 CONTENTS: Tourism figures published, Visit Wales Summer campaign, Adventure Smart safety campaign, Wales Coast Path app, Wales to host Nitro World Games, Clean Air Day Wales, German speakers needed to welcome cruise ships, Tourism Ambassadors for Wales workshop, North Wales skills survey
Full steam ahead as tourism figures are published
The recently published Tourism figures show a significant increase in the volume and spend of overnight visitors from the rest of Great Britain to Wales during 2018.
Figures for the main official tourism surveys for Wales covering January to December 2018 show a significant rise in domestic visitors and associated spend which was slightly offset by lower numbers of international visitors, although spend by International visitors increased.
There were 10.021 million overnight trips to Wales by GB residents - an 11 per cent increase on the same period last year – and the expenditure in Wales was £1,853 million which was an increase on last year by 13.8 percent. There has been a slight decrease in the volume and expenditure of Tourism Day trips taken in Wales during 2018 compared to the same period last year, with 95.7 million trips taken and related expenditure of £4 billion.
During 2018 there were also 941,000 trips taken in Wales by international visitors and expenditure of £405 million. This was a decrease in the volume of trips by international visitors to Wales (12.8 per cent), however, expenditure by overseas visitors to Wales increased by 9.7 per cent to £405 million.
The figures were published as Deputy Minister for Culture Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis Thomas, officially opened new developments as part of a £2.2 million project in Aberystwyth. The project at Vale of Rheidol Railway has been funded, with EU assistance, through Visit Wales Tourism Attractor Destination programme. The first phase of the project is the opening of a new Edwardian style Great Western heritage Station. The next phase will see the old Aberystwyth terminus site re-developed to include a new booking office and carriage storage shed which will be built to allow the priceless collection of historic railway carriages to be stored in a protected environment and aid their long term conservation.
The Deputy Minister, said: “The domestic market is by far Wales’ most important market and accounts for around 90% of visitors to Wales. It is therefore excellent news that Wales saw such significant increases in spend and increased its share of the domestic market in 2018. Indications from our Easter Wales Tourism Business Barometer also show that this could be a continuing trend into 2019 - as people look to holiday at home.” Read more.
A short film on the tourism figures can be viewed here.
Visit Wales Summer campaign
Our Summer campaign continues with key messaging around inspiration to escaping busy everyday life and exploring the countryside by walking, cycling, mountain biking and encouraging wellness and living ‘in the moment’.
We’ll be providing exciting travel inspiration for readers of The Observer/Guardian, The Times & Sunday Times, Lonely Planet, Secret Escapes and more. There will be key publication adverts as well as out of home advertising across London rail stations and the underground, TV within Wales and Video on Demand throughout the UK. A new radio campaign will air with Scala Radio until mid-August. Be sure to listen out and keep an eye out.
Be Adventure Smart safety campaign
 Rock climbing, a walk in the hills, a family day on the beach, sea kayaking, wild swimming, mountain biking, sailing... the choice of adventure in Wales is almost endless. Whatever the activity, a new safety campaign urges people to ask three simple questions before setting off to help their day stay great and to ensure that they return safe and sound, looking forward to their next adventure:
- Do I have the right gear?
- Do I know what the weather will be like?
- Am I confident I have the knowledge and skills for the day?
The new AdventureSmart.UK website provides guidance to enable people to be correctly kitted up and in the know to stay safe! The website and campaign have been developed by a partnership of 30+ organisations involved in outdoor recreation and they are calling on tourism businesses to help spread the AdventureSmart messages.
Take a look at the business toolkit for help to promote the AdventureSmart messages to your customers and visitors – including a suite of resources (posters/video etc) and ideas for you to use online and in social media. Please use the toolkit and help get visitors out safely enjoying our epic coast and countryside!
New app to connect more people with Wales’ Coast Path
Encouraging people to get outdoors and appreciate the beautiful Welsh landscapes is part of the celebrations to mark seven years of the iconic 870-mile Wales Coast Path.
Thanks to Welsh Government investment, a new sculpture has been commissioned to mark the half-way point of the trail, called ‘Fair Winds and Following Seas’. In addition, a new visitor app is in development and an extra £500,000 has been invested in projects to improve the Coast Path and National Trails, including projects in Welshpool, Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire.
With funding from Visit Wales’ Regional Tourism Engagement Fund (RTEF), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is creating the new augmented reality app, to encourage more people to get outdoors with engaging visuals, informative stories and interactive games. It will also cover a wide range of topics such as local myths and legends, flora and fauna, wildlife, local history, mysterious shipwrecks and surprising facts.
The new sculpture was created by artist David Appleyard and developed in close conversation with the community in New Quay where it is situated. It depicts a bronze deity blowing a kiss into the wind as a symbol of luck for all travellers that pass it.
A toolkit for coastal businesses has been designed to help those organisations market their products and services through the pulling power of the Path and how it can benefit them. The free, easy to use online resource gives businesses access to a wide range of material and information in one place – including logos, news items, posters and videos for use in online and offline marketing and promotion. Read more here.
First Nitro World Games held outside USA to be hosted by Wales
Making the most of our world-class stadium and our exciting capital city, the announcement was recently made that Wales will, next year, be the host of the first Nitro World Games ever to be held outside the USA.
For those unfamiliar with the event, expect a two day festival of high octane extreme sports and stunts on almost anything involving wheels: bikes, skateboards, scooters and more. Event owners, Nitro Circus will stage Nitro World Games Wales 2020 at the Principality Stadium on 23rd and 24th May 2020.
Clean Air Day Wales: 20th June 2019
Clean Air Day, run by the charity Global Action Plan (GAP) is the UK's largest air pollution campaign and the focus for this year is on outdoor air pollution. Welsh Government has partnered with GAP to develop Clean Air Day Wales which provides an opportunity to find out more about air pollution and what action you can take help improve air quality.
We all recognise the key role clean air plays in attracting people to spend time outdoors and explore new places across Wales. Welsh Government is encouraging tourism organisations and businesses across the country to participate in Clean Air Day. There are lots of ways you can get involved including making a pledge, hosting an event or supporting Clean Air Day on Twitter by using the hashtags #cleanairday and #diwrnodaerglân. For further information and free, downloadable resources, please visit the Clean Air Day Wales website.
Can you help welcome German cruise passengers to Wales?
Cruise Wales have several German cruise ships visiting Pembrokeshire this summer and need fluent German speakers to act as Ambassadors to welcome the passengers to the area. If you can spare a few days throughout the summer (expenses will be paid) and would like further information, please email Elaine.Thomas4@gov.wales or l.carswell@gllm.ac.uk. A brief 2 day training course will be provided.
Tourism Ambassadors for Wales: Best Practice and Lessons Learnt workshop, 20 June 9.45am–3.30pm, Imperial Hotel Llandudno
Tourism businesses are invited to this free business workshop - a collaboration between Snowdonia National Park Authority and the Next Tourism Generation Project – which will highlight the benefits to businesses of participating in a tourism ambassador scheme. Benefits include active networking, enhanced communication, improved local product knowledge, advanced digital and customer service skills, business development and better visitor experience. Business ambassadors from across Wales will talk about their unique destination schemes and then group discussions will make recommendations for a pilot programme around Llanberis, Beddgelert and Rhyd Ddu as part of the Snowdon Partnership Plan.
Registration is from 9.45am, the introduction starts at 10.30am and Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, will welcome participants. The day will be hosted by Iwan Thomas, CEO of PLANED. There will also be a networking lunch and exhibitors, including Keep Wales Tidy (Green Key and Blue Flag), Experience Community, Family Holiday Association, Slate Wales, Snowdonia Society, Snowdonia Active and Wales Official Tour Guides Association. For further information and tickets, email Heini Jones or call 02920 416021.
North Wales skills survey
Are you able to recruit and retain people with the right skills for your business? Would you like to be part of changing the skills landscape in the North Wales region? If so, this is your opportunity to have your say by completing this survey here.
As an employer located in the North Wales region, this is your opportunity to share with the North Wales Regional Skills Partnership (RSP) your views about the challenges, issues and opportunities that you have experienced around skills, training and workforce development over the past 12 months, along with your skills needs for the future.
The information that you provide will be used to inform the Skills and Employment Plan for the region, which is used by Welsh Government to determine funding of further education and work based Learning programmes.
The survey will be open until 21 June, 2019 and should you wish to discuss this further please email Sian Lloyd Roberts.
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