Record-breaking year for Welsh Tourism in 2014

Figures published by the Welsh Government today show 2014 was a record-breaking year for tourism in Wales.

The number overnight visits to Wales by GB residents hits an impressive 10 million for the first time since the Great Britain Tourism Survey was set up in its present form in 2006.  

The number of trips to Wales in 2014 is up 0.7 per cent on 2013, itself an excellent year, while the amount spent by visitors coming from Great Brtian into Wales is also the highest on record at £1.735 billion.

This shows an increase of 2.3 per cent while the total expenditure on overnight trips in GB as a whole fell by 2.6 per cent compared with 2013.

Holiday visits – the mainstay of tourism in Wales –  have shown even more impressive increases over 2013: up 4.4 per cent in terms of trips, and up 7.7 per cent on related expenditure.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates, said:

“These figures are absolutely fantastic and show that Wales is ahead of the game, getting to 10 million visitors is an important milestone and Wales is gaining market share.  

“This success is due to the incredibly hard working industry we have here in Wales who make sure that our visitors have an outstanding experience and want to return time and again.  It also shows that the Welsh Government strategy and activity is enabling the industry to grow and prosper.

“Visit Wales’ award winning marketing work has delivered great results for Wales.  Last year’s UK and Ireland campaign ‘Have you Packed for Wales?’ generated an additional £238 million in additional expenditure to the Welsh economy, an uplift of 25% on the previous year’s total.

“Investment through the Tourism Investment Support Scheme has seen an additional expenditure of £13.97 million and which helps the industry in Wales to improve to meet with customer expectations and demand which is crucial in this competitive industry.

“We saw that confidence among the industry was high after a successful Easter. I hope that these figures give the industry further confidence and that we can build on this success.  The down-turn for Great Britain as a whole shows the extremely competitive nature of the tourism industry, and we will work with the industry to sustain these excellent figures for Wales.”

Justin Baird Murray, Chair of British Hospitality Association Cymru (representing the hotel and restaurant industry in Wales) said:

“These figures from the Great Britain Tourism Survey are very encouraging, reflect the confidence hoteliers have in their own product and promise to give us a strong base from which to continue to grow quality tourism in Wales.

Overseas visitor figures for Wales are also positive with the International Passenger Survey figures for the first nine months of 2014 showing that Wales had an increase of 14% in the volume of visitors (795,000) compared with the same period in 2013. Expenditure figures were 6% up (to £303 million).

Full year results for 2014 are eagerly awaited.

Data: Visit Wales / TNS