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Wales will be sold to the world in a “year of legends” during which the role the nation played in inspiring authors including JRR Tolkien, Roald Dahl and Dylan Thomas will be celebrated.

The focus on “legends” follows on from 2016’s “year of adventure” and comes at a time of high hopes for the contribution tourism can make to the Welsh economy.

The amount spent by day visitors to Wales has climbed by more than 40%, according to the Welsh Government, with the number of international tourism visits going up by 15% in the first six months of 2016.

Six out of 10 (61%) overseas visitors named historic sites as a key reason to come here and £1.28m has been approved for 35 projects connected to the Year of Legends theme.

(Image: Richard Swingler)

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said: “The Year of Legends provides a platform for us to tell our story and promote our heritage and culture to the world and is the perfect opportunity for us to work across the tourism and arts sectors to find new and innovative ways of telling that story.”

Denying that the year is about “looking backwards”, he said: “[The] Year of Legends is about bringing the past to life like never before, with cutting-edge innovation. It’s about creating and celebrating new Welsh legends modern-day personalities, products and events that are made in Wales, or enriched by coming here.

”This is an opportunity for communities across Wales to pull together and help us tell the story of Wales. The long-term vision is to take pride; and to strengthen and enhance the very fabric of the culture and communities we serve to promote in the first place; providing a firm basis for future legends to emerge.”

(Image: Andy Marshall)

As well as promoting historic sites, a focus will involve welcoming the UEFA Champions League Final to Cardiff in what the Welsh Government describes as the “single biggest sporting event in the world this year”.

Arthurian lore will be celebrated in a “Merlin festival” in Carmarthen in March which will feature street entertainment, magic, a local produce market and a sculpture trail.

In June the town of Conwy will stage epic Midsummer’s eve festivities involving a jousting competition, history camps, a medieval market, dragons, jesters and other street entertainers as well as a medieval banquet.

It is understood 450,000 foreign trips were made to Wales in the first half of last year. Wales’ 15% increase in visitors compared with rises in England and Scotland of only around 2.5%.

However, during this time less than 2% of UK tourist spend took place in Wales, suggesting the nation is still punching below its weight.

The Welsh Conservatives argued last year that Welsh Government “backslapping” was premature because the fall in the value of the pound can be expected to boost the number of people coming to the country.

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