North East Wales celebrates its Routes to the Sea

A new film showcasing the North East Wales region has been released as part of Visit Wales’ Year of the Sea campaign. Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flintshire have joined forces to produce the film to inspire new visitors to experience North East Wales’ Routes to the Sea.

Funded by Visit Wales’ Regional Tourism Engagement Fund, the film explores the region’s visitor offer from inland to the coast; highlighting the cycle routes, coastal path, heritage, and beaches as well as activities including paragliding and horse riding in Talacre. The variety of outdoor water based experiences available in the area are also featured including sailing, fishing, sea swimming, stand up paddle boarding and water skiing.

Tourism plays a vital part in the regions’ economy, with a total economic impact in 2016 of £848m and over 11 million visits made.

Tourism Minister, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “In 2018 we’re celebrating Wales’ outstanding coastline, and inviting visitors to discover new epic experiences all around our shores, with special events and attractions throughout the year. I’m delighted that Visit Wales funding has enabled the North East to work together in order to strengthen awareness and showcase some of the area’s inspiring journeys to the coast this year.”

Ian Lebbon, Chair of Denbighshire Destination Partnership said: “Thank you to everyone who contributed to the making of the film, we hope it will inspire visitors to experience some of our water based and coastal activities. Key investments in our coastal resorts, such as the developments in Rhyl, will help increase awareness and visitor footfall to the region and create jobs that will boost the local economy.”

This film is the start of a series of new mini films which will be released throughout the year, featuring different themes including walking, cycling, wildlife, heritage, food & drink, beaches, as well as outdoor water activities. A series of blogs and Year of the Sea professional images will also be released to help draw new and repeat visits to the region.

Follow Films Co-Founder Graham Cooper, who produced the films, said “This has been a fantastic project to work on over the past few months, I’ve lived in North East Wales all my life, but working on projects like this reminds me how lucky we are to live in this area. I find so many new, amazing activities whilst producing films like this, and the passion businesses have for North East Wales is great to see.”

For further information on the places and activities featured in the film, please visit http://www.northeastwales.wales/

Do you organise events?

The Tourism Team have launched a new simplified events process for event organisers who wish to engage with the authority.

For more information visit our website.

You can download the short notification form from this page and get lots of helpful advice about holding a safe and successful event.

The Tourism Team can also promote your event via the What’s On booklet and social media channels, once a notification form has been returned.

 

 

Packed agenda at next Denbighshire Tourism Forum

Tourism businesses are being invited to a Forum outlining the latest developments in their industry this April. With a strong line-up of guest speakers including representatives from Visit Wales, and SweetSpot Group who organise high quality annual sporting events including OVO Energy Tour of Britain, the UK’s largest professional cycle race, it promises to be a key event for everyone involved in the tourism sector.

The Denbighshire Tourism Forum takes place on Thursday, 12th April at the Oriel House, St Asaph at 10.30am. The event offers a great opportunity for delegates to network and share experiences, knowledge and ideas. A variety of information stands will be present including Cadwyn Clwyd, Keep Wales Tidy, Helfa Gelf, Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych, Llangollen International Musical Festival, CADW, Visit Wales and many more.

Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, Leader of Denbighshire and who is also the Cabinet Lead Member for the Economy, said: “With the start of the main tourism season fast approaching; the Forum is a great way to meet like-minded people and find out about the latest tourism developments. It’s not only for tourism businesses, it’s a good opportunity for students and anyone with an interest in tourism to hear from those working in the industry sharing their experiences first hand.”

Tourism plays a vital part in Denbighshire’s economy, with a total economic impact in 2016 of over £479 million, a 50% increase compared to 10 years ago, and nearly 6 million visits made to the County in 2016.

Local business owner Tommy Davies who recently won the Young Tourism Person of the Year in the Go North Wales Tourism Awards, runs Coed-y-Glyn Log Cabins in Glyndyfrdwy near Llangollen, will be coming to tell his story. Tommy said: “It’s fantastic to see Denbighshire and the wider North Wales region grow in popularity over the last few years and welcome guests from all over the world to our beautiful area. The Forum is a great platform for everyone in the sector to get together and share their stories, ideas and plans to ensure sustained future tourism growth.”

Visit Wales will also be present to share information on The Wales Way - the new family of three national scenic touring routes which cross the country’s most epic landscapes as a way of showcasing Wales’ fascinating history, coastlines and attractions. There will be lots of exciting opportunities for the sector to capitalise on this innovative campaign to bring more visitors to the region.

To book a place at the Forum please e-mail: tourism@denbighshire.gov.uk, telephone: 01824 706223 or https://denbighshiretourismforum2018.eventbrite.co.uk/

5 Journeys

As part of listening to the needs of local businesses’ and the Denbighshire Destination Management Plan-Denbighshire’s Tourism and Marketing department have developed a brand new product to promote the County to visitors, it is a handy A5 size which opens up into a useful map of local attractions and things to do. It will be available from April at Tourist Information Centres and Tourist Information Points as well as libraries and leisure centres. Should you wish to see a copy it can be downloaded from here.

Or if you wish to receive a copy please email tourism@denbighshire.gov.uk.

What's on Denbighshire

Take a look at our new brochure which is hot off the press. An electronic version is available to download on the Discover Denbighshire website.  You will also find lots of other information and ideas on what to do in Denbighshire over the coming weeks.