Kieren Windsor, who launched the Wales Guidebook online at walesguidebook.com in the summer, saw a 581% increase in traffic to his website after Wales began their campaign against the USA.
The 30-year-old has now had to undergo a hasty update to stop his website crashing after his article, ‘Is Wales a country?’ it quickly gained traction with Americans turning to Google for research.
The most important questions were What language do they speak in Wales? Is Wales England? Is Wales good at football? Where is Wales? How is Wales a country?
Net surfers have found plenty of answers on Kieren’s blog, which offers a quirky but comprehensive guide to the Land of His Fathers and aims to find out the hidden gems among the most popular holiday spots.
Kieren has now compiled a list of the top 10 links between the two countries, as Wales was also their Fatherland for many of America’s Founding Fathers.
At least five of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Welsh or of recent Welsh descent.
Additionally, there have been at least eight American presidents of Welsh ancestry, including Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams.
And to this day, American actor Rob McElhenney, star of the hit show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, who is now co-owner, along with famous Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, of Wrexham AFC, the third oldest football club in the world. .
Kieren, 30, a business and marketing graduate from Newtown in Powys, said: “Usually the people who read my blog are people from other parts of the UK who want to plan a trip to Wales or Welsh people visiting other parts of their country.
“However, there has been an increase in readership from the United States, with almost 75% of those reading my ‘Is Wales a Country’ article being American.
“Ever since the America game, the traffic continues to grow. Even the town of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost town in the US, population 152, has seen a huge increase in interest.”
Kieren started a backpacking blog as a hobby, but saw it turn into a full-time business over five years after learning about the role of influencers during his employment.
“It’s great that people are interested in Wales and are taking the trouble to find out more about it.
“I really hope the interest lasts beyond the World Cup and people start to recognize Wales as a country with its own identity, just like the rest of the UK.”
Jim Jones, Managing Director of North Wales Tourism Ltd, said: “It’s no surprise that the World Cup has generated huge interest in Wales, as well as Kieren’s blog.
“A lot of people in America and around the world have never heard of Wales, so taking part for the first time in 64 years will raise our profile that much more.
“The interest it will generate in our country will help put us on the international map.”