22/2/2006

A pioneering initiative is helping visitors to North Wales to shop untill they drop.

Upmarket stores in Conwy, Deganwy and Llandudno are being featured in what is believed to be Wales ' s first retail trail.

The project has been commissioned by Tourism Partnership North Wales to help smaller, independent shops.

Partnership Development Manager Andrew Forfar said: "We want to catch people who are serious shoppers because the retail industry is a huge market. This is a great tool to engage the niche shops who have something special to offer. We ' re hoping it will help give these three towns the edge in terms of attracting visitors. "

In all, 31 businesses have signed up to the scheme and they are all highlighted by a leaflet which includes maps of the three towns concerned.

The trail includes a wide range of exclusive and designer outlets specialising in everything from fashion to interiors to gifts.

The leaflet entitles shoppers to a discount of 10 per cent if they spend more than £10 and 15 per cent when they spend more than £50 at participating shops.

The 50,000 leaflets will be distributed by Tourist Information Centres in the North Wales and by local hotels.

The campaign is costing £19,000 and it is estimated that the trail will generate an extra £500,000 in spending by visiting shoppers.