2024 - What A Year For Wales Outdoors!
It’s just a brief look back at an eventful year as we move into the new… We think 2024 was the busiest, most successful and also one of the most frustrating years in our thirty years of delivering Wales to its visitors.
Andy qualified as a Green Badge Guide for South East Wales
Andy single-handedly forced the Welsh government to commit to a full review of the Visit Wales provider’s onboarding protocols
Andy proved that local authorities in Wales work not with but against tourism SMEs
Andy proved that most tourism businesses in the UK operate outside of UK law concerning vehicle licensing
Andy met with the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, and shared his complaint in person
Andy proved that 50 % of the Visit Wales preferred partners for 2024 were onboarded outside of Visit Wales rules and should not have a platform
Wales Outdoors went electric with the purchase of a luxury 8-seat leather and panoramic roof vehicle
After 4.5 years of campaigning without gaining a listing on Visit Wales for Wales Outdoors Andy sold Wales Outdoors to his wife, for £1, and she managed to have Wales Outdoors listed on Visit Wales within a week…
Bokun use Wales Outdoors as a publicity and training vehicle. Wales Outdoors get a powerful video to promote the business
Andy proved shockingly poor levels of mismanagement by both BBNP and NRW at the waterfalls area which he said resulted in multiple deaths and injuries
Wales Outdoors partnered with The Welsh History Podcast
Wales Outdoors partnered with Yuup
Wales Outdoors won FIVE prestigious awards during 2024!
See what we achieved month by month!
January
Andy immersed himself in the history of Wales as part of his ongoing training to become a Green Badge Guide.
At the end of the month Andy and Kate moved out of Cardiff and into the Gwent Valleys. A fabulous workers cottage is our new home, a 1920’s arts and crafts style terraced property. Why? Well, we’ll never again be restrained by lockdowns! Also, Cardiff is the fastest-growing city in the UK and we just know that Cardiff Council are not up to the task of upgrading and improving the infrastructure to cope with the expected 35% growth…
Here is a look at our January hikes.
February
1st February and three government employees meet Andy via Microsoft Teams to kick off the ‘Review of Visit Wales Adventure Activity Assurance Scheme’ that he had been demanding for the previous three years. This full review has, to this day, had zero outcomes… It seems that the machinery of government is very slow to move…
Andy proved that the local authority gatekeepers are just as anti-SME and economic growth as those employed directly by the Welsh Government by detailing how difficult it is for a legitimate tourism business to gain a listing on a local authority tourism portal.
Andy destroyed UK law by pointing out that almost all tourism businesses in the UK are operating illegally.
Towards the end of February Andy met with First Minister Mark Drakeford. Mark was pleasant and promised that he would pursue Andy’s complaint. He has done nothing of the sort and now he refuses to engage despite Andy comprehensively proving his case of malfeasance against both Visit Wales and ministers in the Welsh Government.
March
March was a month of building and decorating works at the new house, a few guided hikes including one of note, a full winter conditions hike to the summit of Pen y Fan with one client proposing to his girlfriend, in a white out, at the top!
Andy also chose this very busy time to move to a new ticketing provider, Bokun. And the exams for Andy’s Green Badge course…
Still on the campaigning trail Andy proved that 50% of Visit Wales partners for 2024, according to Visit Wales own rules, should not even be platformed!
The Ombudsman for Wales found that they could not investigate our complaint against Visit Wales due to the way their scope of investigation is worded. However, they clearly indicated support for our position. This was a disappointment and almost a dead end but other avenues to pursue the Welsh Government were looked at.
April
The month of April saw six waterfall and one foraging walk, two North of Cardiff, four east of Cardiff and one west of Cardiff tours, four Hen and one Stag Parties and two green badge training events. The year really started once Easter was out of the way… And the campaigning continued too.
With the dead end at the door of the ombudsman we decided to name and shame. We gave the Welsh Government good notice that this was our intention and they never responded so we wrote several posts detailing the malfeasance of individuals that we know have not done the right thing with regards to the ‘ban’ on Wales Outdoors being listed in the Visit Wales platform. First up was Rachel Cilliers, chair of the SE Wales Tourism Forum and we simply reproduced a timeline of her indifference…
May
Others followed, much to the anger of Visit Wales management, but, they had been warned… Heledd Owen was the main target as it is she that had the power to remedy the wrongs…
Along with the waterfalls walks and the tours to castles and mines and valleys and coastline Andy and Kate got away to the Lake District for their wedding anniversary and Andy filled up the Dacia Jogger with women and so had six on his National Three Peaks Challenge…
June
The Dutch hiking group returned for another year and so Andy Kate and Graham had fun across Wales delivering walks in fine weather for the hikers that are used only to flat terrain… June was also the month of the Yoga Retreat, organised by Andy and delivered with great success over the solstice weekend in the centre of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
And we love sharing Jon Munro’s words about Andy and his campaign against the Visit Wales. As Jon, the manager tasked with dealing with Andy supported Andy’s claims and said he was almost always right… And on that matter, these are the words of tourism leaders in Wales in support of Andy’s campaign.
July
Plenty of work in July including tours and hikes as well as finding time to get away for a week to Snowdonia and at the end of the month Wales Outdoors went electric, yes we purchased an eight-seat fully electric luxury minivan - leather seats, panoramic roof, electric doors…
The Welsh Government DENY Andy’s Freedom of Information Requests but then, following a campaign on LinkedIn Andy decided to sell Wales Outdoors to his wife, for £1, and within a week, following four and half years of denying Wales Outdoors a platform, Kate gained a listing on Visit Wales for Wales Outdoors… You do the math!
August
Andy had very few free days in August, it was waterfalls and castles all the way. Bokun joined Andy on a waterfall hike and produced a great film short for Wales Outdoors - it now graces the front page of the improved website.
Sent in August and no reply was received, the minister/s responsible for tourism really do not care. And now five ministers in five months… Shocking chaos at the Senedd.
Are the authorities responsible for deaths in the Waterfalls area of the BBNP? We think so and here is the evidence…
September
And September was a sell-out month too which included a day at the FSB conference and a week-long all-Wales tour for a group of four from the United States.
We began looking at marketing options and we thought we’d have a punt at supporting the excellent Welsh History Podcast. Wales Outdoors also partnered with Yuup and launched new products.
Wales Outdoors offered £2000 to Natural Resources Wales to assist with their management of the waterfalls area. They have not taken us up on this offer but they have agreed to comply with all of our recommendations for the area and have admitted that when the BBNP closed the footpath at Lower Clun Gwyn they had no plan in place to deal with the hikers seeking to walk this route. Shameful management and likely led to the deaths of more than one person…
October
Starting to get a little less busy it was time to renovate another room in the house and so build a new office space. October ended with a busman’s holiday, a trip to Scotland and a few days in the remote wilderness wild camping to the soundtrack of stags roars…
November
We had some good bookings in November which also included the three day WOTGA conference and a week long and well deserved holiday to the island of Fuerteventura.
December
All tours we cancelled for December as preparation for a fine Christmas catch-up with family was planned, as well as finishing touches to the new office space, built to accommodate a new full-time member of staff, Kate, who begins with us in January 2025. Looking forwards we are reinstigating social hikes, low-cost hikes aimed at locals but open to all and delivered for the chatter, the friendship and to get those legs stretched…
And we won our final award of 2024, this being the fifth major recognition of our amazingness during the year :)
You can book our walks through the Wales Outdoors Website.
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