A new campaign has been launched to attract high-spending Japanese tourists to North Wales – with a bit of help from superspy James Bond.
Jim Jones, the CEO of North Wales Tourism, will be banging the drum for the region after being invited to address an international symposium on the island of Hokkaido in September.
The organisation started forging closer links with the tourism operators in the Land of the Rising Sun in 2015 after Conwy was the only UK town included in a list of Europe’s 30 most beautiful towns and villages.
In 2018 the Japanese Association of Travel Agents (JATA) selected the A55 as one of the Top 20 most beautiful roads in Europe, naming it the Road of Castles in Wonderland.
The following year it led to the castles in Conwy and the Japanese city of Himeji being twinned as part of an historic agreement.
Both fortresses date back to the 13th century and are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The spectacular five storey wooden castle in Himeji also provided a backdrop to the classic James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice.
The close ties and promotion by North Wales Tourism and JATA of the two areas led to a big increase in Japanese tourists coming to North Wales.
The annual influx reached a high of 4,500 staying in North Wales, before everything came to a crashing halt during Covid.
The links are now being rebuilt and recently Rebecca Evans, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, signed a five year extension to the Memorandum of Understanding between Conwy and Himeji on behalf of the Welsh castle town.
Now Jim Jones is hoping that his appearance at the global symposium which takes place every four years will also help to develop a new relationship and build the number of Japanese tourists coming to North Wales up to pre-Covid levels.
“Things were going really well until Covid happened which led to the flow of Japanese visitors drying up,” he said.
“In Himeji they recognise the relationship with big posters at their tourism information centres promoting the links between Himeji and Conwy. It’s really important to them.
“I recently attended the World Expo in Osaka to promote North Wales on behalf of Visit Britain and in November, the Mayor of Himeji and a delegation will be visiting Conwy again.
“In the meantime, we have appointed our own ambassadors to assist our engagement, Emiko Corney, a Japanese businesswoman from Betws y Coed has been a great help and runs her own You Tube channel promoting North Wales, especially in the city of Beppu where she has particularly strong connections.
“We have now also appointed Yoko Kobori as a new ambassador to lead our efforts in Japan in terms of cultural and business outreach. She previously worked for the Welsh Government and has an in depth knowledge of North Wales.
As part of the campaign, North Wales Tourism has adopted the Castles in Wonderland as one of its high end tour itineraries.
It includes a visit to Mostyn Hall in Flintshire to see Lord Mostyn, who gives a guided tour of his ancestral home in Japanese.
Mr Jones added: “In the meantime, Welsh Government have identified 2025 as the Year of Wales in Japan and that’s led to a huge amount of interaction and that’s put boosters under the profile of North Wales.
“Being invited to speak at the international symposium in Hokkaido is another great opportunity to promote the region.
“I’ll be talking about how we raise the profile of North Wales through our language, culture and heritage which are so important in establishing our sense of place and give us a unique selling point.
“It’s a theme that resonates particularly with them because the Japanese government are trying to promote the Ainu language and culture in northern Japan which includes Hokkaido.
“There is also lot synergy with Hokkaido between our UNESCO GeoPark on Ynys Mon and their two UNESCO GeoParks.
“They’re also very keen to learn what we do in terms of Adventure tourism, which has been a huge success for us.
“It gives me an opportunity to go out there and showcase what North Wales is all about as part of the wider campaign to attract more Japanese visitors here.
“This is giving us a huge platform on the world stage to share the joys of visiting North Wales.
“The potential to boost our economy is huge because the Japanese are known as big spenders and they travel in big groups and before Covid we had about 4,500 staying in the Conwy area. and that’s what we want to get back to and build on.
“As two nations, we have so much in common. The Japanese have a real fondness for Wales and our flag and the Welsh dragon and what we have to offer as a destination.”
