Free Images.

Hundred's of photos illustrating the best of Carmarthenshire are now available free from Carmarthenshire County Council. Collated over many years, glorious images taken from the air, taken from the sea and taken from the ground, have been uploaded to the photo sharing website "Flickr"

To access these photos click here >> Discover Carmarthenshire Flickr page

To download the images for Web use -

1.    Click on the image you wish to use.

2.    Select “Actions” and then View all sizes.

3.    Select the size you wish to use.

4.    Download the image to your computer desktop

5.    Use the image, but please do reference Discover Carmarthenshire.

If you wish to have the images for print please contact us on marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

 

Food tourism project bursary.

Taste Local is a new innovative food tourism project which has been launched with the aim of improving South West Wales’ food offer by exploring how delivery partners across the EU develop their local food culture.  This will help businesses in rural areas to develop potential markets both locally and trans-nationally.

The Carmarthenshire Local Action Group (LAG) has been successful in securing the funding of £219,640 to run this transnational project and the South West Wales Tourism Partnership (SWWTP) will deliver it over the next 15 months. Along with partners in Italy, Denmark, Greece and Spain , the partnership will develop a joint project which will give the tourism sector opportunities to build on food tourism through sector skills development,  marketing, branding and cultural activities.

Core components of the initiative will be the hosting of an international Food Tourism Conference, the development of a multilingual digital platform linked to a bursary scheme for food producers and the hospitality sector to visit partner countries to learn and share best practice.  The project will fund 80% of the total bursary cost up to a maximum of £800 per business, the target for the project being 40 bursaries. Taste Local is funded through the Co-operation Fund under Axis 4 of the Rural Development Plan (RDP) for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.  The Taste Local Bursary scheme will be open to all food and tourism businesses within the RDP areas of South West Wales through an application process.  For more information please contact Lowri Edwards on 01558 669091/07977 989723 or email: lowriedwards@gallu.org.uk  - www.ffres.org

Ghost Hunt in Castle House.

17^th November

Castle House , Carmarthen

Join Nick Humphries for a night of Ghost Hunting in Castle House, Carmarthen. A former police lockup, Castle House has will provide an exciting evening. During the night Nick will be performing some great experiments that you will be part of and documenting all the findings throughout the night.

The meeting starts at 8pm and finishes at 4am, please wrap up warm, the group will bring Tea and coffee and biscuits if you need a break, however please feel free to bring your own snacks and drinks.

To buy your places £20.00 per adult please go to  www.midnightparanormalgroup.co.uk
Payment to be made no later than by the end off day on Sunday the 11th November 2012. We look forward to seeing you there.  For further information on Nick Humphries please visit http://www.nick-humphries.com/

17 Tachwedd
Hen Dŷ’r Castell, Caerfyrddin

Ymunwch â Nick Humphries am noson o Hel Ysbrydion yn Hen Dŷ’r Castell, Caerfyrddin. Gan mai hen orsaf Heddlu yw’r Hen Dŷ, rydych yn siŵr o noson gyffrous. Yn ystod y noson bydd Nick yn perfformio rhai arbrofion gwych. Mae cyfle euraidd i chi fod yn rhan ohonynt, ac yn rhan o gadw cofnod o’r holl noson.
Bydd y noson yn dechrau am 8 yr hwyr ac yn gorffen am 4 y bore. Cofiwch lapio'n gynnes a bydd te, coffi a bisgedi ar gael os ydych chi angen seibiant. Fodd bynnag, mae croeso i chi ddod â'ch byrbrydau a diodydd.
I gadw lle (£20.00 yr oedolyn) ewch i www.midnightparanormalgroup.co.uk

Dylid sicrhau taliad erbyn diwedd y dydd ar ddydd Sul 11 Tachwedd 2012. Rydym  yn edrych ymlaen at eich gweld chi yno.  Am ragor o wybodaeth am Nick Humphries ewch http://www.nick-humphries.com/

Do you want to go Green?

Do you want to Go Green?

Carbon Trust Wales is launching a pilot study in Carmarthenshire to help businesses in the tourism sector address their energy saving potential. Forty businesses are needed for the study which will take place in the winter months.

 What’s in it for you?

 Organisations that take part in the study can look forward to:

-      Saving money

-      Reducing carbon emissions

-      Improving reputation as a green tourism business

-      Managing rising energy costs

-      Reducing maintenance costs

-      Improving controls and potentially improving grading

-      Increasing knowledge of new technologies

-      Gaining insight into available grants and funds

How does it work?
If your business is selected, Carbon Trust Wales will conduct an on-site survey in November looking at a range of areas including heating systems, lighting and appliances. Immediately following the survey you will be presented with an action plan outlining improvements that can be made. By the middle of December you will receive a full report on how the points outlined within the action plan can be delivered as well as information on the business case for implementing changes.

All participating organisations will be invited to the Carmarthenshire Tourism Summit in 2013 to share their findings from the project. Carbon Trust Wales will then also advise on establishing support on an ongoing basis.

I want to take part

Businesses will be selected on a first come, first served basis* so you need to register quickly to be in with a chance of taking part. Please click here and complete our online form to register your interest and Carbon Trust Wales will be in touch if you are successful.

 

*subject to selection criteria

 

Does your attraction, accommodation go bump in the night?

Halloween captures visitor’s and resident’s imaginations, everyone loves a good ghost story, both young and old love the idea of spooky goings on!  Carmarthenshire is a county rich in myth and legend, but also has a vast number of known hauntings, from haunted castles to haunted dual carriageways, we have it all!

For Halloween 2012 we are working on a paranormal promotion and want to know about any spooky goings on at your properties, do you own a haunted hotel, haunted guest house or a haunted B&B? Does your attraction go bump in the night? If so then let us know and we will add you to a paranormal package or include you in a haunted itinerary.

e-mail Marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

October half term latest offers.

Do you have any new products or special offers for the forthcoming Half Term holiday in October that you want to tell the whole of the UK?

The marketing & tourism section of the County Council has funded specialist tourism public relations support for over 2 years as it provides an outlet for your businesses to get access to the key English market by either supplying latest offers or new products. It is been very successful!

As we target the October 2012 half term holiday across the UK, we need you to send us your latest offers & new products to feed through to the travel editors. Email Sarah and Rhys at marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk with your details or for further information.

Download October 2012 Events FREE now.

Ensure your guests know what events are on in October when they staying in Carmarthenshire by  downloading the County Council's new monthly "What's On" PDF which is available at the following link. (To print, open the link, right click, and select the print option)

The what's on and events pages on http://www.discovercarmarthenshire.com/ are among the top two most visited pages of the website and are updated daily with a comprehensive listing.

Click here for Events listings

Great Spooky Offer!

We have found that nothing gets more attention in the press than a great spooky offer! With Halloween fast approaching make sure that people know about your Halloween events.

We would love to hear from you about any fantastic events or special offers you may have for Halloween. Let us know what the offer is and we will add it to www.discovercarmarthenshire.com and pass it on to our PR company to try and maximise any press coverage.

Rydym wedi dysgu nad oes dim sy'n cael mwy o sylw yn y wasg na chynnig gwych a ysbrydolwyd gan ysbrydion! Gyda Nos Galan Gaeaf yn nesáu, gofalwch fod pobl yn gwybod am eich digwyddiadau ar gyfer y noson. Byddem wrth ein boddau yn clywed gennych am y digwyddiadau gwych neu'r cynigion arbennig a all fod gennych dros gyfnod Nos Galan Gaeaf. Rhowch fanylion y cynnig inni ac fe wnawn eu rhoi ar www.darganfodsirgar.com a'u rhoi i'n cwmni cysylltiadau cyhoeddus er mwyn ceisio cael cymaint â phosibl o gyhoeddusrwydd i’r cynnig yn y wasg.

Meet the County Council - Elinos Walters

Carmarthenshire County Council has 9,500 employees that work in over 100 different services & one of these is Tourism and Marketing Assistant, Elinos Walters. Born, raised & passionate about Carmarthenshire Elinos has worked within the Economic Development Division of Carmarthenshire County Council for seven years and began her time here within the tourist information centre in Carmarthen. Elinos has a varied role within the team, from leading on campaigns such as Fishing and Carmarthenshire BBQ week to facilitating Heritage Tourism grant projects such as ‘Romans in Carmarthenshire’ and ‘Princes of Deheubarth and Lords of the Southern March’. Elinos has recently offered marketing assistance to the Regional Learning Partnership based at Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli.

A fluent welsh speaker with a Masters degree in Tourism Management from the University of Wales Trinity St David’s & a degree in Sport Studies, Health & Exercise, Elinos current duties are to develop marketing strategies for the major towns within the county and to identify products that will enhance the visitor experience. Elinos is available via email marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Mae gan Gyngor Sir Caerfyrddin 9,500 o weithwyr sy'n gweithio mewn mwy na 100 o wahanol wasanaethau ac un o'r gweithwyr hyn yw Elinos Walters, Cynorthwy-ydd Twristiaeth a Marchnata. Mae Elinos, a gafodd ei geni a'i magu yn Sir Gaerfyrddin ac sy’n llawn brwdfrydedd dros y sir, wedi gweithio yn Is-adran Datblygu Economaidd Cyngor Sir Caerfyrddin ers saith mlynedd. Yng Nghanolfan Groeso Caerfyrddin y cychwynnodd ei chyfnod yma. Mae rôl Elinos yn y tîm yn un amrywiol sy'n cynnwys arwain ymgyrchoedd Pysgota ac Wythnos Farbeciw Sir Gaerfyrddin, hyrwyddo prosiectau grantiau Twristiaeth Treftadaeth megis 'Y Rhufeiniaid yn Sir Gaerfyrddin' a ‘Thywysogion y Deheubarth ac Arglwyddi Mers y De'. Yn ddiweddar mae Elinos wedi rhoi cymorth marchnata i'r Bartneriaeth Ddysgu Ranbarthol sydd â'i swyddfeydd ym Mharc y Scarlets yn Llanelli.

A hithau'n siarad Cymraeg yn rhugl a chanddi radd Meistr mewn Rheoli Twristiaeth o Brifysgol Cymru y Drindod Dewi Sant a gradd mewn Astudiaethau Chwaraeon, Iechyd ac Ymarfer Corff, dyletswyddau presennol Elinos yw datblygu strategaethau marchnata ar gyfer prif drefi'r sir a dod o hyd i gynnyrch a fydd yn cyfoethogi profiad yr ymwelydd. Gellir cysylltu ag Elinos drwy anfon neges e-bost at marketing@sirgar.gov.uk.

Tour Operator visiting Carmarthenshire - sort of secretly

Carmarthenshire Council & Visit Wales have arranged for Tour Operator Alainn Tours to explore Carmarthenshire on the 4 & 5 October 2012 visiting Laugharne, Llandeilo & Llandovery.  Based in Sligo in Ireland, they currently offer packages for Ireland & Scotland but are keen to include Wales in 2013. They target Belgium, France & Switzerland (couples, families with kids, small groups of friends up to 9 in order to fit in a minibus with most of their packages including accommodation B&B.

Although an itinerary has been sent on, no appointments have been made and it is possible that Mr Rouxel may just turn up and knock on some accommodation doors. Should it be you, then we hope you sell your property and area to him. Should you require more information on this visit please contact Sarah Owen at marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

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Mae Cyngor Sir Caerfyrddin a Chroeso Cymru wedi trefnu i Alainn Tours, cwmni teithiau, ddod i grwydro Sir Gaerfyrddin ar 4 a 5 Hydref 2012 gan ymweld â Lacharn, Llandeilo a Llanymddyfri. Ar hyn o bryd mae'r cwmni, sydd o Sligo yn Iwerddon, yn cynnig pecynnau gwyliau i ymweld ag Iwerddon a’r Alban ond mae'n awyddus i gynnwys Cymru yn 2013. Mae’r cwmni’n targedu Gwlad Belg, Ffrainc a'r Swistir (parau, teuluoedd sydd â phlant, grwpiau bach o ffrindiau – hyd at 9 o bobl, er mwyn i bawb allu teithio mewn bws mini ac mae'r mwyafrif o'i becynnau'n cynnwys llety Gwely a Brecwast.

Er bod y daith wedi'i hanfon, ni threfnwyd cyfarfod â neb ac mae'n bosibl y gall Mr Rouxel gyrraedd yn ddirybudd a galw heibio i ddrysau lletyau. Os bydd yn galw heibio i chi, gobeithiwn y gwnewch farchnata eich eiddo a'ch ardal iddo. Os oes arnoch angen rhagor o wybodaeth am yr ymweliad hwn, anfonwch neges e-bost at Sarah Owen, marketing@sirgar.gov.uk

 

Free advertising opportunities for 2013

Carmarthenshire County council are offering all accommodation providers in Carmarthenshire FREE line entry listings in our Discover Carmarthenshire Guide, website and any future promotional publications

To receive this free line entry please complete the following bedstock survey CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE BEDSTOCK SURVEY ON LINE  or call Michelle on 01554 744376

Broadband Survey / Arolwg Byd Eang.

Broadband Survey for Rural Carmarthenshire

Please take a few minutes to fill in this questionnaire and help us gain knowledge of the broadband service in your area and how it could be improved:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NCBDGBH

To find out more about RDP Sir Gâr and the grants and support available, please call 01267 242 366, visit or visit www.wwec.org.uk

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Arolwg Band Eang ar gyfer y Sir Gaerfyrddin Wledig

A allech dreulio ychydig funudau yn llenwi'r holiadur hwn er mwyn ein helpu i gael dealltwriaeth o'r gwasanaeth band eang yn eich ardal ac o sut y gellid ei wella?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X2R5XG5

I gael rhagor o wybodaeth ynghylch RDP Sir Gâr a'r grantiau a'r cymorth sydd ar gael, a fyddech cystal â ffonio 01267 242 366, neu mynd i www.wwec.org.uk

Meet the Council - Sian Williams

Carmarthenshire County Council has 9,500 employees that work in over 100 different services. One of these is Marketing & Tourism officer Sian Williams, who is currently delivering two rural development grants called Strengthening The Tourism Appeal of Rural Carmarthenshire” and “Supporting Farmers to Diversify”.

Born and bred in Fishguard, Sian moved to Carmarthenshire 11 years ago after a spell of living and working in various other areas of England & Wales and is a keen advocate of all that Carmarthenshire has to offer. Sian started her career with the County Council as the marketing officer for Llanelli’s stunning Millennium Coastal Park before spells in the main County Council press office in Carmarthen, with the Town Parks section before spending a number of years as the Events Officer developing events such as the Llanelli Big Day Out, Merlin Festival, street markets as well as the various Christmas lights switch-ons. 2008 saw a move to the Marketing & Tourism section with the roll out of the Dog Friendly tourism promotion among her credits before settling into a three year economic development role developing the Carmarthenshire product in rural areas

Visit Wales business offers page

You may already be aware that Visit Wales have developed a Business Offers page on http://www.businessevents.visitwales.com/, which is the main promotional tool for marketing business tourism in Wales.

The aim  is to promote any special offers that the Wales trade are promoting.

For details of current offers click here.


If you are already listed in the attached, please let us know if the information is still current. If you're not already listed, please send details of your special offers to productnews@wales.gsi.gov.uk and marketing@discovercarmarthenshire.gov.uk

Visit Wales Campaign and Response rates

Discover Carmarthenshire bought into the Visit Wales campaigns in January 2012 an extensive campaign was devised for January to March generating 5951 brochure requests for Carmarthenshire. Last week we announced the plans for the Visit Wales Autumn campaign. We were pleased to received a significant amount of interest from the trade and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for sending us your packages.

We hope that the Visit Wales Autumn Campaign will generate a significant amount of brochure requests for Carmarthenshire, and direct more traffic to www.discovercarmarthenshire.com.  The campaign focuses on +45 couples, ABC1 'Personal Explorers' who are interested in heritage and culture (theatres, art galleries, museums) walking and well-being. Carmarthenshire’s Autumn campaign is highlighted with a banner advert on the homepage feeding through to a landing page with a wealth of information on historical, creative, inspirational and cultural things to do in the county http://www.discovercarmarthenshire.com/heritage/proper-holidays.html. We have linked the Visit Wales ‘proper holiday’ branding to the campaign. It is hope that improving the information on www.discovercarmarthenshire.com will increase the response rate for Carmarthenshire and bring the consumer closer to our product offering and converting interest into bookings for you.  

I hope you like the campaign, if you have any feedback you wish to share with us or if you are interested in being involved please don’t hesitate to contact Sarah Owen or email marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Meeting the needs of our visitors. / Cwrdd ag anghenion ein hymwelwyr.

Discover Carmarthenshire is currently undertaking a Bedstock Survey of the county.

The Purpose is to develop an accurate database on the size and nature of our accommodation stock in Carmarthenshire. The basic information is essential to help us all plan, and better meet the needs of our current visitors, provide the right sort of accommodation to enhance our share of the changing tourism market and to justify tourism as a significant contributor the local economy.

All information will be used for research purposes only, business and personal details will remain strictly confidential with partnership organisations and any figures published will be in aggregated form only.

On line form   -  Please spare 10 minutes of your time to complete the following on line form, it would be very much appreciated. CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE BEDSTOCK SURVEY ON LINE 

OR

We will be calling you - Alternativley you will be receiving a phone call from the marketing and tourism department over the next couple of weeks, requesting the information needed for the Bedstock.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us on marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk or 01554 744376

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Ar hyn o bryd mae Darganfod Sir Gâr yn cynnal Arolwg Gwelyau yn y sir.

Y diben yw creu cronfa ddata fanwl gywir ynghylch maint a math y llety sydd ar gael yn Sir Gaerfyrddin. Mae'r wybodaeth sylfaenol yn hanfodol er mwyn i ni gyd gynllunio, a diwallu anghenion ein hymwelwyr presennol yn well, darparu'r math iawn o lety i wella ein rhan ni o'r farchnad dwristiaeth sy'n newid ac er mwyn cyfiawnhau bod twristiaeth yn cyfrannu'n sylweddol i'r economi lleol.

Bydd yr holl wybodaeth yn cael ei defnyddio at ddibenion ymchwil yn unig. Bydd y manylion personol a busnes yn cael eu cadw'n gwbl gyfrinachol a dim ond gan y cyrff sy'n bartneriaid inni. Ar ffurf cyfansymiau yn unig y bydd y ffigurau'n cael eu cyhoeddi.

Ffurflen ar lein Byddem yn dra diolchgar pe gallech dreulio 10 munud yn llenwi'r ffurflen ar lein canlynol. CLICIWCH YMA I FYND I'R AROLWG STOC GWELYAU AR LEIN

Neu

Byddwn yn eich galw - Byddwch yn derbyn galwad ffôn gan yr adran marchnata a thwristiaeth dros yr  wythnosau nesaf, yn gofyn am y wybodaeth sydd ei hangen ar gyfer y stoc gwelyau.

Os oes gennych unrhyw ymholiadau, mae croeso ichi gysylltu â ni drwy anfon neges e-bost at marketing@sirgar.gov.uk neu drwy ffonio 01554 744376

FREE - Tourism & hospitality business roadshow.

A Series of events offering  - Advice   - Support   - Networking

These informal events, offer you the opportunity to meet face to face with friendly and helpful representatives from a range of the key tourism support organisations.
Information, advice on marketing, advertising, quality grading, making the most of your website and IT systems, grants, business development, training courses, money saving and more will be available.

Representatives from the following will be available to meet you:
- Carmarthenshire County Council Tourism & Marketing department
- Rural Tourism Clusters Project (part of Carmarthenshire's Rural Development Plan)
- Carmarthenshire Tourist Association
- Visit Wales Quality Assurance / Grading Scheme
- Visit Wales Digital Tourism Project
- Carmarthenshire's Strengthening the Appeal of Rural Tourism Grant Fund
- Gallu, Ffres and Galluogi - Skills development and training for tourism and hospitality
- Gigall Web Design (CTA's website developer and adviser) - on hand to give advice on making your website work better for you.

There's no need to book a place, just call in at your own convenience to the venue of your choice between 11am and 3pm! 

Tuesday 11 September: Jabajak Vineyard Restaurant with Rooms, Llanboidy
Thursday 13 September: Gwesty'r Emlyn Hotel, Newcastle Emlyn
Tuesday 18 September:  Machynys  Peninsula Golf & Country Club, Llanelli  
Wednesday 19 September:  Castle Hotel, Llandovery

August website stats, & web generated leads, now avaialbe.

If you wish to know how many leads were generated from the Discover Carmarthenshire Website to your website, please e-mail marketing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk 

To receive these figures you will need to show us where on your website, the link to Discover Carmarthenshire is located.

SNAPSHOT
During AUGUST, 75% (up 2%) of the visits came from search engines
During AUGUST, 26% (up 4%) of the visits were from mobile devices (mainly iPad and iPhone)
During AUGUST, 26% (up 1%) of the visits were return visits

Top 3 most popular sections of the website were -
(1) What's On (17%)
(2) Family (10%)
(3) Activities (9%)
  

Top 3 visiting countries (outside UK)
(1) United States (50% up on July)
(2) Germany
(3) France

Top 3 referring sites (excluding Corporate site, search engines)
(1) Visitwales.co.uk
(2) Southwestwales.info
(3) PfmPhotographic.zenfolio.com