Tourism businesses in Mid Wales have been urged to work in partnership with their local communities and councils to provide the essential information needed by tourists.
The call came from Jonathan Jones, Visit Wales’ Director of Tourism and Marketing, at a regional tourism e-conference in Newtown during British Tourism Week.
“We have to do things in different and clever ways to provide information to tourists,” he told more than 100 delegates from the tourism industry in Mid Wales. “It is only by going to the man or woman in the local tourist information centre that you will find out what is going on that day because they have the local knowledge.
“Even where local authorities close TICs more are now being developed by small community groups. They can develop the local tourism provision that makes sense to their communities.”
He revealed that he was chairing a TIC Charter Working Group for the Welsh Assembly Government, which would consider a pan-Wales strategic approach to tourist information services.
“The tourism industry will be consulted about the methodology of the research to be carried out,” said Mr Jones. “We need to know what the public and the industry wants from TICs.”
Councillor Wynne Jones said Powys County Council was now delivering tourist information services in a slightly different way by grant funding community groups.
“The only place where we failed to get that off the ground is Machynlleth. We tried very hard to come to agreement with the town council to deliver the service in a new format but that failed at the last minute.”
Dee Reynolds, Tourism Partnership Mid Wales’ regional strategy director, said: “TICs are very important but what we need to do is engage the businesses in communities to help meet the needs of visitors in partnership with public sector agencies. Powys County Council is providing a grant scheme for people to take up at a local level.”
The conference, organised jointly by Tourism Partnership Mid Wales, Visit Wales and Mid Wales Tourism, was held at the Hope Centre, Newtown.
PICTURE: Lake Vyrnwy