Visitors to Wrexham will find an enhanced offering this year, as the new Visitor Information Centre on Chester Street has opened it’s doors!
Formerly known as the ‘Tourist Information Centre’ and located on Queens Square from 1991 to 2020, the new centre has triple the floorspace and an ethos centred around showcasing local food & drink produce and Welsh gifts along with being a place to find out about events, attractions and things to see & do across the whole County.
Although currently trading six days a week from Monday to Saturday, the “official” opening will take place at 10.00am on Wednesday 1st March – just ahead of the traditional St David’s Day parade in the City Centre.
Visitors to the city centre that day are encouraged to call in and meet some of the local producers on-site that day, ranging from artisan coffee roasters through to fudge makers, a baker and much more!
There will also be a children’s competition running throughout the day for the best Welsh costume – all you need to do is call into the centre, have a picture with Pete (the Wrexham Sheepdog) and the selfie frame to be in with a chance of winning a hamper from the centre.
With a new team in place, headed up by experienced local retailer Mick Pinder – the centre aims to become the first point of call for visitors to Wrexham over the coming years. Mick said: “It’s a really exciting time to be officially opening, given the enhanced profile that Wrexham is currently receiving. “We’ve had a soft launch last Autumn and each week, more new local products are being stocked and business is growing thanks to both the local community and also a growing wave of overseas travellers – many who’ve got an interest in the football!”
Despite other similar centres closing across North Wales in recent years, having a visitor information centre is seen as an important feature as Wrexham’s tourism sector recovers from the pandemic and looks to keep growing.
Tourism manager at Wrexham Council, Joe Bickerton added: “Having a bold, visible centre located between two key attractions (Ty Pawb and Xplore!) is really important and shows our commitment to supporting not only the City Centre but the promotion of hospitality businesses and destination events across the whole County. “With thanks to support from Visit Wales, we were able to design the centre to not only offer retail and information – but to also have flexible space for local food & drink traders to have pop-up trading space, tasting events and more. “If it helps promote local tourism and showcase what a brilliant place Wrexham County is to visit & stay – we’re up for working with businesses to try and make it happen”.
Lead Member for the Economy at Wrexham Council, Nigel Williams added: “It’s fantastic to see this wonderful new centre now fully open at a time when the eyes of the world are on Wrexham.”Not only are we welcoming many overseas visitors for the first time due to the publicity Wrexham is getting internationally, but we’re also welcoming many UK-based visitors who’ve either seen Wrexham being shortlisted for UK City of Culture, or Ty Pawb being shortlisted for Museum of the Year amongst many other things – and thinking ‘we must give it a try!’. “We’re really ambitious in terms of how we believe Wrexham County’s tourism sector will grow over the coming years and hopefully this new centre will support the team in showcasing the many reasons to visit and stay here.”
The Wrexham Visitor Information Centre is based on Chester Street on the corner of the South Arcade leading into Ty Pawb and opposite the Xplore! Science Discovery Centre. Trading between 10.00am – 4.00pm at the moment, but operating from 9.00am – 5.00pm Monday to Saturday from March onwards.
The team can also be contacted via email at tourism@wrexham.gov.uk and by phone on 01978292015.
The official websites for visitors to the area are:
This is Wrexham – www.thisiswrexham.co.uk (tourism partnership operated)
North East Wales – www.northeastwales.wales
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