When coronavirus destroyed her job as a self employed international tour guide then Amanda Whitehead, who is 67, could have been forgiven for taking it easy.
She was due to have a bumper year with cruise ship tours from Holyhead and week long trips with big spending US tourists booked in.
Covid-19 changed all that with fears it could have a long term impact just as Wales was starting to punch above its weight in the international holiday market.
But she refused to “sit down and moan” and put her energy into a new venture.
She decided to focus on the home market - investing money from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme into a traditional Welsh lady outfit and modern transmitters and receivers so she could carry out socially distanced tours around Conwy.
Her business - Conwy Tours - took the first group on Monday and she believes she can tap into a thirst from visitors to learn more about the town - from its history and engineering feats to its ghostly tales.
Amanda said: “I have been doing the tours for 20 years and it had grown in recent years with cruise ship passengers from Holyhead and Liverpool.
“This year we also had more week long tours as international travellers and travel firm were realising there was so much more to see and do in Wales than you can do on a day trip.
“Then Covid hit and everything was cancelled, we have also already lost some of the next year’s tours as companies have shrunk back to the core market, like Scotland and Ireland.
“This is a shame as these were high spending visitors.”
She added: “I won’t sit down and moan though. I have invested in the outfit, building a website and on the transmitters and receivers.
“I can now run socially distanced tours in the town and will expand this to a walls tour and food tour once we are able to. I think there are a lot of people who want to know more about the town.
“My first customers were a family, where the mum was very interested in the history, the dad wanted to know about the engineering behind how the town was built and i told the children some of the ghost stories.”
She added: “Instead of complaining about what has happened I have put my energy into being creative and doing something new."
