New knowledge for cabbies and tour guides

The Swansea welcome is even warmer now thanks to a new scheme to train tour guides and taxi drivers as ambassadors for the city.

The Victorian resort of Mumbles

Thirty eight cabbies and eleven new tour guides have been trained to give visitors a unique insight into the history and culture of the region, and to offer detailed information on the delights of Swansea Bay, Mumbles and Gower. The Swansea Bay trained taxi ambassadors and Celtic Wave tour guides received their awards at a ceremony last week.

The training scheme is part of the Celtic Wave project, part funded by ERDF Interreg funding, and supported by Swansea Council and Associated British Ports, designed to attract cruise ships and other organised groups to the area and better promote what the Swansea Bay has to offer.

Taxi drivers play an important role in welcoming visitors to the area, and those that have taken part in the scheme can see the benefits. The training was part of their normal licensing training and encouraged them to share some of their knowledge on what makes the area so special.

Anne Haden, who owns Dylan Thomas' home at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive and is on the Swansea tourist track, is one of the latest tour guides to be trained and now accredited by the Welsh Official Tour Guide Association.

She said: "The guided tours I have given in the past were centred on Dylan Thomas' works and were aimed at a specialised market. I along with all the other guides offer a range of guided tours in Swansea and Gower on a variety of topics to a wider market.

"When I heard about the opportunity to gain an accredited tourist guiding qualification for Swansea and Gower through the Celtic Wave programme, I grasped it."

Steve Hopkins, the council's tourism manager, said there are efforts underway, working closely with Associated British Ports and the Celtic Wave, to attract Cruise ships into Swansea.

For more information about the celtic Wave project visit