Visit Wales

Visit Wales (Welsh: Croeso Cymru) is the Welsh Government's tourism team within the Department for Heritage to promote Welsh tourism and assist the tourism industry.

Visit Wales
IndustryTourism
HeadquartersWales
ParentWelsh_Government
Websitewww.visitwales.com
Visit Wales being advertised on a Bmibaby Boeing 737-500 logojet.

Visit Wales has taken over the functions of the former Wales Tourist Board, an Assembly Sponsored Public Body. The role of Visit Wales is to support the Welsh tourism industry, improve tourism in Wales and provide a strategic framework within which private enterprise can achieve sustainable growth and success, so improving the social and economic well being of Wales. The mission of Visit Wales is to "maximise tourism's contribution to the economic, social and cultural prosperity of Wales".

The baseline budget at the Wales Tourist Board for 2005/2006 was £22.6 million.

Background

Tourists spend over £8 million a day on trips in Wales, amounting to around £3 billion a year. In direct terms, tourism contributes 3.7% of whole-economy value added in Wales. Approximately 100,000 people in Wales are employed in tourism, representing about 9% of the workforce.

Over one million trips are taken to Wales annually by overseas tourists. The general United Kingdom accounts for 93% of tourism trips to Wales. Seventy percent of tourists to Wales come from other parts of the United Kingdom for a holiday, 20% to visit friends or relatives and 7% for a business trip. Fifty percent of trips by UK tourists to Wales go to the countryside or small towns/villages. The most popular origins of overseas visitors are Republic of Ireland, United States, and Germany.

The most popular activities undertaken by tourists in Wales are: walking, swimming, visiting historic attractions such as castles and visiting museums and galleries. The most popular attraction in Wales is the Museum of Welsh Life which attracts over 600,000 visitors annually.

In serviced accommodation in Wales, there are over 80,000 bed spaces available.

Thematic Years

In 2015, the Welsh Government announced a 3-year plan, driven by Visit Wales, to promote Wales based on a series of annual themes:[1]

  • The Year of Adventure in 2016[2]
  • The Year of Legends in 2017[3]
  • The Year of the Sea in 2018

This was then extended to:

  • The Year of Discovery in 2019[4]
  • The Year of Outdoors in 2020/2021[5]

It has been stated that these thematic years are:[1]

  • a long-term ambition to grow a stronger and more defined brand for tourism in Wales
  • the opportunity to focus investment and innovation in tourism
  • the need to drive an increase in visitor volume and value to Wales each year.

Tourist Information Centres

There are 65[6] tourist information centres around Wales, offering local information, accommodation booking services and other services.

This network of centres offers a service to the 13 million visitors that come to Wales every year. They are run by over 40 different managing authorities and Visit Wales co-ordinates the network to set and monitor standards of presentation, information and customer care.

Coronavirus - COVID-19 Pandemic

Visit Wales changed their prominent campaign of "Visit Wales" in late March 2020 due to the high numbers of visitors from Wales and the United Kingdom to tourist hotspots to "Visit Wales. Later." Additionally they stated, "Please do not visit Wales at this time and avoid all unnecessary travel within Wales."[7]

History of Wales Tourist Board

The Wales Tourist Board was established in 1969 as a result of the Development of Tourism Act 1969 and its role was enhanced following the Tourism (Overseas promotion) (Wales) Act 1992. An 'Abolition Order' was passed by the National Assembly for Wales 23 November 2005 and full transfer of functions into the Welsh Assembly Government was made 1 April 2006. On that day, the Wales Tourist Board ceased to exist.

See also

References
  1. "Thematic years approach". Welsh Government. Retrieved 6 June 2017. This content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  2. "This is Adventure". www.visitwales.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  3. "Our Epic Land". www.visitwales.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  4. "2019: Year of Discovery". Business Wales.
  5. "The Year of Outdoors 2020-2021". VisitWales.
  6. "Wales Tourist Information Centres". www.businesswales.gov.wales/. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  7. "Visit Wales - Coronavirus". www.visitwales.com/coronavirus. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
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