Promoting tourism while representing government

Catrin Elis, content editor for Visit Wales, outlines to eolas Magazine how the government organisation delivers creative content that appropriately represents the Welsh Government to promote tourism.

Elis begins by highlighting Visit Wales’ approach which is to “create warm, assured, spirited content which showcases our ‘bro’ (region) and ‘byd’ (world), to inspire audiences across the world to choose Wales”. She describes this as “an inherently Welsh approach with a global outlook”.

Outlining the challenges, she says: “As with most government organisations we always need to be mindful that we’re spending public funds, and therefore need to try and get the best value for money and return from our work. To do this we need to find our USP to make our content go further. That is what we focus on – making sure that we are distinctively Welsh.”

The organisation’s strategy is underpinned by three pillars: seasonality, which involves extending the traditional season to show Wales is “an all-year round destination”; spread, which involves spreading the benefit of tourism; and spend, which involves prioritising value over volume.

The content editor outlines the COPE strategy: Create Once. Publish Everywhere. She says: “When you go out and capture content, it is important to consider the channels for the content. It is not good practice to slap the same content on every channel, say the same things, and expect it to work.”

She states their objectives which are to: engage and inspire; inform audiences; drive web traffic; grow brand audience; increase brand awareness; and influence behaviour.

“For us, it is not just about getting the numbers. If we wanted the numbers, we would just post pretty pictures every day. That is the easy approach. For us, there is more depth to it.”

“As Visit Wales is part of the Welsh Government, we always keep in mind that we are representing Welsh ministers. We stay loyal to our core brand, whilst at the same time try to be fun and creative on our social channels.”
Catrin Elis, content editor, Visit Wales

Representing government

Elis insists that it is “essential” to place branding at the centre of all content. She also navigates how this can result in thinking differently for some organisations, such as Visit Wales: “Your brand values can decide how you present yourself in your content. Whilst it could be fun to venture ‘off brand’ to keep up with the latest trends, it is better to stay loyal to the brand and think how you can make your content fun, but also in line with your values.

“As Visit Wales is part of the Welsh Government, we always keep in mind that we are representing Welsh ministers. We stay loyal to our core brand, whilst at the same time try to be fun and creative on our social channels.”

When creating content, Elis states that Visit Wales has to be “considerate” in its content. One of the ways to do this is to ensure responsible behaviour is showcased in content. To demonstrate this, she displays an image of a paddle boarder without a helmet or lifejacket, stating that Visit Wales would not show this image on its own channels. She continues: “Whilst many people do not go paddle boarding with a life jacket and a helmet, we need to demonstrate best practice at all times.”

The content editor also traces the requirement for Visit Wales to remain abreast of current events. They must check their content to ensure it does not overlap with any events happening in real time that could be relevant. Demonstrating this, she says: “You have to be really on top of the news, for example there may have been a tragic accident on a mountain on the day when you have a scheduled post going out that day showing a pretty mountain. Plans need to be adjusted in response to real-life events.

“Sometimes a post has gone out and something subsequently happens, and when that is the case we will remove the content if required. We also add safety messaging on anything that shows outdoor activities, encouraging people to prepare, check conditions and book with accredited providers.”

Concluding, Elis underscores the importance of accuracy, stating: “If you are representing the Welsh Government, or if you are a body that people expect to be accurate, you have to aim to be accurate in everything that you do. We check facts before publishing content, and we aim to make sure we are responsible and appropriate in all our content.”