Legends Celebrated in Denbighshire & North East Wales

A host of legendary promotions showcasing Denbighshire and the North East Wales region have been launched as part of Visit Wales’ Year of Legends campaign.

The new Denbighshire film showcases the variety of tourism attractions and landmarks in the county including Moel Famau, Coed Llandegla Forest, Castell Dinas Bran, Pro Kitesurfing, Penycloddiau, Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin Gaol, Denbigh Castle and the Rhug Estate. 

Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flintshire have also joined forces to produce films, legendary journeys and a digital brochure to inspire new visitors to experience North East Wales.

Funded by Visit Wales’ Regional Tourism Engagement Fund, the promotions explore the region’s castles, landscape, arts & culture and food and drink offer as well as telling the stories behind our most legendary figures including Owain Glyndwr and Thomas Telford.

Ian Lebbon, Chair of Denbighshire Destination Partnership said: “The promotions celebrate our past, present and future like never before with attractions, events and activities at a range of legendary locations. With North Wales being named as one of the top ten places to visit in the entire world this year by Lonely Planet, we are keen to showcase the beauty of North East Wales to both residents and visitors.”

“Thank you to everyone who contributed to the making of the films and brochure, we hope it will inspire visitors to experience all our hidden gems.”

Included in the new materials are 12 legendary journeys across North East Wales, everything from town centre strolls to long distance trails. All with spectacular settings and all with a story attached. Locations include Wales’ Coastal Path, Pontycysyllte Aqueduct, St Winefride’s Well, Coed Llandegla Forest, Castell Dinas Bran, Moel Arthur, Jubilee Tower, Offa’s Dyke Path and many more.

Tourism plays a vital part in North East Wales’ economy, with a total economic impact in 2015 of £808m and over 11 million visits made.

The 3 Destination Partnerships will be launching their Destination Management Plans for 2017-20 this year to build on the work already done and ensure long-term sustainability for the development of tourism. The North East Wales brand will continue to be a key feature of all 3 plans to promote the region for visitors and residents to enjoy.

To view the North East Wales films, brochure and legendary journeys please visit www.northeastwales.wales/listings/year-of-legends/

 

 

New Tourist Information Point at Rhug Estate

A new Tourist Information Point at the Rhug Estate has now opened to make visitor information about Denbighshire’s main attractions more widely available to visitors.

The project has been a partnership approach with Corwen Business Group providing a trailer, Rhug Estate providing a prime site close to their restaurant and shop, and Denbighshire County Council bringing the project together.

Visitors to Rhug will be provided with information about Corwen and the surrounding area designed to encourage them to visit one of Denbighshire’s key historical towns.

Ian Lebbon, Chair of the Denbighshire Destination Partnership, said: “This is a great example of how organisations are working together locally to boost the industry and place Denbighshire firmly on the visitor map.

“Tourism plays a vital part in Denbighshire’s economy, with a total economic impact in 2015 of over £450 million and nearly 6 million visits made. Over 6,000 full time jobs were supported by tourism spend, an increase of 7.4% compared to the previous year.

“We have a wealth of attractions, facilities and services available in the county and we need to capitalise on opportunities to help promote the county far and wide”.

Ian West of Corwen and District's Business Association said: "The Association was delighted to provide the trailer for this joint venture with Denbighshire County Council and Rhug to promote the growth of tourism in Denbighshire. We hope that this will bring increased visitor numbers to Corwen and nearby areas."

 

 

 

 

Tourism Growth Plan helps increase visitors to Denbighshire

Bringing extra hotel beds to Denbighshire is the aim for the coming year as tourism in the county is rising, bring hundreds of millions of pounds into the local economy.

The Council’s Tourism Growth Plan has helped contribute to a rise in the number of visitors to the county to 5.86million, a 5.3 per cent increase on 2014, while more than 6,100 jobs, up 7.4 per cent, are supported by the sector.

The total economic impact of tourism in the county for 2015 was £458.39m, a six per cent rise from the previous year.

Carolyn Brindle, the Council’s Lead Officer Business Support & Local Growth, said: “Tourism is a vital part of Denbighshire’s economy. Tourism helps makes towns and villages sustainable and the Tourism Growth Plan, sets out the county’s approach to developing this sector.

“The aims of the Plan are to increase numbers and, importantly, visitor spend as well as creating more jobs and more opportunities.

“Work on the Plan is being carried out by a number of departments, including the Council’s Tourism, Marketing and Events Team, working together under the direction of the Economic and Community Ambition Programme.”

The main focus for the coming year is to increase the number of beds in the county and developments in the pipeline include a Premier Inn and Travelodge in Rhyl which will bring an extra 140 beds to the county. 

Over the past year the Plan has provided funding to update the Ride North Wales website, which promotes the area as a haven for mountain bikers, and for the Clwydian Range Food Trail producers group to attend a range of food festivals and develop promotional materials.

Funding was provided to Dee Valley Active, a group of 15 businesses created to harness the economic potential of the Dee Valley by providing and promoting outdoor adventure tourism.

Part of the funding was used to set up a single point of sale booking system for the group.

Lianne Ing of Corwen-based Stand up Paddle Board UK, said: “This could mean big things for our business locally and other businesses like us.

“To have a central booking platform for outdoor activities it will bring us local businesses together collaborating under one roof to provide the activities that we run and love to tourists and the local community.”

Other projects included encouraging businesses to use Welsh to build on the economic strengths provided by Denbighshire’s strong Welsh identity and culture, which included helping the Oriel Hotel in St Asaph provide a Welsh wedding package.