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​Information for Local Authority Tourism Teams, Destination Leaders and Tourism Groups (South East, Mid & South West Wales)

Background

MWT Cymru has been contracted by Visit Wales to support you with resources that will help you and your tourism team to get  TXGB information out to businesses in your area. North Wales Tourism are leading on this project in North Wales.

As you may be aware, Tourism Exchange Great Britain (TXGB) has been licensed by Visit Wales for all tourism businesses in Wales to use (accommodation and non accommodation).

Catch up with our introductory email, here.

What is TXGB?

TXGB is a central digital marketplace that enables tourism suppliers (businesses) to connect their content, availability and pricing with a diverse range of distributors in one go and manage this in one place.
Val Hawkins, MWT Cymru CEO 

A message from Val Hawkins, MWT Cymru 

I have spoken with many of you about TXGB already, and am delighted with the positive reception TXGB is receiving from Local Authorities, tourism groups and individual businesses alike.

We have prepared a short online survey (here) and would be grateful if you could complete this if you have not already done so (originally emailed to LAs and DMOs in January 2023 but remains relevant) - it will help us to understand how we can best support you to promote TXGB opportunities to businesses in your areas, and help shape the future priorities for the TXGB rollout in Wales.

Please read all of the information on this page as it includes a section on why TXGB is important (below), as well as links to resources and assets that are available to help you and your teams.

Please get in touch if we have not yet had the opportunity to discuss how TXGB can help businesses in your area, and how you can use it to raise your destination profile.

You can always contact me directly at visitwales@mwtcymru.co.uk to arrange a Teams meeting.

Kind Regards

Val Hawkins,
MWT Cymru
Tel 01654 702653 | 
Email visitwales@mwtcymru.co.uk

Why is TXGB important?

  • Drive sales and boost bed nights in your area
The visitor economy in Wales has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with tourism hospitality and events businesses facing extreme challenges from the start. We are now faced with a cost of living crisis, and other issues affecting the sector.
  • TXGB for Businesses​
Visit Wales, has been working on the introduction of Tourism Exchange Great Britain (TXGB) as part of the digital interventions available to assist businesses. 

Visit Wales’ role is to facilitate the availability of the TXGB system (initially set up by VisitEngland/ VisitBritain) in order that Wales businesses can opt to take advantage of the platform. It also provides significant opportunities to gain insights and access to direct online bookability, real time distribution and inventory management.

The TXGB platform simplifies consumer experience across all components of the journey to increase bookings and support an equitable geographical spread of tourism and business event opportunities across Wales. 
  • TXGB for Destinations​​
The platform provides significant infrastructure for Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) and others, to set up new distribution channels, in a new and unique way. For DMOs this allows them to create a unique and bookable consumer experience as part of their campaigns if they want to do so.  

In addition, the TXGB platform enables both businesses and DMOs to track bookings and monitor analytics on the success of incoming business to Wales on a regional and national level. This will help build data to enable better insight and decision-making for the promotion and management of the regions and Wales as a destination.

TXGB | Business Resources & Assets

TXGB and Visit Wales have produced a range of assets for you to download and use for TXGB marketing in your area.
User personas
These helpful downloads contain suggested answers to questions you may encounter when speaking with businesses about TXGB.
key points to reiterate
The benefits for businesses:

Real time two way data sharing
  • Show live availability and prices with your chosen sales channels and receive bookings directly into your system with full customer data.

​Direct payment channels
  • Get paid directly, at point-of-sale, protecting cash flow and customer data, while ensuring bookings are made on your terms.

Free & easy to join
  • Connect to TXGB via your current booking system, or use the inbuilt sales tool, TXLoad, for free.

Optimise commission costs
  • Access a wide range of unique, low-commission channels alongside established well-known brands.

Completely flexible
  • Pick the best distribution partnerships for you via the simple ‘opt in / out’ marketplace on your user-friendly dashboard.

No booking, no fee
  • No setup or monthly subscription fees. Just a 2.5 percent TXGB booking fee, plus the commission of your chosen sales channels.
  • Visit Mid Wales is commission free for MWT Cymru members. ​
what is txload?
TXLoad provides a simple booking management system for FREE and is ideal for those businesses that don’t yet take online bookings via their own website or social media profiles - or those that rely solely on online travel agents to drive sales.
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social media assets
We have also designed a survey for Local Authorities/DMOs to send to businesses in your areas, if you wish to ascertain whether they already offer bookable content, what booking systems they currently use, and so on.

This survey can be a useful first step to understanding how businesses in your area currently operate. Please click here for an example and contact us if you would like us to create one for you.

Destination Case Study

Nicola Edwards, Destination Manager at Monmouthshire County Council
How Monmouthshire is benefitting from TXGB

We spoke to Nicola Edwards, Destination Manager at Monmouthshire County Council, to hear their experience of TXGB.

Visit Monmouthshire connected with TXGB as a way of improving the support they offer destination businesses by enabling them to leverage the reach of VisitMonmouthshire.com to drive more direct bookings. 

​"We were interested in TXGB because of its low commission rate (to help keep booking revenue in the destination for the benefit of individual businesses and their supply chains) and because it has a wide distribution network to enable businesses to increase their reach."

Business Case Studies

Jane Rees-Baynes, owner of Elm Grove Country House
Elm Grove Country House in Pembrokeshire explains how they're benefitting from TXGB

Elm Grove is an 11 bedroom, family run B&B in Pembrokeshire. We spoke to owner, Jane Rees-Baynes.

"This year we were made aware of TXGB, and agreed to take part in a test group for Visit Pembrokeshire, the county’s destination management organisation. It integrates with our channel manager and even better – has a low commission % compared with some of the Online Travel Agents (OTAs). It also gives us the opportunity to access new, smaller channels which are destination specific."
Madog’s Wells is a property with 3 accessible self-catering cottages near Llanfair Caereinion, Powys.
 
We caught up with owner, Ann Reed, to find out how she’s benefiting from using TXLoad, the simple booking management system provided by TXGB.
 
“Before using TXLoad, we used to ask guests to pay by cheque or BACS,’ Ann said. ​“We heard about TXLoad from MWT Cymru (Mid Wales Tourism) who advised us to take a look at the benefits. I made initial enquiries with TXGB and decided to go ahead.

​We welcome and encourage you to share case studies with businesses in your area. TXGB also have additional case studies on their website, here.

Other Examples

AT MWT Cymru, we promote TXGB and other opportunities to work closer with Visit Wales, to our own member businesses in Mid Wales.

You are welcome to view our web pages, and use them as examples to create your own.​

New opportunities

Latest opportunities to communicate to businesses in your area:
Day Out With The Kids new partnership with TXGB: Day Out With The Kids (DOWTK) have now teamed up with TXGB, to offer families a seamless ticket buying experience on their site. Boasting over 35 million annual website visitors and 10 million Google impressions per year, they are one of the UK's leading platforms dedicated to making it easier for families to discover ‘Things To Do’. Find out more about how to opt-in or connect here.
Google Things to Do: New from Google, 'Things To Do' helps businesses promote tours, attractions and activities to interested consumers looking for unique and exciting experiences. Connect for free via TXGB and share live availability and pricing to drive direct, commission free bookings, with just a 2.5% TXGB booking fee.

Opt-in via your TXGB dashboard, or visit www.txgb.co.uk and apply via the 'Get started' button.