Year of Croeso marks the next in a successful series of themed years led by Visit Wales. Our flagship marketing campaign for Wales, Hwyl (the Welsh word for fun) will be delivered under the umbrella of the themed year and will focus on the feelings of fun and joy that you can experience "Only in Wales".
Maxine Hughes, of Welcome to Wrexham fame and journalist, also features as part of the campaign to explain ‘hwyl’ and how Wales is the best place to experience it.
We are inviting stakeholders in industry to work closely with us once again as we shout even more loudly to the world about our unique Welsh Croeso (welcome) and celebrate our iconic experiences, products, destinations and culture, that can be found only in Wales; must do experiences that we want to invite visitors to feel, taste and see.
Croeso was chosen as a theme in part due to industry feedback and is:-
- A theme that any stakeholder (internal and external, private, third sector, public sector) can embrace (similar to Llwybrau. Wales by Trails)
- A strong message that works for consumer, travel trade and media audiences and activity
- A foundation to use around major events and media activity peaks
- Perfect for highlighting Sense of Place and our unique Croeso
Get involved - Wall of Hwyl
As part of our marketing campaign a Wall of Hwyl / Wal Hwyl is featured on the Visit Wales homepage. The “wall” is filled with moments of fun and joy – hwyl - throughout Wales and we are asking visitors to tag us so that it features people having fun in Wales. Please use the following tags #FeeltheHwyl, #Hwyl, #VisitWales and #CroesoCymru. User generated content (UGC) will populate the feed throughout the year, but to start i.e. at launch, Visit Wales will be using some of our own favourite hwyl filled posts.
If you would like your business or destination to be considered to feature as part of the Wall of Hwyl content, please email Croeso@gov.wales – all we need is a contact name, email and your business name, and then we will get in touch to let you know what kind of video or post we are looking for and help you with how to feature.
Resources and assets
Our toolkit for the Year of Croeso is available to help stakeholders work closely with us once again.
The toolkit includes our new Working with Us guide, the Year of Croeso logo and high-quality imagery for industry to download and use in related marketing activity. You can download the content by logging on or registering on Assets: Year of Croeso Toolkit | Visit Wales. We will also be providing some key messaging for use in your material.
When welcoming visitors, help them experience their unique moments of hwyl safely. Take a look at the Adventure Smart toolkit to find out how to keep your customers safe and comfortable in the outdoors, so they shout about and share their wonderful stories of great experiences.
For more details about our Hwyl campaign and our Year of Croeso in Wales, watch the Visit Wales Marketing webinar held 17 October.
