What We Do

As the official Destination Management Organisation for the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley our aims are to raise awareness, grow tourism and promote our partner businesses. We do this in a number of ways:

Marketing

• We run the consumer website www.visitdeanwye.co.uk which generates around 450,000 unique visitors per year and highlights our partners to visitors
• We generate high-profile press coverage and organise press visits featuring our partners 
• We have active social media accounts and profile our partners on them (see our accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram)
• We run regular marketing and advertising campaigns which our partners can feature in and we provide all marketing materials to our partners for free 
• We send out a consumer newsletter each month with news stories and features on our partners
• We are accredited by Visit England through the Cotswolds Plus Local Visitor Economy Partnership. This allows us to attend regular meetings on and participate in national and international Visit Britain, Visit England and Visit Wales campaigns, informing and engaging partners to ensure they are well-promoted. 

Partner Support and Communication

• We organise regular partners' meetings which provide networking opportunities, spotlights, news and introductions and we organise inspiring speakers
• We send out a monthly partners’ newsletter which has opportunities for partner inclusion and send regular emails with up-to-date information and support
• We have a closed partners Facebook group offering partners the opportunity to introduce themselves, promote their business, network and hear our latest news
• We manage an extensive image library with high resolution images available to our partners
• We provide partners with the opportunity to advertise on our website, in our publications and in our marketing campaigns

Leadership and Business Development

• We provide strategic leadership for the tourism industry in our area
• We provide business support, networking and development opportunities for our partners
• We grow tourism to this area with our website, marketing campaigns, social media and PR coverage
• We provide free advice on raising business quality standards, business regulations, local opportunities and support
• As a team of experts we have extensive visitor and business research which our partners benefit from
• We provide business development workshops and training events, often subsidised
• We have regular meetings with our local councils (district and town) to share campaigns, knowledge, events and inform partners
• We run trips for our MPs and other dignitaries helping to showcase partners and the area 
• We are much more than just an advertising platform and our partners can benefit from a wide range of expertise by joining us

National and International Tourism Representation 

• We represent our partner businesses and the local tourism industry at local, regional, national and international level
• We exhibit at trade shows (we exhibited at the British and Ireland Marketplace in London in 2024) and attend many travel and tourism shows
• We attend regular Visit Britain, Visit England and Visit Wales DMO meetings
• We run familiarisation trips 
• We attend regular meetings with other DMOs in surrounding areas, sharing knowledge and experience with each other 

Sustainability 

The Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Tourism is committed to driving and supporting the development of sustainable and regenerative tourism development, especially following the pandemic which saw increased visitation to the destination due to the staycation boom when UK residents couldn’t travel overseas as easily. Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Tourism recognises that tourism can be one of the world's major contributors to climate change and understands that the organisation needs to make changes in the way it works to tackle this. If you would like to learn more about the steps we take to contribute to sustainable tourism, you can view our Sustainable Tourism Action Plan here.