Pod (Pods 1 & 2) towards the front of the stand - £2,965 + VAT, if granted 50% subsidy, subject to de minimis aid regulation (full pod cost is £5,930 + VAT)
Find out full details and how to secure your place. To secure your pod, please register by 10th June 2018. Partner pods are limited and are available on a first come first served basis. For further information email Tracey Rogers or call 0300 0616093
Wales Tourism Week – Sat 11- Sun 19 May: #TourismCareers / #GyrfaoeddTwristiaeth
 As part of our continuing work to change the perceptions of careers in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Visit Wales is working with Careers Wales to link businesses with schools in order to raise awareness among young people, teachers and parents of the career opportunities within the industry.
During Wales Tourism Week we are asking businesses and schools to get involved in our social media campaign on @VisitWalesBiz and @CroesoCymruBus using #TourismCareers and #GyrfaoeddTwristiaeth to share experiences of working together.
Look out for our tweets sharing films and case studies and also please tweet your own experiences using #TourismCareers and #GyrfaoeddTwristiaeth. Even if you don’t have a school related story feel free to tweet any good news stories relating to careers in our industry.
Find out more about Wales Tourism week and you can register your own event with Wales Tourism Alliance here. Don’t forget to also use #walestourismweek and #wythnosdwristiaethcymru to share updates and pictures on social media throughout the week.
£2m to help transform the Chartist Tower into a high quality hotel development
The tallest building in Newport – The Chartist Tower - has received an injection of Welsh Government funding as work continues to transform it into a four-star hotel.
The £2 million package is a mix of grant and loan funding from Visit Wales and the Welsh Government’s Targeted Regeneration Investment programme, which will provide £100m of capital support across Wales over three years for regeneration projects.
Work is underway to transform the building into a 4 star Mercure branded hotel with 154 beds, gym, sauna, breakfast room and roof top restaurant with city-wide views.
The refurbishment of the building is a pivotal development in the next phase of sustainable investment and regeneration for Newport, and is ideally placed to capitalise on business tourism associated with the opening of the new international convention centre ICC Wales.
The project will create 45.5 new jobs and assist a further 15 with a view to being open during summer 2019. The tower development will also include a lower retail floor, leisure and office space, as well as a roof top restaurant on the 15th floor. Read more.
New Working Wales service launched to help more people into work
A new service providing simpler support for individuals looking to get into work has been launched by the Welsh Government.
‘Working Wales’, delivered by Careers Wales, aims to provide a simpler approach to employability support by providing individuals with a single point of contact through which they can access the personalised, expert advice and training they need to find and maintain good, long-term employment. Read more.
Stay up to date with tourism and skills news
Make sure you stay up to date by following us on twitter on @VisitWalesBiz . You can also catch up with news on the Tourism pages of the Welsh Government website and find out more about support for improving skills in tourism here.
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