The Tourism Investment Support Scheme (TISS) in Wales now has £2m available (with a closing date of 29 April for this round of the Regional Tourism Engagement Fund); which may present opportunities for heritage projects under the ‘sense of place’ theme.
The Welsh Government writes:
Following a recent review, the Tourism Investment Support Scheme (TISS) now has £2million available for tourism product development support. The TISS fund is focussed on capital projects in the tourism sector, the objective is to stimulate growth and increased demand from new and existing markets via projects that create and safeguard jobs, improve product quality & sense of place, and add value. The level of support is related to the employment and economic benefit case with the minimum available set at £25,000 and maximum at £500,000.
Since 2010, some £10.6million has been approved through TISS creating and safeguarding some 1,133 jobs.
The Regional Tourism Engagement Fund is also now open for applications. The £1 million fund is key to delivery of regional tourism activity, and allows tourism officials to work with partners at the destination level to help deliver the 10% growth target set out in the tourism strategy.
Place building is vital to destination management and allows local tourism communities to decide what is most important to put in place to maximise visitor satisfaction and to stimulate local support for tourism. The regional fund (RTEF) is the key in delivering this work and has been established to enable destination partners to work together. The fund is closely aligned to Visit Wales Themed Years approach, with the Year of Legends in 2017 being a key consideration for successful project bidding in this round. The fund is open for applications until 29 April.
Also with a view to developing exciting product ideas aligned to Year of Legends, is the Tourism Product Innovation Fund is also now open for applications from to encourage closer joint working between private sector tourism trade partnerships. The fund is aimed at projects that develop new and innovative tourism products and enable private sector partners to explore new ways of joint working, at local, regional and national level in Wales. A pot of £200,000 is available and the closing date for applications is 3 June.
Last week, the Deputy Minister visited Loggerheads Country Park, part of the Clwydian Range & Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to see the activity in the area linked to the Year of Adventure. The Deputy Minister visited the new Oriel gallery which currently has an exhibition featuring the hill forts of the Clwydian Range, he also had a chance to have a sneak preview of the new Year of Adventure Films featuring Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB and the other protected landscapes in Wales as part of the Protected Landscapes Mini Adventures promotion which was funded through Visit Wales regional funding. The films will go live during the Great Weekend of Adventure 2-3 April.
Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates, said: ‘The Easter Bank Holiday weekend is just around the corner and is seen as the traditional start of the holiday season in Wales. We begin the season with the great feeling of confidence in this this vital sector. We’ve seen successive annual increases in visitor volumes and expenditure, both in the GB and international markets. In 2014, the number of visitors broke the 10 million mark for the first time on record, which was excellent news for Wales. With a month of 2015 figures yet to be calculated, we can already see that the spend figure is higher than the previous record of £1.735 billion set in 2014 which is testament to the hard work of the industry and proof that our tourism strategy for Wales is working. However, this is no time to rest on our laurels, and investing in the quality of the tourism product is key if we are to compete in the global market place. This tourism funding enables private and public sector partners to stimulate growth and demand and improve what we have to offer the visitor.
‘I hope to see Local Authorities, private sector and third sector work together to think outside of the box, to think of bold creative and innovative projects for next year. We’re looking for some big ideas, projects which can make a real difference in making Wales a must visit destination and give people compelling reasons to visit Wales.’
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