Representatives from almost 30 major tour operators - who are
responsible for bringing in thousands of international visitors
from all over the world to the UK every year - are due to take
part in a ‘Discover Wales’ (Darganfod Cymru) event in and around
Cardiff from 8-10 October.
The main aim of the event is to introduce the tour operators to
Wales suppliers as part of the plan to boost international
visitor numbers to the country from key markets such as the USA
and Europe, which will help to increase revenue for the visitor
economy.
Hosted by Visit Wales, the event will
take place between Sunday 8 and Tuesday 10 October
in partnership with travel trade association UKinbound, Southern Wales, The Royal Mint, GWR and The Parkgate
Hotel. It will see the operators take part in a two-day
familiarisation visit which includes key attractions such as
Llancaiach Fawr Manor, Nantgarw China works and Museum, Ogmore
Castle and Cardiff Bay.
The operators will then take part in a networking event at The
Royal Mint and a Business to Business workshop at The Parkgate
Hotel, Cardiff, with 30 Welsh tourism and hospitality
businesses that include Elm Grove Country House,
Hensol Castle Distillery and
Dylan’s Restaurants.
, the Welsh Government’s
Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and representatives
from VisitBritain will also be in attendance.
Recent research from Visit Wales reveals that tour operators in
key markets generated approximately 275,000 bed nights at a value
of £17.9m to Wales in 2022. Visit Wales is estimated to have
influenced approximately £8.4m of the total value. UK &
Irish operators (£11.1m) – domestic and inbound - have generated
more than half of the total value, with North America (£3.2m)
contributing just short of half of the remainder. Over 70%
of those tour operators interviewed are interested in developing
or selling more Wales products, with a third of operators having
‘strong interest’.
The Deputy Minister, said: We are delighted to be working again
with UKinbound to host Darganfod Cymru Discover Wales. We
know how vital the travel trade is to generate tourism business
to Wales, especially internationally, and fits our tourism
strategy to support the three Ss: seasonality, spread and spend.
We appreciate the significant role that inbound tour operators
play in taking Wales products to international markets where they
are active. I’m sure that the tour operators will leave
Wales having seen what a world class product we have here – and
we look forward to welcoming them - and their clients – back to
Wales soon.”
Joss Croft OBE, CEO of UKinbound said: “These kinds of events are
vital for our tour operator members. Being able to
experience first-hand the full range of authentic and amazing
activities, landscapes and accommodation that are available in
Wales means that ultimately they will be able to sell these more
successfully to international visitors interested in coming to
the UK.
“Equally, these events are a great opportunity for local
businesses to establish new valuable relationships with the UK
travel trade which will help them to attract more customers and
more revenue which is so badly needed following the pandemic.”
Eurowelcome, the largest inbound tour operator for Spain and
Latin America will be attending the event. Following
discussions with Visit Wales, Eurowelcome, is expanding with a
new 2024 series of 10 tour dates touring programme for the North
American market including Wales.
Chris Pourgourides, Eurowelcome, said: “We’ve
developed a brand new tour to Wales as we’ve been seeing more and
more interest in the market for Wales. We’re taking the
icons, for example Caernarfon Castle, and mixing them with local
authentic experiences and one of my absolute favourites is the
Halen Mon sea salt refinery in Anglesey that you just can’t get
anywhere else and we think it’s going to tick the box for a lot
of what our guests are looking for. The Visit Wales team
really helped us in terms of itinerary planning, but also there
have been some challenges that we’ve overcome, and we could not
have done that without the expertise of Visit Wales. I’m
very thankful to the team and looking forward to bringing many
people to Wales.”
