Inspired by St Non – celebrated on 2 March as the mother of St David - and in recognition of the rise in trend of female group travel, Visit Wales has introduced four new female-focused itineraries to their website. These itineraries encourage female groups to come feel the hwyl in Wales, emphasising wellbeing, adventure, and multi-generational get-togethers and tapping into the growing trend of ‘girl gang’ breaks. 

Female group travel has become a key travel trend for 2025. Visit Wales insights show us:

• The hashtag #GirlTrip has been viewed more than 7m times on TikTok in the last 120 days.
  
• On Pinterest, “Girls Trip” has seen a 20% year on year increase and 38% increase in mentions across social platforms - as well as spawning millions of the ‘when the girls trip leaves the group chat’ memes.

Read Visit Wales' full update on this here.

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The National Tourism Awards for Wales (NTAW) ceremony will take place on Thursday, 27 March at Venue Cymru, Llandudno. This marks the first time the awards have been held since 2018, offering a platform to recognise and celebrate excellence in Welsh tourism, hospitality, and events.

There are still a few tickets available for the event which is open to all tourism businesses or events who wish to enjoy this prestigious evening of celebration. Get your tickets on the NTAW website.

Highlights of the event:

• Celebrate excellence
• Network with industry leaders
• Special performances: The evening will feature performances that celebrate Welsh culture and talent, including Welsh of the West End group who reached the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent and Band Pres Llareggub, who bring a new modern twist to the age-old tradition of brass bands from the slate mining villages of North Wales.
  
  

For further information please email [email protected].

A list of the finalists and sponsors can be found on the NTAW website.

Join the National Tourism Awards for a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and network before the new tourism season begins.
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Bydd seremoni Gwobrau Twristiaeth Cenedlaethol Cymru (NTAW) yn cael ei chynnal ddydd Iau, 27 Mawrth yn Venue Cymru, Llandudno. Dyma’r tro cyntaf i’r gwobrau gael eu cynnal ers 2018, gan gynnig llwyfan i gydnabod a dathlu rhagoriaeth mewn twristiaeth, lletygarwch a digwyddiadau Cymreig.

Mae ychydig o docynnau ar gael o hyd ar gyfer y digwyddiad sy’n agored i bob busnes twristiaeth neu ddigwyddiad sy’n dymuno mwynhau’r noson fawreddog hon o ddathlu.  Mynnwch eich tocynnau ar wefan GTCC.
Uchafbwyntiau'r digwyddiad:

• Dathlu ragoriaeth
• Rhwydweithio ag arweinwyr diwydiant
• Perfformiadau arbennig: Bydd y noson yn cynnwys perfformiadau sy’n dathlu diwylliant a thalent Cymru, gan gynnwys Welsh of the West End a gyrhaeddodd rownd gynderfynol Britain’s Got Talent a Band Pres Llareggub, sy’n dod â thro modern newydd i draddodiad oesol bandiau pres o bentrefi glofaol Gogledd Cymru.
  
  

I gael rhagor o wybodaeth, ynglyn a’r gwobrau e-bostiwch [email protected]

Mae rhestr o'r rhai sydd wedi cyrraedd y rownd derfynol a'r noddwyr i'w gweld ar wefan GTCC.

Ymunwch â ni am gyfle gwych i ddathlu a rhwydweithio cyn i'r tymor twristiaeth newydd ddechrau.

Award winning Shrewsbury caravan and motorhome dealership Salop Leisure will be promoting Wales as a holiday destination and serving up traditional Welsh food to celebrate St David’s Day on Saturday.
 
The Shrewsbury based company, which also has sales centres in Machynlleth and Stourport-on-Sevem, will be flying the Welsh flag, handing out daffodils and serving up Welsh food favourites in its Love Coffee café and restaurant on March 1.
 
Salop Leisure always makes a special effort to celebrate St David’s Day because of the company’s important links with tourism in Mid Wales, which is at the heart of the business.
 
To bring a taste of Wales to the celebrations, Love Coffee will be serving up a special menu including leek and potato soup, bara brith and Welsh cakes.
 
St David’s Day also marks the traditional opening of the new tourism season, with caravan holiday home parks across Mid Wales welcoming back owners after a winter break.
 
Salop Leisure invests thousands of pounds every year promoting tourism in Mid Wales to existing owners and prospective buyers of holiday homes, touring caravans and motorhomes.
 
The company supplies caravan holiday homes and luxury lodges to more than 200 parks across Mid Wales and the Heart of England.
 
Salop Leisure’s co-managing director Dylan Roberts said: “St David’s Day is always an important date in the company’s calendar because Wales has always been at the heart of our business.
 
“It’s an opportunity to not only celebrate the country’s patron saint but also to promote the beautiful landscape and attractions that Wales has to offer visitors.”
 
Mr Roberts, who is also chairman of MWT Cymru, the independent organisation representing 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia, added: “Mid Wales is one of the most popular destinations in the UK with people looking to buy a caravan holiday home.
 
“Staycations in Mid Wales are important to the region’s economy and popular with people who want to escape to the wonderful seaside and into the fantastic countryside.”
 
Zoe Hawkins, chief executive of MWT Cymru, thanked Salop Leisure for continuing to promote the region as a tourist destination.
 
“Salop Leisure does a fantastic job to help us put the stunning Mid Wales countryside and coast on the map in two of our key target markets, the West Midlands and North West England,” she said. “Visitor surveys always highlight how important the caravan and camping sector is to the economy of Mid Wales.”

Andy Rowland, former ecodyfi managing director, with Aberystwyth University students, Spencer Voss and Emma Jones.

ecodyfi, the Machynlleth-based organisation for green energy and community development in the Dyfi valley, has changed its name to become the Dyfi Biosphere.
 
The name change coincide with a team of Aberystwyth University students sorting through ecodyfi’s records for donation to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
 
“The records cover an important period of the environmental movement in Wales and our students, who are all studying for our Master’s in Archives and Records Management, are gaining valuable professional experience by preparing them for permanent preservation,” said Dr Sarah Higgins, senior lecturer in the university’s Department of Information Studies.
 
ecodyfi was established in 1998 by representatives from Powys County Council, Dulas Ltd and many other partners with the aim of strengthening the local economy through a range of innovative activities.
 
These were to include sustainable tourism, sustainable energy and wellbeing, while bringing people together and developing a sense of place.
 
From 2009, ecodyfi also held the secretariat of the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere, the only Biosphere in Wales and one of more than 700 across the world. This status covers a larger area from Tywyn to Llanymawddwy and from Carno to Aberystwyth.
 
Andy Rowland, ecodyfi’s managing director since the start, retired last year. At that point, the ecodyfi board decided to invest its reserves in employing staff to develop the Biosphere and the company changed its name to Biosffer Dyfi.
 
“We are very pleased that Andy’s years of service to the local community have left ecodyfi in a very good position and we look forward to building on that as we develop the Dyfi Biosphere,” said Martin Ashby, co-chair of the Biosphere board.
 
The Biosphere is a learning space for sustainable development and has inspired a range of projects which have explored how economic activity can work with environmental aims, many of them carried out by ecodyfi.
 
These have included social prescribing for outdoor health, citizen science, the visual arts and storytelling, tourism and farming. Its most recent project, Tyfu Dyfi, focused on developing the local food economy.
 
“We are the only Biosphere in Wales,” said Jane Powell, former chair of the Biosphere partnership who with James Cass has taken over the co-ordinating role. “These are challenging times and it is good to be part of UNESCO with its international network of learning and research.”
 
Last year, the Biosphere received a £30,000 grant from Welsh Government as well as consultancy from the UK Commission for UNESCO which allowed it to run public activities, upgrade its website and social media and start work on a fundraising plan.
 
This archiving exercise is expected to connect with a UK-wide project called Oral History of the Environmental Movement based at Royal Holloway University London.
 
The Biosphere website is at www.dyfibiosphere.wales and www.biosfferdyfi.cymru.

​“If touring caravans haven’t been used for a period of time, it is vitally important that the owners get them checked out thoroughly and possibly serviced,” said Salop Leisure chairman Tony Bywater.
 
“If a touring caravan has been stored in the same place for a long time and not been moved occasionally, it’s possible that the tyres will bulge and then crack when inflated.
 
“In addition, over the years, the company has come across a range of common problems relating to the storage of touring caravans, including issues with the leisure batteries and spiders and other insects blocking gas and water pipes.
 
“Our advice is to prepare for your holiday well in advance because we want to ensure that the caravans are safe for the owners to use and enjoy this year.
 
“Touring caravans give so much pleasure to couples and families, but it’s essential that they are serviced every year before they are used. We service thousands of caravans in our Shrewsbury workshops and our staff are always on hand to offer advice.”
 
For advice about servicing a touring caravan or motorhome, contact Salop Leisure’s service team on Tel: 01743 282400.

Venture underground, make chocolates, paint pottery and shop for unique handmade crafts during February half term at popular Mid Wales visitor attraction, Corris Caverns.
 
Reopening on February 15, the Corris Café will serve delicious, homemade food and feature a pop-up Corris Crafts shop and Welsh Deli. The pop-up shop will open daily from 10am to 4pm and host a collection of unique handmade crafts designed and made at Corris Craft Centre. 
 
Items include handmade chocolates from Chocablock, handcrafted organic furniture from Taran Eco Designs and the much-coveted Dyfi Distillery Gins. Arthurian and dragon themed items from the on-site King Arthur’s Labyrinth shop will also feature.
 
Many of the Craft Workshops reopen their doors for half term too, some offering hands-on fun activities including pottery painting with the Quarry Pottery and chocolate bar and chocolate pizza workshops with  Chocablock.
 
Dyfi Distillery, with their multi-award winning gins and Delyn Glass, with their collection of glass sculptures, will also open.
 
Visitors will also be able to venture underground with Corris Mine Explorers on one of their award-winning trips into the former slate mine.
 
Corris Caverns is located just outside of the village of Corris, near Machynlleth.

Visitors to a North Wales art gallery will have a chance to immerse themselves in the mystical and ethereal world of photographic artist and nature writer Brad Carr in his upcoming exhibition, ‘Finding Light: A Journey into Nature to Find My Soul’.
 
The seven-week exhibition opens on May 11 and runs until July 6 at the prestigious Welsh gallery, Plas Glyn y Weddw in Llanbedrog.
 
The exhibition, a rare display of contemporary photography in such a gallery, features a collection of Brad’s finest photographs and accompanying pieces of writing that will communicate his wider mission for peace and unity that is driving his creativity.
 
He says ‘Finding Light’ is a testament to the great powers of the spirit of Mother Nature as Mid Wales-based Brad openly shares his deeply personal story of healing and transformation through the portal of nature.
 
From a fearful childhood marred with episodes of domestic abuse and violence, to a life of creativity and finding the light of purpose and meaning amidst his early experiences in the darkness, Brad say he now lives a life of service to nature.
 
He hopes to inspire people to go out in search of their own place of sanctuary within the natural world.
 
From wide-angled vistas of beautiful, untamed wilderness to intimate portraits of ancient trees and mystical Welsh woodland scenes, each photograph tells a unique story of the sacred landscape of our beautiful world.
 
The mystical photographs, often described by the artist as ‘self-portraits’, represent his internal emotional state at the time of creating and, therefore, introduce viewers to two worlds.
 
In his essay, ‘A bridge between two worlds’, he writes: ‘‘The camera is the bridge that connects these two worlds. Not only does it capture what it sees in the external world that is so familiar to us all, but it reflects, at the same time, the inner world of the artist, one that is completely unique and so often unknown and unseen, even by the artist’s eyes at times.’’
 
Brad often records his thoughts in his journal whilst immersed in the landscape and during his reflections that follow his adventures into the natural world.
 
These musings and contemplations often form the origins of his widely acclaimed creative essays that have reached international audiences in recent magazine publications.
 
Brad runs private photography tuition, group workshops, creative retreats, and has recently been invited to join the ranks of the prestigious Light & Land as a tutor. He is a member of MWT Cymru, the independent organisation representing 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Eryri (Snowdonia).

The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth has announced a series of exciting events to delve beneath surface of the ‘No Welsh Art’ exhibition, which challenges the myth that Wales has no visual culture of its own.
 
Curated by artist and art historian Peter Lord, the exhibition reveals the rich story of Wales’ visual culture, as well as its social and political history. It does so by combining Lord's extensive collection with items from the library’s National Art Collection. 
 
A rare opportunity to enjoy more than 250 works of art of national significance, the exhibition presents the visual world of the gentry, middle class and ordinary people of Wales, before moving on to various portraits of Welsh identities.
 
Several 'In Focus' events will take place between now and September, which will look at topics such as Women in Welsh Art, Patrons of Art, Secrets of Art, Art and Poetry, looking at the poems in ‘Afterlives’ with John Barnie, Art, Politics and Protest and Art and Identity.
 
Several distinguished speakers,  including Ceridwen Lloyd Morgan, Jill Piercy, Oliver Fairclough, John Barnie, Iwan Bala, Sara Rhoslyn, Mfikela Jean Samuel, Christine Mills and Lord will present these events.
 
In addition, there will be a series of ‘Art at Night’events, which will include a session to celebrate Pride month and a paint a pub sign session. 
 
For those who want to learn more about the exhibition itself and the special works on display, a guided tour will be held on the first Wednesday of the month in the company of Lord. Some of these will include British Sign Language interpretation.
 
The library will also hold special tours for blind or partially sighted visitors, making it the most accessible exhibition to date. 
During the school term, education workshops for primary and secondary pupils will be held to support the exhibition and these sessions will focus on identity.
 
During the visits, pupils will visit the Gregynog Gallery to investigate the works of art and will also have the opportunity to create a self-portrait – in pictures or words.
 
Several community projects will also be planned by the library's engagement team. 
For those who want to visit with children, there is a fun activities booklet available to keep them entertained.
 
A programme of activities for children and families will also be planned for the holidays, with details to be announced closer to the time. 
 
Full details of events can be found at https://www.library.wales/visit/things-to-do/exhibitions/no-welsh-art and tickets can be booked online at https://www.library.wales/visit/things-to-do/events .

The natural optimism of farmer, entrepreneur and charity worker, Llŷr Jones, shone through in an otherwise sobering CARAS Cymru Conference held at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells.
 
Navigating the Global Economic Landscape and its implications for future land use and food production in Wales was the conference theme.
 
Llŷr, who farms in Cerrigydrudion, told the gathering of elite Welsh farmers and agriculturalists that he looks for opportunity in any challenge. These include establishing a hydro plant and installing ground source heat pumps, as well as selecting white egg producing hens for efficiency and maximizing yield.
 
He explained that a ‘light bulb’ moment came in 2013 when he realised that without Single Farm Payment, his farm was losing money. The farm was now, after a lot of time, work and thought, resilient and providing a future for his family.
 
“When you get new policies and new rules coming in, I find they are just challenges that you have to overcome,” he said.
 
Examples of his adjustments include rearing 140 calves on a Cost of Production contract, after his feed bill increased by £30,000 a month after Ukraine was invaded. State of the art technology means he receives a text if one is unwell before there are any obvious signs.
 
He also changed to white hens because they produce 500 eggs a year, compared to a brown hen’s 340 eggs, increasing the flock’s egg production by three and a half million eggs. The move reduced the carbon footprint as the inputs are the same.
 
The Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) posed a new challenge and Llŷr found he could overcome the problem by building a taller poultry shed. This helped to reduce the amount of muck produced and the height meant heat could be drawn off from the hens to the muck pile, so evaporating the water and halving the amount of muck to be removed.
 
Two lorry loads of muck are sent to a farm in Cambridge each month. The cost of returning the straw works out at £95 to £100 a tonne for barley straw, a saving as the market price is around £130.
 
The scene had been set by Dr Calvin Jones, professor of economics at Cardiff Business School. He began by saying the only certainty was uncertainty. The cost of inputs under the Trump administration was likely to be more of a challenge to Welsh farmers in a potentially tariff oriented world than international demand for Welsh food.
 
He predicted a refocusing on what we can do in our country. Politicians in Cardiff Bay were much more focused on local resources, circularity and sustainability. It’s about optimizing, for instance, land use.
 
Rory Hutchings, agricultural lawyer and partner at HCR Law, told of his concerns that land being used for natural capital could become the ‘new green coal mining’, with the money made flowing out of Wales.
 
The dial towards public goods and not paying for production was moving faster and faster. Head winds such as world economics, policy and NRW were all factors businesses have to try and cope with.
 
There would still be excellent food producing farm businesses, but they wouldn’t be just doing that. They would have to think about farming schemes and there could be great opportunities in terms of landscape, nature and natural resources to sustain the diversified farm business of the future.
 
The answer might not be about getting more stock or doing more hours, but to do proper succession planning and think about what might work best.

The Royal Welsh Show has long been a highlight of the agricultural and equestrian calendar, showcasing the very best in breeding, skill, and horsemanship.
 
The 2025 event, set to take place at the Royal Welsh Showground in Llanelwedd, Builth Wells between July 21 and 24, is expected to draw thousands of visitors and competitors, all eager to witness the pinnacle of equine excellence.
 
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) has announced the panel of equine judges for this year’s highly anticipated show, minus a celebrity who will judge the Supreme Horse Championship.
 
The show  attracts top competitors and enthusiasts from across the country and beyond.
 
The judging panel comprises a distinguished group of experts, each bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the judging arena. Their expertise will ensure the highest standards of competition are maintained across the various equine classes.
 
The identity of the celebrity judge is being kept a secret until later this year.
 
This special guest promises to bring an added touch of prestige and anticipation to one of the show’s most celebrated events.
 
The full list of equine judges can be accessed via the show website: https://rwas.wales/royal-welsh/competitions-royal-welsh/ .