An adrenaline-fuelled adventure centre has ploughed £5 million into upgrading its facilities to tap into the lucrative business tourism market.
Adventure Parc Snowdonia says it now has “the complete package” to attract more conferences, team building courses, away days and other corporate events to the trail-blazing complex in Dolgarrog in Conwy.
One of the final pieces in the jigsaw was the opening of the on-site, 106-bedroom Hilton Garden Hotel last year offering first class accommodation.
The hotel includes four conference rooms catering for events with up to 175 people or smaller meetings for around a dozen people.
All of them have been kitted out with sophisticated hybrid meeting technology systems and been named after famous Snowdonia peaks – Yr Wyddfa, Crib Goch, Tryfan and Moel Siabod.
The centre has also invested in creating a special kitchen for catering demonstrations and a luxury spa with yoga and meditation rooms.
The aim is to develop the centre as an all-year-round destination to generate business in the shoulder months outside the traditional tourism season, create more jobs for local people and boost the regional economy.
Dylan Evans, groups and events sales manager, said: “We’ve got all the facilities and the technology you need as a conference or meeting venue and an incredible variety of high adrenaline activities which are perfect for team building and leadership exercises.
“In addition to having the world’s first inland surfing lagoon, other outdoor activities include obstacle course racing, brand new large inflatable equipment, stand up paddle boards and raft building for the more competitive.
“We also have a host of undercover options like including indoor caving, climbing, high ropes, ninja courses and extreme slides.
“For anyone who wants to take it back to nature and enjoy the outdoor vibe, then we have a tepee that proves quite popular even among some corporate clients because it is something that’s slightly different, getting out of the hotel. We’ll even put on something like barbecue buffets.
“We’ve got the whole package with everything right on the doorstep and in an absolutely stunning location.
“It means we can be operational 52 weeks of the year and create more jobs for local people and help boost the economy in the Conwy Valley.
“One of the advantages we have is our proximity to the large conurbations of the North West and the Midlands.
“The potential is huge. The business tourism market in the UK is worth £25 billion a year and we want to grab a bigger slice of the action.”
Among the big names who’ve already been attracted to Adventure Parc Snowdonia are Red Bull, Liverpool FC, the Huddersfield Giants rugby league team and the Scarlets rugby union team.
More recently a television production company chose the centre as its base for four days of filming for a flagship drama on S4C, Yr Amgueddfa (The Museum).
Nearly 40 actors and members of the production team from Boom Cymru stayed at the Hilton hotel during the shoot for the second series of the popular show which starts on Boxing Day.
Production co-ordinator Catrin Brooks said: “It’s been great. We’ve been filming up in Llyn Eigiau and this has been a great centre for us to be able to dress the cast and do the make-up, work as a production office and obviously a place to stay for cast and crew as well. It’s been a very convenient as a location.”
Jim Jones, the chief executive of North Wales Tourism, said: “Adventure Parc Snowdonia is one of the jewels in our tourism crown and has played a key role in establishing North Wales as the Adventure Capital of Europe.
“Now it is adding another string to its bow as a first class location for a range of corporate events and team building exercises.
“I am really pleased with the support Adventure Parc Snowdonia has given towards the collaboration between some of the best conference, events and corporate marketing venues across North Wales, under the Meet North Wales branding.
“Developing and expanding business tourism in North Wales is an important part of our overall strategy to extend the season so that we can attract people to the region throughout the year.
“I recall in the early days the owner, Martin Ainscough, and his son, Andy, the managing director of Adventure Parc Snowdonia, saying that they wanted to create a destination that caters for all ages, and they have certainly done that.
“It is such a unique destination, especially for the corporate market. We at North Wales Tourism wish them every success.”
