EMYR GRIFFITH OF WELSH RAREBITS ON FUTURE OF TOURISM

Wales has done much to shed its image as a bucket and spade holiday option. Yet, as
Emyr Griffith, founder of Welsh Rarebits, tells the Western Mail, the work in developing
vastly improved hotels, accommodation and restaurants is still fragile.

Emyr Griffith set up Welsh Rarebits Hotels in 1985, having been inspired during his time
as marketing director of the Wales Tourist Board. He noticed a lack of high standard
hotels, not just in terms of food and surroundings, but in the elusive qualities, which he
describes as “atmosphere, ambience and best of all, Croeso, the Welsh word for
welcome”.

“I was marketing director of the Wales Tourist Board until 1983 when I felt the urge to do
something for myself. I wanted to be hands on and more of a doer,” said Mr Griffith. “I
worked for a couple of years on a freelance basis for the BBC and S4C doing holiday
programmes. I set up Welsh Rarebit, purely because in my role with the Wales Tourist
Board I was very fortunate to see much of the world and it became clear to me that
people had a certain perception of Wales.”

“When I did presentations on Wales, some of the agents would hang back and then
afterwards say that Wales sounded fantastic, the scenery look beautiful but asked where
do people stay when they get there? This was almost 30 years ago and at that time we
had one Holiday Inn in Newport and another in Cardiff, the current Marriott Hotel – and
that was about it.”

“It got me thinking. In the States there was a travel directory, about two Yellow Pages in
thickness and it listed hotels under categories of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Wales took up about a quarter of a page, if that. It was because the only hotels listed
there were chain hotels and at that time, there weren’t even many of those in Wales.”

Mr Griffith saw the niche for someone to create a publication recommending the hotels
his homeland had to offer.

“In the 1980s Wales, along with Denmark, was one of the first countries to pioneer farm
tourism. Twenty-five years ago we had some really outstanding locations and many
lovely country hotels and some excellent farmhouses. I wanted to personally select
hotels that I would be proud to tell a friend about.”

It started with a collection of 19 hotels and six farmhouses but soon mushroomed to a
collection of now 54 hotels. “Back then I was really struggling to find enough hotels that
were of a high enough standard. It was quite a motley collection. I have to admit that
many of the hotels I included then would probably not be included now. In those days we
were charging around £400 to be in the brochure, that covered production costs and got
the project off the ground.”

He said that over almost three decades the standards of hotels in Wales have grown
beyond all recognition.

“Before that time the main thrust of tourism to Wales was largely self-catering: caravan
parks and cottages. In the mid-Eighties it was a boom time for that market, but I have
never been interested in that market.

Although, by his own admission, many of the hotels in Welsh Rarebits are “not cheap”,
he said customers now want quality with added value. The tourism experience has to be
a personal one and customers like to know who is hosting them.
“For each hotel in our brochure we have photos of the owners or the hosts on each page.
I think this is so crucial to the experience. A glossy hotel brochure is not enough.
Customers want to know if the hotel is family owned, or if it is part of a marketing
consortium.

“I think that the people who own and run the hotels are every bit as important as the
hotels themselves. It is almost like a guarantee, and similarly as a brochure, Welsh
Rarebits is recommending these hotels and as such we are putting our neck on the line,”
he added.

One of the things he was keen to get away from is what he describes as the “impersonal,
hotel inspector clip board mentality”.

“I work differently from how hotel inspectors or motoring association inspectors work in
assessing the quality of a place. You can’t just walk into a room and say ‘there should be
two chairs here, tick the box, and a shaving point here, tick, and a mirror there, tick.
Ambiance, atmosphere, a warm welcome and other little things like that don’t feature on
an assessment, it requires a personal touch.

“There are hotels where you walk in and are made to feel like they are doing you a great
favour in hosting you. That is the complete antithesis of what Welsh Rarebits is all about.”

Having grown the hotel portfolio for Welsh Rarebits, Mr Griffith’s recommendations
extended to another publication called Great Little Places, born out of requests for great
eateries and alternative places to stay in Wales.

“This really came from demand from customers who said they loved Welsh Rarebits and
used them very often, but that some of the hotels were quite expensive. They wanted to
know about really good farmhouses, restaurants with rooms and special little country
pubs. We have about 55 properties and 16 recommended places to eat.

“That is something that has not been entirely developed yet, but includes pubs,
restaurants, tea shops, a complete cross section of places that offer a good experience
and good value food.”

For the last eight years Mr Griffith has been a member of the Historic Hotels of Europe,
created with the objective of promoting global awareness for the 18 finest historic hotels
associations through a co- operative marketing strategy.

The hotels in the association represent their countries’ national cultural traditions, historic
heritage and architecture. For the last three years he has been vice-chair- man and said
that promoting Welsh culture and local produce was key to building the success of Welsh
tourism.
“Often in Wales we can be quite introspective and in the Historic Hotels of Europe we
have like-minded people who are promoting a similar type of hotels in their countries. The
emphasis is very much on history, culture and cuisine. That is something that is key for
all countries including Wales,” said Mr Griffith.

“I would be incredibly unhappy if I thought any of the Welsh Rarebit hotels were serving
things like kangaroo steaks or ostrich, especially when we have such an abundance of
fabulous locally produced food.”

He said that the new image of Wales has helped tourism hold its own during the recent
economic crisis. “We are now playing to our strengths. Wales is not just seen as a
bucket-and-spade destination and given the recent poor weather that’s just as well. We
are using our culture and history as an attraction in itself.
“The majority of Welsh Rarebits properties have certainly been holding their own in the
current climate, many have even done better than last year. A lot obviously depends on
location, but the key factor is whether people feel they are getting value for money.

“Most of our hotels aren’t that cheap but people are happy to pay for something of they
feel they are getting something special. At one time places like the Cotswolds and the
Lake District were considered the ultimate British destinations but now we have many
locations that would match any of those but they are much cheaper in terms of value.”

Mr Griffith said the fact that Wales was now championing locally-sourced food was a shot
in the arm for tourism. “The food scene is now key. Hotel chefs are now sourcing their
produce locally and celebrating that. In our Great Little Places brochure we get funding
from the True Taste Awards and we feature the top food festivals and farmers’ markets in
Wales. They are so important to our success. There are so many fabulous local food
producers across Wales and we are now recognising the importance of making use of
them.”

He said more and more of the Welsh Rarebits hotels are putting on special menus where
they have a “ten-mile menu” of locally-sourced ingredients. “The idea is to offer a choice
of starters, main courses and desserts made purely of ingredients sourced from within a
ten-mile radius. This is something that has to be celebrated. There is no point putting
‘Welsh Lobster’ on your menu. If it was caught in Cardigan Bay then call it ‘Cardigan Bay
lobster’.

“It is about using the strengths we have as a marketing tool. This type of things captures
customers imagination. Food coupled with good accommodation is key to the success of
tourism in Wales. It is about playing to our strengths. We may not have perfect weather,
but if you have nice places to visit, good food and a lovely hotel to return to, it can be the
perfect relaxing alternative to a sun-drenched holiday.

“It’s about offering people an experience. More and more hotels are investing in pools
and spas. For example St Brides Hotel in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, has created a
spa which is incredibly popular. Now parts of Pembrokeshire are being compared to
Cornwall – but at half the price.

“The kick for me, and what gives me great satisfaction, is seeing the transformation of
tourism to Wales. Our clients are not just from across the border or from overseas, more
and more people living in Wales are seeing the benefits of holidaying here.

“Instead of doing what they did 30 years ago, which was to head over the bridge, down
the M5 to Devon, Cornwall or Somerset, the next generation has discovered that they
don’t have to go far to get to the Brecon Beacons National Park, for example.

“Very often you go to places like Newport in Pembrokeshire, Newquay and Aberaeron,
and there are huge swathes of visitors from Cardiff. It didn’t use to be like that. It’s
fantastic.”

He said that investment in transport links was vital in helping the industry develop.

“Unfortunately the rail links aren’t good enough. Trying to get to places like
Pembrokeshire and Fishguard isn’t easy. What we have learned in Wales is that so many
Welsh industries, such as food and craft, work hand in hand. We have so many
wonderful art galleries and crafts within Wales which is creating a buzz here.

“There is a lot more that needs to be done to promote Wales. There are too many talking
shops. When I was with the Wales Tourist Board I found I spent hours and hours in
committee meetings writing reports, but I wanted to be more hands on and get things
done.

Mr Griffith attended the VisitBritain international conference in London last week. “I still
don’t think that Wales gets its fair share,” he said. “The conference takes place once a
year, where key people, either managers or press and PR from 36 locations throughout
the world, attend.”

He said it was clear the investment for tourism for Wales and Britain as a whole was still
lagging way behind the priority it gives to tourism. “Tourism is more than people going
from Mountain Ash to Trecco Bay, it is about a major force in our economy.

“For example, Cardiff has sufficient stock of hotel accommodation, but it still is not in a
position to host some of the major international conferences and exhibitions that places
like London, Manchester and Bristol are able to. It’s all tourism. Too much of it is taken
for granted.

“The budget for Visit Wales has been drastically cut and this could have a detrimental
impact on this industry. Politicians need to get a grip on this. New Zealand has just
announced a 200% increase in its tourism budget. The country is not too different from
Wales. The number one industry there is agriculture and second is tourism and they have
a minister specifically for tourism. In Wales we have Alun Ffred Jones whose remit is
tourism, the arts, culture, media and sport. We need someone specifically to promote
tourism.”

Source - Oct 21 2010, Western Mail