PEMBROKESHIRE has a new plan and new tourism body to drive growth in the vital industry in the county.

Over the last 12 months the Destination Pembrokeshire Partnership (DPP) – comprising Pembrokeshire Tourism, Pembrokeshire County Council, PLANED and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA) – have been working closely together to produce two key pieces of work.

The first is a new five-year Tourism Strategy known as a Destination Management Plan (DMP).

Feedback from the trade and other partners through online questionnaires, face-to-face consultations and workshops have helped form the new DMP.

The new plan will run from 2020 to 2025 and will cover the priorities and aspirations for Pembrokeshire as a tourism destination.

The second is an exercise looking at whether some tourism services could be managed more effectively by operating in a different way, with the aim of supporting the multi-million-pound tourism industry.

Currently, a wide range of services are delivered by the Destination Pembrokeshire Partnership with each of the partners focusing on different areas of activity.

Earlier this month, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and Pembrokeshire County Council respectively approved both the DMP strategy and the proposal for a new Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO).

The resources and staff from the County Council’s Tourism (Destination Marketing) department will be transferred to Pembrokeshire Tourism, the county’s tourism trade organisation, with support and resources also coming from PCNPA and PLANED.

The new Pembrokeshire Tourism organisation will be led by the trade and will be able to deliver a wider range of activities including: destination marketing activity; campaign and project delivery; industry liaison and support; research and intelligence; advocacy, and other activities such as supporting and potentially delivering some events.

Jane Rees-Baynes, chair of Pembrokeshire Tourism said: “We at Pembrokeshire Tourism are delighted that the proposals have been approved by all DPP partners. We believe this is an exciting new start for tourism in Pembrokeshire.

“We will be working hard over the next few months to establish this new trade led organisation as one of the leading DMOs in the UK.

“Our members will continue to receive the same great benefits through the transition and can look forward to an enhanced offering once the new organisation is in full operation.”

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy, Tourism, Leisure and Culture, Paul Miller, said: “Far better than numerous, disparate entities working to support tourism in isolation, we will now have a single, joint plan together with a strong, well resourced, trade led organisation driving the Pembrokeshire 'destination'.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for the county to further develop our incredible tourism offer and to ensure Pembrokeshire is discovered by even more visitors from right across the globe.”

Iwan Thomas, Chief Executive, PLANED, said: “The delivery of this new strategy clearly demonstrates the commitment to partnership working here by these key organisations within Pembrokeshire.

“PLANED’s role has been to support the voice particularly of communities within the county, and the importance of the tourism and hospitality sector to those communities.

“With this new and exciting approach, we will continue to support our partners and the industry, to promote the alignment of communities to this key economic driver for Pembrokeshire, and the further opportunities this now presents.”

The Chairman of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Councillor Paul Harries said: “We are very pleased to support the creation of the new organisation aimed at improving the county’s tourism offering to enhance our reputation as a leading accessible and sustainable tourism destination.

“We look forward to working with partner bodies and the tourism trade to further develop work in this area.”

The new DMP will be formally launched at the Pembrokeshire Tourism Summit at Rhosygilwen on the 26th February. Contact the Pembrokeshire Tourism office on 01646 622228 to book tickets.