Tourism is the bread and butter of our local economy here in North Wales and it has been great to see our towns and tourist attractions bustling with visitors over the past couple of months.
Visitor numbers in this beautiful part of the world are definitely on the up and this is largely due to the way in which North Wales has reinvented itself in recent years.
In the last few years alone we have seen a number of exciting new attractions open in North Wales, and the region is now competing as one of the world’s best locations for adventure venture. From traditional seaside holidays to climbing, abseiling, gorge walking and scrambling, white water rafting, high roping and, zip wiring – North Wales really does have it all.
Surf Snowdonia, a world-first inland surf lagoon, is attracting both experienced surfers and beginners from far and wide and has certainly put Dolgarrog in the Conwy Valley well and truly on the map since it opened.
Likewise ‘Zip World’ has done much to boost tourism by offering an array of thrilling adventures for all the family. Where else can you zip wire across a quarry or bounce on trampolines in a former slate mine?
Three years ago North Wales was officially celebrated, when it was named one of the world’s top ten places to visit by respected guide book publishers, Lonely Planet - who ranked North Wales ahead of regions including South Australia, Perak in Malaysia and Aysen, Chile. However, while there is certainly a great deal to be positive about, much more needs to be done to ensure North Wales reaches its full potential. .
Back in June former Prime Minister Theresa May revealed plans for the tourism industry that included creating 130,000 extra hotel rooms and a drive to bring 9 million more visitors to the UK. The plans also includes a pilot of up to five new Tourism Zones to drive visitor numbers across the country.
The zones will receive Government support for growing their local visitor economy, through initiatives like targeted support for product and promotion development, mentoring support to businesses and digital skills training.
Speaking in the Welsh Parliament shortly after Theresa May’s announcement, I urged the Minister for Economy and Transport, Ken Skates AM, to co-operate with the UK Government to try to make North Wales one of the zones.
It’s absolutely fantastic that we’ve been seeing rising numbers of international visitors to North Wales, particularly from places like Japan in recent years, but given that these zones are up for grabs, it is vitally important that the Welsh Government co-operates with the UK Government and seek to have North Wales designated as one of the tourism zones so that we can reap some benefits from the investment that the UK Government is going to be making.
To date Wales’ tourism sector have been let down by poor marketing and there have been missed opportunities to utilise innovative markets, including wildlife and marine tourism. This needs to change.
The people who know best in attracting tourists to Wales are those in the industry itself and it is crucial that industry-expertise is in the driving seat in promoting Wales’ unique tourism offer in the future.
We have so much to be proud of in North Wales, and with a renewed emphasis on attracting more visitors to our beautiful country, we could see our towns returning to their glory days.
The time has come to ensure this billion-pound industry fulfils its full potential - creating new jobs and ensuring we better promote North Wales to the rest of the UK, and the world. As Lonely Planet state, “North Wales is a gem and should be on every traveller’s radar” – we need to be doing everything we can to ensure that it is.