Over 100 businesses and individuals from the tourism sector discussed future trends in one of the county’s key sectors at the annual Pembrokeshire Tourism Summit.
They were joined at Rhosygilwen in North Pembrokeshire by Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy, Tourism, Leisure and Culture, Paul Miller, along with the chairman of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Councillor Paul Harries, and Iwan Thomas, Chief Executive of PLANED.
They were attending not only the launch of the new five-year Destination Management Plan, but also to celebrate the recent decision to create a new Destination Management Organisation (DMO), details of which were presented on the day by Pembrokeshire Tourism Chair, Jane Rees-Baynes.
Wales’ first DMO of this type will see resources and staff from the County Council’s Tourism (Destination Marketing) department transferred to Pembrokeshire Tourism, the county’s tourism trade organisation, with support and resources also coming from the National Park and PLANED.
The new Pembrokeshire Tourism organisation will be led by the trade and will be able to deliver a wider range of activities including: destination marketing activity; campaign and project delivery; industry liaison and support; research and intelligence; advocacy: and other activities such as supporting and delivering events.
Jane Rees-Baynes said:
“It was fantastic to see so many members of the trade present for our annual summit. I’d like to thank all of those who spoke at the event and those who took time out to attend.
“We were also able to share with everyone the exciting launch of the new five-year tourism plan and the first details of the new destination management organisation.
“This is a huge boost for the sector and a big step change. We look forward to driving growth in the tourism market across the county and across the year.”
Other speakers at the event included:
- Fed Pereira (Pear Communications)
- Tim Rees (Quality Cottages and Quality Unearthed)
- Mike Morgan (owner of Welsh Rarebits Collection)
- James Parkin (Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority)
- Simon Preddy (Keep Wales Tidy)
- Jane Lewis (Regional Learning and Skills Partnership).
