* Pontcysyllte Aqueduct may be a first port of call for high-end tour itineraries.
A major international campaign has been
launched to attract high-spending overseas visitors to North Wales after the
easing of Covid restrictions.
One of the aims of the multi-lingual drive by North
Wales Tourism is ensure that travellers from abroad can enjoy a
warm Welsh welcome and information in their own languages.
Among the countries being targeted are European
nations like Germany, Spain and France along with visitors from Japan, China
and India.
As part of the campaign North Wales Tourism is
going to be building on existing ties with Japan that were forged though the
twinning of Conwy and Himeji castles in 2019.
Meanwhile, India is seen as an emerging market with
huge potential to attract wealthy travellers
One of the centrepieces of the push will be
high-end tour itineraries to see some of the region’s most spectacular
highlights.
The stops will include the UNESCO World Heritage
sites of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the Norman castles in Conwy and Caernarfon and
the newly-crowned Slate Landscapes of North West Wales
The campaign is being funded by the Welsh
Government’s tourism arm, Visit Wales.
The Welsh Government’s Economy Minister, Vaughan
Gething MS, said: “It’s been an extremely challenging time for the visitor
economy and especially so for businesses who rely on overseas
visitors.
“I’m pleased that we have been able to provide
support for these businesses through the Wales International Inbound Tourism Fund
and that we can now look forward with hope for recovery in our key overseas
markets.
“This funding will help them to build on their
existing itineraries to develop and promote new and updated programmes and
packages for 2022 and beyond.”
Jim Jones, the chief executive of North Wales
Tourism which has around 2,000 members operating in tourism and hospitality,
said: “We are hugely grateful to Visit Wales for their support in providing the
funding for this hugely exciting campaign.
“The purpose of the funding is to prepare us for
what we hope will be a huge influx of inbound visitors from overseas.
“We think the potential is massive once the
international market reopens, especially the Asian market.
“We want to make sure we have all our ducks
in a row so that those visitors have access to information in their
chosen language.
“We have a lot of experience in this area and we
have done a lot of exciting things that have resulted in a big growth in the
international market and we are definitely on the world map when it comes to
tourism.
“One of things we are doing is creating very
high-end itineraries, after arriving via either Manchester or
Liverpool airports.
“The first ports of call would be somewhere like
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden before going on
to Mostyn Hall.
“They’ll then visit nearby Llandudno and the following
day they will head for Conwy Castle, Bodnant Gardens and go down the Conwy
Valley to Llechwedd.
“The visit to the Slate Landscape of North West Wales
will be particularly timely after the area was granted World Heritage Status.
“Then they’ll catch the Ffestiniog Highland Railway
from Porthmadog to Caernarfon and another castle with World Heritage Status
before travelling to Anglesey and then one of the region’s distilleries en
route back to the airport.
“We’re also going to do more work with Avanti Rail
to promote walking routes and we have invested in our website so we have
route planners and itinerary maps.
“We want to enhance the website and make it
multi-lingual and the languages we are specifically promoting are in line with
the Visit Wales targets, so that’s German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese
and Hindi.
“The Indian market is a potentially huge and
growing market that we want to tap into.
“We have a track record that’s second to none when
it comes to working with Japan, culminating with 2019 twinning of Conwy with
Himeji.
“We’re looking to continuing that relationship and
increasing the number of Japanese visitors.
“All of this means that we have to make sure we
have plenty of information so our brochures and our videos will be translated
into those languages and we’ll be doing a lot of marketing on social media in
those countries as well.
“We want to increase the spread of visitors from
those countries throughout the year whilst increasing their average spend.
“It’s well documented that international visitors
spend more money and stay longer.
“Our Welsh heritage, history, language and culture
are front and centre in the campaign and we’ll also be focusing on our food and
drink.
“We want to promote tourism in a sustainable way by
increasing the spend which will create jobs and create prosperity.
“There can’t be many places in the world with so
many World Heritage sites in such a small geographic area – and so much more
besides, including the breath-taking beauty of our natural assets.
“On top of everything else we have a plethora of
world class adrenaline fuelled activities, including zip lining and inland
surfing. We’ve got the lot in abundance.
“After all the trauma we’ve all been through over
the past couple of years, this is a new beginning that herald a brighter future
for North Wales as a dynamic region.
“North
Wales is heaven on earth and if we all work together, we will be world leaders
in tourism.”
