VISITORS to the Snowdonia National Park could be asked to pay a voluntary extra charge to use the park’s facilities, such as restaurants and guest houses.

The contribution is voluntary, rarely more than £1, and would be used to help maintain the national park, which faces cuts to its budget.

Over the last decade, the national park has seen its annual financial allowance drop by 40 per cent.

To counteract the cuts, tourism businesses in Snowdonia are being invited to hear about a scheme which is currently running in the Lake District that raises a quarter of a million pounds every year for environmental, community and education projects in that region.

Nurture Lakeland has successfully run the Visitor Giving scheme for 20 years under the slogan Visit / Give / Protect. They work closely with the tourism sector to raise funds by adding a small amount to customer bills for their meal, accommodation or activity.

Rhian Hughes from Arloesi Gwynedd Wledig (Gwynedd Rural Innovation) said: “The event will provide tourism businesses with an opportunity to learn how Visitor Giving works.

“If businesses like the concept we could run a pilot in Snowdonia.

“We have the full support of Gwynedd Council and Snowdonia National Park, however we will only proceed if the tourism sector is also on board.”

A study commissioned by Gwynedd Council in 2013 identified the significant potential of a visitor giving scheme in Snowdonia.

The study stated that if every visitor to Snowdonia provided 25p, it would result in over £1.75 million of funding for the local environment, conservation and community.

The event is being held in Llanberis at the Victoria Hotel on Monday, 11 January, at 7pm.

It will be hosted by Arloesi Gwynedd Wledig, which is seeking to pilot new approaches with the support of the LEADER programme. LEADER is an EU programme that seeks to support rural communities.

To register for the event or discuss the project, contact Rhian Hughes on 01766 515946 or [email protected].