AT THE start of the holiday season, Tourism Minister Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas has underlined the importance of quality to the development and delivery of the tourism experience in Wales – and encouraged accommodation businesses to join Visit Wales’ Quality Assurance Schemes.

Visit Wales will soon begin to roll out revised Quality Assurance guidelines – ensuring that Quality Assurance Schemes remain relevant and informative as well as supporting businesses and consumers in a globally changing and competitive marketplace.

The revised guidelines follow a review undertaken by the national tourism organisations of Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the AA. The review was called for due to changing trends for both businesses and visitors – with greater use of user-generated content; online booking engines and consumer review scoring systems as well as the greater diversity of accommodation now on offer.

Following customer and industry feedback, the revised schemes will see more emphasis on the quality of experience with less emphasis on the provision of facilities. The roll-out of the new criteria for the serviced and self-catering sectors will begin in April 2018 with the aim of increasing participation in the various schemes.

As part of the shift in the Quality Assurance approach, Visit Wales will phase-in new signs and materials to enable businesses to showcase their quality star-rating to guests.

The suite of new materials, which have been updated to reflect the award-winning Cymru Wales brand style, include new starred plaques; contemporary certificates; and digital badges and logos. Businesses do not need to request the new materials – they will be issued and introduced over the summer; and customers are advised to look out for the Draig Goch logo on hotels, B&Bs, guest and bunk-houses when they book, as a trusted mark of quality.

After visiting the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel, Lord Elis-Thomas said: “Quality is integral to the future success of tourism in Wales – and one way of ensuring we meet with customer expectations and demand in addition to helping the industry strive to be the best they possibly can - is through our Quality Assurance scheme.

“Although it was acknowledged at a UK level that the schemes needed to change, it was also the consensus across all national tourism organisations that offering an independent assessment of facilities and services is still important. Our grading schemes are about confidence – confidence in what we have to offer, confidence in how we are offering it and confidence that those who visit Wales will experience a high quality, memorable experience.”