New Marketing Campaign for Attractions

MWT is currently inviting visitor attractions and activity providers to take part in an exciting 3-year £120,000 new mainstream marketing campaign. The co-ordinated campaign is designed to attract new visitors from key target markets and areas - in particular the West Midlands and North West. Through a joint marketing application, the campaign has been successful in atrracting funding from TPMW.  

The multi-level campaign includes the production of a new 'Map & Guide to Exploring Mid Wales', new website - www.midwalesattractions.co.uk and an e-brochure based on the map & guide. This will be backed by a targeted media campaign, e-marketing campaign and effective distribution throughout the target areas and to accommodation businesses in Mid Wales.

 *If you have not returned your form for advertising in the map & guide, please do so by Tuesday 23 May at the very latest!*

For further details or a new application form, please contact Rhian immediately on 01654 702653.

                                      
On the 31 March 2006, work undertaken by the Wales Tourist Board  transferred to 'Visit Wales' - the Welsh Assembly Government's tourism team. The new WAG tourism department team is part of the Department of Enterprise, Innovation & Networks (DIEN).  

The appointment of Jonathan Jones as the new Tourism Director should provide a level of continuity over the coming months. We will however be closely monitoring the service provided by the new department - if you have any experiences relating to the new department, good or bad, that you would like to share please contact the membership unit with details.

Click Here to visit the WAG industry website - this website is well worth a visit!

Guestlink Online: All member businesses should have received a letter about online administration on guestlink.co.uk and your unique CID log on. If you have not yet had time to log on to guestlink.co.uk then you are missing out some of the new online tools available to you.

Web Stats: You can see how well your website entry is doing by checking out your online stats. The KPI's (key performance indicators) section provide monthly online web hits/referrals to your own website/ publishing options/bookings etc.

Marketing Features: As well as updating accommodation availability, did you know that you can feature special offers on the regional visitor websites and check out your current publishing options?

Members Extranet: Make sure that you access the new members' extranet area. You should find all you need to know here. If you need any assistance contact the Members' Helpline on 0845 2220029.

Since October 2004, it has been unlawful to discriminate against a member of the public on the grounds of disability.

Achievable Access is a project part-funded by the ERDF that aims to assist small-medium sized tourism businesses in all Objective One areas (Ceredigion & Meirionnydd), to work towards meeting the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). By participating in the project, businesses will benefit by having: 

• access to detailed expertise and support specific to the tourism industry
• advise and assistance on how to respond to the impacts of DDA on your businesses
• a review of physical accessibility
• staff disability awareness training
• comprehensive Access Statement

If you are interested in participating in the Achievable Access Project call 01792 481000 ext. 4329 or email enquiries@taap.org.uk or click here to visit the website

Do you process information on individuals either on computer or in paper records? If so, this next article has some important information for you...

In response to a number of enquiries from members on the subject of Data Protection within the tourism industry, I have put together a quick guide which will help you stay within the law.

The rules of good information handling - The Principles
According to the Data Protection Act 1998, data must be:
1. fairly and lawfully processed;
2. processed for limited purposes;
3. adequate, relevant and not excessive;
accurate;
4. not kept for longer than is necessary;
5. processed in line with the data subject's rights;
7. secure;
8. not transferred to countries outside the EU without adequate protection.

The above principals apply in a number of ways when running your business everyday, from taking down a customers address to processing their payment. The principles are there to protect us all and following these principles makes sound business sense.

Click here for further guidance on the Data Protection Act 1998