Travel professionals from UKinbound and Germany were amongst those in North Wales this weekend to experience adventure activities that are hoped will attract more overseas tourists to North West Wales and Anglesey in 2016.

The travel professionals took to the Menai Straits in a high speed rib.

The group representing tour operators and travel agencies were in Wales as part of the Discover Wales travel trade event which took place at the Quay Hotel and Spa, Deganwy on 1-2 October. The event is one of a series of initiatives to grow the sales of holidays in Wales through tour operators and travel agents in key international markets and was organised in partnership with UKinbound and VisitBritain.

Familiarisation tours of north and mid Wales took place before and after the event which included a fact finding trip put together by Visit Wales and Janet Redler Travel and Tourism to get a hands-on taste of the best leisure facilities available in North West Wales.

During their weekend in Wales the group spent time at the newly opened Surf Snowdonia, visited Penrhyn and Caernarfon castles, took the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway, spent time in Portmeirion and took a high speed boat ride down the Menai Straits and through the Swellies.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates said: “2016 is the Year of Adventure in Wales and it will see Wales building on a wave of exciting new openings and developments, and more than 10 years of ongoing tourism investment to make Wales the leading adventure destination. Research has shown that familiarisation trips arranged by Visit Wales for operators to experience Wales tourism products are the most influential intervention in increasing an operator’s interest or ability to feature or sell Wales programmes.”

Speaking about the trip Janet Redler said: “As a tour operator bringing tourists from across the world to Wales, we know how much they appreciate the scenery, heritage and sporting activities available to them. Hosting this group has given us the opportunity to work with Visit Wales to show more people what this area has to offer which will hopefully lead to more overseas visitors to the area in the future – and that has to be good for the local economy.”

According to Janet Redler, travel and tourism is a growing sector of the Welsh economy. “Wales is a super destination for both holiday and business trips and we know that nearly a million overseas visitors come each year to enjoy a Welsh welcome. We want to help increase that number during the Year of Adventure in 2016.”