Sky News shared last year that Wrexham AFC’s co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney had given North Wales a “£1bn boost”, according to the region’s tourism chief.
In the feature, Jim Jones, chief executive of North Wales Tourism, said the Wrexham AFC co-owners were “absolute geniuses” and the city and wider region were now being explored by “an influx of tourists”… Jim continued by saying that the region needed to “capitalise on the fairytale success of Wrexham football club”.
An article then shared by The Leader in March of this year, stated that Wrexham’s hospitality sector is set to receive a boost amid “incredible” demands from international travel agencies. Within the feature, tourism manager at Wrexham Council Joe Bickerton said: “The level of interest from international travel agencies – based on demand in large due to the awareness of Wrexham thanks to the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ Disney+ documentary – is incredible and should really help support our local hospitality businesses over the coming months. Pre-pandemic, it could be said that we often lived in the shadow of many other more established tourism destinations, but the platform that we have now to build on this attention has so much potential to sustain and create new jobs in hospitality, attract new private sector investment and showcase what an incredible place our whole county area is.”
In this blog, I share some exciting personal news, but before I do; I’d like to take this opportunity to ask hospitality leaders globally; What success in your area can you capitalise on?
Yes, understandably, it might not be at the level of Disney+ documentaries or Hollywood superstars investing in, or visiting your local area, but, I guarantee there will be things that are trending, popular and successful… already happen in your area, that you could hook onto.
Businesses in the hospitality profession often find that, if they market right, they are busiest and buzzing during special events and these moments can provide a great opportunity to capitalise on the influx of guests and generate more revenue – these events should be integrated as part of your seasonal marketing strategy – something I discuss in much more detail as part of the Hospitality Hero Masterclass.
Your seasonal marketing strategy, obviously needs to include; Christmas, Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day… but, it’s also important to hook onto events and other things happening in your local area. For example; at our hotel in Chester, we hosted Chester race day brunches and other offers. You can also even get creative and host your own events based on things that are trending; such as last week, we hosted a hugely successful Bridgerton afternoon tea. How can you get creative? What can you hook onto that is already happening, popular or trending? How can you stand out?
Now onto my personal news… As Wrexham is just across stone’s throw away from where I am based, I have jumped at an opportunity I couldn’t miss and I am excited to be able to finally share the news officially…. Along with Dan Gillon, we have become the new owners of a hotel in Wrexham! Whoop!
As many of you know, I’ve been in hospitality my whole life, it’s all I know and Wrexham’s never not been on my radar, and we can’t deny the excitement that has come to the city. It’s brilliant for us all. There’s been huge growth in Wrexham. When I visited, I was bowled over, from the likes of the Fat Boar, stunning St Giles’ Church, and the artwork on the walls around the city.
So, when Holt Lodge Hotel, near the village of Holt, went on the market in the summer of 2023, I was very interested…
Every time we have visited the local area, you can literally feel the excitement and anticipation in the people. We have never felt so welcome and people have been so open.
I attended a recent meeting of the Wrexham Business Professionals, and left buzzing because of how excited everybody is, it’s infectious.
We are not naive to the power of the big names connected to the region through Wrexham AFC, the ‘pixie dust’ of the big-name club owners, it is good not just for Wrexham but North Wales and the North West and the mastery of Ryan’s marketing, I’ve never seen anything like it, but it feels genuine. It’s so fortunate that they’ve come to Wrexham. Icons on such a level are few and far between.
You can’t have London and Cardiff as the only places anyone talks about. Wrexham is perfectly placed to be a capital for North Wales.
There’s a lot to be proud of in Wrexham, and you don’t invest unless you believe. I believe that the biggest compliment you can give to any place is to invest in it.
You can read more about our plans, in this recent Leader Live article – please click here.
Source: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/24195195.wrexham-hospitality-set-boost-amid-tourism-demand/
Masterclass Link: https://thehospitalityhero.com/hospitality-hero-on-demand/