Lord Elis-Thomas met with owner of Zip World – Sean Taylor and saw the three sites in north Wales – Zip World Fforest at Betws y Coed; Zip World Slate Caverns in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Zip World Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda. The company have also established a Headquarters in Llanrwst and between all sites, employ 350 people at peak times.
Zip World was named as the Best Attraction in the National Tourism Awards for Wales 2018 which took place last month. During the awards, north Wales also scooped a Visit Wales special award for International Achievement.
During his tour of the sites, the Minister heard how the Zip World team have had a very busy Easter and are looking forward with confidence to the summer season.
Sean Taylor said:
“As a local boy myself, I was delighted to show Lord Elis-Thomas the exciting developments we have made in the past 5 years at our 3 sites and the positive impact it has had on the local community he grew up in.
“Despite Easter being early this year, we were thrilled to welcome nearly 30,000 adventure seeking guests to our sites. It shows that the innovative developments we have made really capture people’s imagination. We have more projects in the pipeline so are looking forward to another exciting year for the company.”
The Tourism Minister, said:
“I’m delighted that the Welsh Government has been able to support the growth of Zip World, this is an excellent example of private sector innovation and public sector support really making an impact in the global market place. The way the team have reinvented and repurposed our industrial landscape to create a series of truly world class attractions has had international recognition – from the likes of the Lonely Planet – and contributed to north Wales’ growing reputation as an adventure destination. I wish Sean and the team well with their future plans which will continue to give people compelling reasons to come to Wales.”
