The Wales 'brand' in Cardiff

I've been thinking recently about how the Welsh 'brand' is perceived across the UK and beyond and how it, in my opinion, falls behind Scotland or Ireland.

When done right, businesses and others in Wales really do a good job of selling the welsh brand and their passion in the country, selling unique and quality products or experiences. I'm thinking something like Penderyn Whiskey, but that's just one. I can't help but think, though, that there could be more opportunities, especially in Cardiff, to 'sell' Wales...

What do others think? Not entirely sure what the answer is... is it about branding... actual experiences....the uniqueness of the place.

What I also find interesting is the lack of recognition anywhere official around welsh music - could you imagine a welsh music section of the NWM in Cathays Park - Ivor Novello to male voice choirs to cool cymru...

There is a big seperation between Welsh language culture and English speaking Welsh culture which kind of divides the Welsh brand IMO. I think whats good and interesting about our part of the world is lost in the unimportant and uninteresting from an outsiders point of view, as we often mix niche culture and history with tourism. Is someone going to travel to the South Wales valleys because they are interested in Coal mining or are they gonna come because it may be a pretty place. Is someone going to visit the Coal Exchange because its an historic place where the price of global coal was set, or are they gonna visit it because its a pretty and grand building where they can get drinks/food/accommodation? What reason has someone got to come here over somewhere else, what about wales and our culture is important to others, what do we value in others culture that interests us. EG do we travel to India for its industrial past, or its pretty countryside, cuisine, architecture, history.

We could do so much more in Wales to sell ourselves to outsiders. Especially tourism. One small area is our national parks. They are massively underfunded and have very poor facilities. I visit them most weeks and am very familiar. I have also visited a lot of US national parks (25+). The difference is huge. We could attract a lot more tourists if we spent vastly more on our facilities and infrastructure. We’re so far behind many other nations on this.

I also think that as a museum that celebrates Welsh history and everyday life, St Fagan's is massively undersold and therefore underappreciated. Is there anything remotely similar throughout the rest of the the UK? It needs its own train station. Hopefully possible considering the GWR mainline runs through. Aside from that, it needs more prominent advertising in key locations such as Cardiff Central.

Jim Driscoll, Ivor Novello, Roald Dahl, Shirley Bassey, Captain Scott, just some of the people connected with Cardiff. If Cardiff was a North American city, there would be museums and other attractions, celebrating them, with potential large visitors.

There are a few places similar to St Fagans; Beamish in County Durham is perhaps the most famous, and the Downland Museum near Chichester is also very good. But they both concentrate on a particular period in history whereas St Fagans covers the whole of Welsh history.

And speaking as someone who moved to Cardiff 2 years ago, I can tell you that St Fagans gets ZERO publicity east of the Severn, which is ridiculous. The same thing can be said of the Botanic Gardens near Carmarthen, with the enormous glass dome. Nobody knows about it in England, but they've all heard of the Eden Project. I get the feeling that the Welsh tourist board have been asleep at the wheel.

Jim Driscoll, Ivor Novello, Roald Dahl, Shirley Bassey, Captain Scott, just some of the people connected with Cardiff. If Cardiff was a North American city, there would be museums and other attractions, celebrating them, with potential large visitors.

Cardiff Council need to bring back Roald Dahl day and make it an annual event. I can’t understand why it hasn’t already happened!

Everyone raised in south Wales will have visited St Fagans on school trips and probaby revisited many times. But I doubt if anyone from the other side of the Bridge knows anything about it. This is a world class facility yet is virtually unknown and should be much better advertised and publicised. On the other hand how does attracting more tourists to a free attraction benefit Wales?

I was also in Copenhagen recently and everyone was making trips to the Little Mermaid statue - a figure from a childs book. Also various streets and statues dotted around relating to Hans Christian Andersen.
We of course have our own Roald Dahl and could develop a Roald Dahl trail with statues and attractions - a Willy Wonka chocolate factory in the Bay instead of a Military Museum.... statues to Willy Wonka, the Giant Peach, and other characters on a trail to encourage children to drag their parents to walk the trail to get selfies with the statues...on the bay barrage.. in Bute Park...at Llandaff cathedral etc

and similarly a Doctor Who trail...complete with Daleks, the Cybermen, Tardis etc...