Drivers along one of Wales' busiest roads are being greeted by a brand new landmark.
An enormous Welsh dragon appeared at the side of the M4 near the Coldra turnoff in Newport earlier this week.
The sculpture sits on the site of the new International Convention Centre (ICC) Wales, which is set to open later this year.
The £83m development, a joint venture between the Welsh Government and the Celtic Manor Resort, will provide 26,000 sqm of total floor space for meetings, conferences and exhibitions.
It will be the first of its kind in Wales, promising to bring thousands of visitors and events to Newport.
The huge steel dragon sits on part of the unfinished development, and can be seen from the Coldra roundabout and the M4.
The giant imposing sculpture will be one of the first landmarks to greet visitors to Wales, sitting alongside the long established Celtic Manor Resort and the new ICC Wales.
Although the model is not yet fully completed, drivers have already been noticing its imposing presence.
It was built by Pro Steel Engineering, based in Caldicot, who are now adding the finishing touches to the structure.
An economic impact study forecast the International Convention Centre could bring £70m into the Welsh economy annually
With much of that income thought to come from the demand for additional hotel beds needed to accommodate an influx of visitors, many hotel developments have been springing up in the city centre.
The redevelopment of the Chartist Tower in Newport city centre is well underway, and work started this week on Tŷ Hotel Newport, a 146-bedroom, mid range hotel that will be placed next to the Coldra Court Hotel in Langstone.
Several large conferences have already been confirmed for ICC Wales, including the 2019 Space Conference, due to take place in September of the year.
Other signed events include Alzheimer's Research UK Conference in March 2020, The British Society of Echocardiography’s BSEcho 2022, and the ACT Annual Conference in both 2020 and 2023.
The UK Space Conference alone is expected to bring more than 1,200 delegates to Newport and about 180 speakers.
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In February Ian Edwards, chief executive of ICC Wales, told WalesOnline: "The opening of ICC Wales is going to be a real game-changer for this region and, along with Business Events Wales and its partners, we will be making the most
of this opportunity to ride the wave and show the industry just what our country can do when it comes to organising events. The message is: now is the time to Meet in Wales.
"We will not get a second chance to make a first impression and that applies not just to the ICC Wales venue, but to the entire destination.
"We have been working with partners and stakeholders to stress the importance of acting together to create a consistent delegate journey that has a warm Welsh welcome shining all the way through it – from the step off the train or the plane, through the station or airport concourse, into the bus or taxi ride and the greeting at our bars, restaurants and hotels across the region."
