Ahead of this year’s Wales Ambassador Week Llangollen and Corwen Railway staff and volunteers have become Denbighshire Tourism Ambassadors.
The Denbighshire Ambassador Course provides online training opportunities to learn and improve your knowledge of the County’s unique characteristics and is a part of the wider Wales Ambassador Scheme, which provides people with free online training and knowledge on the special qualities of other areas across Wales.
Similar courses are also offered in Eryri National Park, Conwy, Gwynedd, Anglesey, Flintshire, Wrexham, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
Wales Ambassador Week, which takes place between 18-22 November, has a range of activities organised throughout the week, aiming to highlight the diverse range of people who have benefitted from becoming an ambassador through the Wales Ambassador Scheme.
The scheme itself is open to everyone and offers a way to learn more about Wales through a series of online modules on a variety of themes. Set to launch in November, members will be able to access the new coastal paths and national trails module, where they can learn more about the Welsh Coastline with a specific focus on Offa’s Dyke Path which runs through Denbighshire, the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and Glyndwr’s Way.
There are currently over 4,850 people registered on the Wales Ambassador Scheme with over 3660 people already at the bronze level. More than 8,750 bronze, silver and gold badges have been awarded so far, with over half of the bronze achievers progressing through the modules to reach the gold standard.
Nicola Reincke the Llangollen Railway Training and Quality Manager said:
“We decided to introduce the Denbighshire Tourism Ambassador Scheme as a voluntary course for our customer-facing staff and volunteers to undertake as we felt it would enrich the customer experience we can give to our visitors at the railway. In the space of two weeks, we had 10 people achieve gold standard and many more are on their journey.
“The uptake and feedback have been tremendous. Even though I have lived and worked nearby all my life, I now need to revisit all the towns in Denbighshire to explore what I have learned in the scheme. It is a fascinating course to undertake and gives people a thorough and rich understanding of our communities and our history in Denbighshire”.
Councillor Alan James, Lead Member for Local Development and Planning said:
“It’s really encouraging to see individuals within the tourism industry in the County benefitting from this ambassador scheme. The Council are committed to managing the scheme and continuing to work with our partners to explore new opportunities, to improve the experience that tourists have when visiting Denbighshire. The introduction of the new coastal path and walking trails module is a great example of this.”
