A summer
in Wales
Wales is keen to get delegates outdoors this summer
ales highlighted
the benefits of
nature for
delegate wellbeing
with the launch of the ‘Year of the
Outdoors’ at IBTM World, 19-21
November.
This latest thematic year aims to
reinforce the country’s renowned
strengths in everything from outdoor
pursuits, sports and adventure to
mindfulness and wellbeing. The year
will also celebrate the country’s
outstanding natural landscape and
wealth of outdoor experiences,
including its three National Parks,
600 Castles and its 870-mile Coastal
Path which make Wales the only
country in the world with a
continuous walking path around its
entire coastline.
The Year of the Outdoors will
include two recently-secured major
international showcases to be
hosted in 2020 at the Celtic Manor
Resort and the newly opened ICC
Wales. Meet GB – VisitBritain’s
flagship event for the international
business events community – will
take place in April 2020,
incorporating themes of wellbeing,
nature and sustainability using
inspiration from ICC Wales’ woodland
surroundings. Wales will also host
the International Golf Travel Market
(IGTM) in October 2020 - the first
time the global B2B event for the golf
travel industry has been hosted in
the UK. The event will showcase
Wales’ business strengths combined
with beautiful natural terrain, suitable
for the year-round golf offering that
exists across Wales. The country is
home to 200 golf courses, from
Above: Llyn Bochlwyd, a
lake in Snowdonia, Wales
Opposite: Rhossili Bay
Beach, Gower Peninsula,
Wales
historic seaside links to beautifully
manicured parkland resorts.
Earlier in 2019, the new ICC Wales
published ‘The Great Outdoors – how
the natural world can enhance a
business events experience’. The
report focused on four main themes:
the need for more nature in our lives
given the levels of stress that many
of us face in the events industry; the
positive benefits nature can bring to
an event experience, including
greater learning and wellbeing
experiences; how Wales is
harnessing its environmental
strengths through its natural
landscapes and emerging
technologies; and how event
professionals can make the most of
nature in event planning, including a
ten-point guide to making an event
“nature-friendly”.
Wales’ wider outstanding natural
landscape also makes the country
ideal for summer conference
www.conference-news.co.uk
5
Summer Events
experiences. Visitors to the capital,
Cardiff, can easily refresh and
recharge and explore the great
outdoors in the middle of the bustling
city. Delegates can head to Bute
Park, next to Cardiff Castle and
experience ‘forest bathing’, embark
on a seasonal walk and discover the
beautiful array of trees, or meet the
beekeepers.
Alternatively, The Vale Resort,
home to Hensol Castle, is set in 650
acres of Welsh countryside just six
miles outside Cardiff City Centre. The
resort has partnered with Call of the
Wild for outdoor team building events
including clay shooting, archery and
canyoning, and earlier this year, the
resort earned itself a coveted place
in the first edition of Lonely Planet’s
Wellness Escapes book.
North Wales, known as the
adventure capital of Wales, offers a
vast range of unique attractions with
innovative reinventions of former
industrial landscapes.
Out-of-conference activities include
Zip World, the fastest zip line in the
world and Adventure Parc Snowdonia
for outdoor team building and
incentive activities such as off-road
pump track and mountain bike skills.
Mid Wales is home to the Centre
for Alternative Technology (CAT), an
eco-centre that researches and
supports greener ways of living, and
is home to Europe’s foremost
eco-centre WISE. CAT offers practical
workshop spaces and new
experiences range from traditional
crafts and sustainable building to
ecology and organic gardening.