Holidays in Wales The importance of tourism to the Welsh economy Facts from Visit Wales research

Visitor numbers Over 8.85 million people visited Wales in This was a downturn in numbers due to the bad weather and strength of the £ compared to other currencies. Lots of people went abroad for sunshine trips.

Value of Welsh tourism 7.0% of the Welsh GDP (income of Wales) comes from tourism Tourism is worth £2.6 billion a year to Wales. At least 100,000 jobs in Wales are related to tourism

Foreign visitors In 2007, almost 1 million foreign visitors came to Wales. On average, they spent £344 each in the country.

Golf In 2007, 86,400 visitors came to Wales to play golf. Between them, they spent £26.1 million to boost the local economy. That amounts to over £300 per visitor.

Walking and activities Walkers spent approximately £11.9 million in Wales on walking holidays. £8 million was spent on fishing holidays and fishing equipment in Wales in £6.3 million was spent on adventure holidays

The seaside In 2004, there were 4.4 million seaside tourism trips. The average seaside holiday was between 4 and 5 nights. Visitors spent an average of £160 each. This brought in an income of £700 million to Wales.

However… The best year for Welsh tourism was Visitors are spending less money in Wales than in 2000 There has been a decline of 8% in the number of trips to Wales between 2006 and 2007.

Tasks 1. Suggest ways of marketing Wales as a tourist destination. 2. Create a poster, a PowerPoint or a brochure advertising Wales as a tourist destination