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EWE-PHORIA!!!
World Sheepdog Trialling Champion, Aled Owen, will play host
to twelve Japanese travel writers and agents later this week
in a bid to make a visit to a traditional Welsh sheep farm an
absolute must for tourists from the land of the rising sun.
Aled, who has 300 sheep and five dogs on his 100 acre farm at
Llangwm near Corwen, Denbighshire, believes there is a great
deal of interest in the skills involved as man and dog work
in unison with a common goal of in ensuring the most stubborn
of sheep enter the most confined of pens.
“A visit to a Welsh sheep farm is most definitely a day
out with a difference,” said 45-year-old Aled, "Watching
a sheepdog in action is a fascinating, informative and an entertaining
experience,” he added.
The visit to Aled’s farm by the travel writers and agents
from all parts of Japan has been set-up by Montgomery-based
tourism consultants, EuroWales.
“According to official figures there are presently 7,000
annual trips to Wales by Japanese tourists which last year contributed
£4m into the Welsh economy," said EuroWales Principal,
Emyr Griffith."Our aim is to substantially increase those
numbers as Japanese tour organisers become aware of the various
aspects to life in Wales which can be experienced by their clients,”
he added.
Aled Owen was proclaimed the world sheepdog champion two months
ago, following a gruelling four-day competition in Bala, Gwynedd,
with his five-year-old collie, Bob. Last month he travelled
to the United States where he was offered an opportunity to
exhibit his talents and assert the virtues of working sheepdogs.
Aled has also turned his sheepdog trialling success into an
Agri-theatre and Sheepdog Centre business venture providing
regular demonstrations to visitors to his farm. The on-site
Ewe-phoria bistro can also provide guests with some of the best
in Welsh culinary delights.
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