The Wales Tourist Board (WTB) is encouraging hotels and conference venues in Tenby and the rest of West Wales to sign up to a ground-breaking initiative aimed at boosting the area's share of the UK's £9 billion business tourism market.
The new Business Class Awards Scheme is being launched by the WTB together with support totalling £7.7m over four years to help improve the business travel product in Wales.
The trailblazing new scheme, the first to be launched by any of the UK's tourist boards, will award a silver, gold or platinum grade to hotels and conference venues according to the range of facilities on offer. It will enable the business traveller as well as meeting and conference organisers to judge at a glance precisely how business-friendly a venue is.
The Wales Tourist Board is also the only UK tourist board to offer a grant scheme to assist hotels and meeting venues upgrade their business travel product. A total of £7.7 million over four years has been ring-fenced by the WTB in order to provide financial support of up to 50 per cent of the capital works for each application.
Ieuan Evans, Wales Tourist Board board member, said: "The business tourism market is profitable but highly competitive. In order to stay one step ahead of the game it is necessary to be at the forefront of initiatives that answer the needs of customers.
"Wales is leading the way with the introduction of the new Business Class Award Scheme, checking out hotels and venues before business travellers check in. Our research from talking to business travellers and conference organisers shows that there is a clear need for business travellers to know exactly what is on offer, particularly given our increasing reliance on technology.
"The new grading scheme, which sits alongside the current Star Quality Grading Scheme for hotels, gives them a comprehensive guide to both quality and business facilities - enabling them to make an immediate assessment as to whether it fulfils their requirements."
The Business Class Award Scheme will grade both hotels and conference centres. Meeting spaces and bedrooms will be graded separately and according to a list of specified criteria. The bedroom criteria range from having an uncluttered and adequate workspace and an express or early checkout through to having fax, email access and voice mail in the bedroom. Meeting rooms, meanwhile, are judged on their soundproofing, pa systems, lighting, high-speed internet access and video conference facilities among others. Hotels will all need to meet at least three star quality under the national grading schemes operated by the Wales Tourist Board, AA and RAC.
An integral part of the scheme will also be participation in Welcome Host Business Class or a similar training course to make sure that business travellers experience a warm welcome when they come to Wales.
Ieuan Evans added: "Business travellers, like tourists, vote with their feet. If they are rewarded with high quality business facilities and first rate hospitality they are more likely to return again and again. It is all about building upon what we have already got to offer in Wales, such as first class meeting venues and fantastic incentive travel opportunities, to create the best possible package and experience for the business traveller."