New tourism plan looks to build on ‘transformational nature of recent developments’

A fresh bid to host City of Culture, Wrexham’s new football museum and building on the international focus on the city all feature as part of a draft plan to boost tourism.

The visitor economy is described as vital to the local area, generating an estimated £135 million of direct and indirect expenditure to the Wrexham County Borough economy in 2019.

Although this dropped during the pandemic, it is claimed £101 million was still put into the local economy in 2021.

This is largely due to the stay-cation boom and people choosing to spend more time in areas close to home.

Tomorrow members of the employment, business and investment scrutiny committee will have the chance to put forward their views on the draft 2023-26 Destination Management Plan – and compare and ask questions on the progress on the old plan.

The document will eventually replace the plan that was created pre-pandemic, which has seen a major shift in the tourism landscape.

The report due before councillors tomorrow highlights several developments in the pipeline which the new draft management plan “will support the delivery of”.

These include a commitment to bid to host City of Culture 2029, securing of levelling up funding for the World Heritage Site, Football Museum development and building on the momentum of Wrexham Football Club and the Disney+ docuseries.

The draft plan, which can be viewed in full here, says: “Developing a destination, building awareness of it, and establishing its position in the marketplace is a long-term process –one that takes decades.

“This three year plan should be regarded as part of a longer and wider process. There is a need to continue the activity of the previous Destination Management Plan – much of it remains valid and needed.

“However, the plan needs to recognise the transformational nature of recent developments, looking forward to new opportunities that should be explored and exploited to develop Wrexham County Borough as a visitor destination.

“The action plan identifies two types of project –maintenance (i.e. continuing to undertake the basics of destination management) and catalytic (projects that have the potential to further transform the destination).

“It further refines them into ‘must do’s’ and two ‘nice to have’ categories. Our aspiration over the next three years should be to achieve significant progress with at least two ‘catalytic’ projects.”

The table of the projects and a priority guide can be viewed below.

Details are also provided on the current offer to visitors and how this can be expanded – with the focus moving towards rural explorers and ‘Play Wrexham’ in the new draft management plan.

This will target groups within both a 45 minute and 90 minute catchment area.

The report states: “The development of Wrexham County Borough needs to be realistically focused on the needs and motivations of our potential visitor markets.

“We attract a number of different markets. Some of these are non-discretionary (e.g. business visitors) or semi-discretionary (e.g. visiting friends and relatives and some leisure markets –e.g. for certain events) and difficult to influence.

“Leisure markets are more discretionary and will be coming for a range of different reasons –such as sightseeing, walking and cycling in the rural areas, and shopping, entertainment and events in Wrexham city.”

In terms of the city centre the draft plan acknowledges that there are challenges, with the report stating that it currently “lacks a strong pull.”

This means that those who visit the rural areas of the county borough are more likely to visit Llangollen, Chester, Shrewsbury and Oswestry rather than venturing into the city centre.

Looking ahead over the next three to five years there are several new developments in the pipeline which the local authority hopes will attract more visitors into the city centre.

This includes the Chapter Court food destination, Football Museum for Wales,  a city centre events programme plus the Gateway and Wrexham Football Club developments with potential new hotel, transport and conferencing facilities.

The Racecourse Stadium also has plans to expand its capacity to over 15,000 by 2024.

A further expansion of the city’s offer is also mentioned, with the report stating:

• Explore the development of a dedicated multi-purpose indoor venue for meetings, conferences, exhibitions and concerts with partners such as Glyndŵr University, and Wrexham Football Club.
• Support the creation/enhancement of events spaces within the city centre and actively promote their programming.
• Ensure that the tourism components of the Wrexham Gateway project, such as the hotel, meet the identified needs contained within this plan.

The report states: “A destination needs to be managed as a whole, considering every element of the visitor journey from stimulating interest through to eventual visits and departure.

“Whilst the development of capital facilities and event programmes are crucial, they can be let down by the supporting factors which are an important part of the visitor experience.

“These include those elements generally understood to be part of the visitor economy (accommodation, catering, retail, information services) but also basics such as parking and wayfinding.

“A key issue at a national and local level is the recruitment of staff into the tourism sector. Whilst the issues may be national, solutions will need to be found locally to solve the recruitment crisis and the shortage of staff.

“Good work has been done on enhancing the marketing of Wrexham as a tourism destination. At the same time our brand remains confused, largely due to the diverse and differing nature of the product.”

“The rural areas and city centre offer contrasting experiences and this needs to be acknowledged and considered.

“Wider efforts around branding Wrexham under the overall ‘live, study, visit, invest’ agenda are also underway. We need to consider this dimension as part of taking forward the development of the city as a destination.

“Finally, our UK City of Culture bid has reinforced the reputation of Wrexham as a centre for creativity and play which needs to be recognised incorporated into the marketing programme.

“A major opportunity for global profile has emerged in the purchase of Wrexham Football Club and the upcoming documentary series.”

The report will be considered by members of the council’s employment, business and investment scrutiny committee tomorrow Wednesday 7 December at 4pm. The meeting will also be webcast on the Wrexham Council website.

Top pic: Wrexham has had world wide exposure since the football club takeover, and is now common to encounter tourists who have added the area on to their itinerary  !