Survey Shows That Welsh Tourism Had A “Bumper” Summer

No surprise in that statement perhaps, but Welsh Tourism chiefs have been quick off the mark compared to their opposite numbers in order to get the good news onto the streets. There were still some bones to be picked out of the figures however, as despite the favourable climatic conditions, the underlying economic malaise still had an effect.

The sun shone in Wales in 2013

In what the trade likes to call a “snap shot” survey, more than half of 400 businesses interviewed said they enjoyed a higher turnover this August compared to 2012. Countering this however, more than a fifth of self-catering accommodation providers had a drop in turnover.

Of the businesses which took part in the Wales Tourism Business Survey, only 16% reported a lower turnover than last year. Tourism minister Edwina Hart said the sunshine helped but pointed out that it was important to attract people in all weathers. Following on from the survey, most businesses also said they were feeling confident about the autumn season.

The survey helps us to understand that splendid weather is an over-riding factor in providing a feel good factor, but one man’s meat is another man’s poison, as indoor attractions can suffer.
An example of this was the Plas Glyn y Weddw art gallery at Llanbedrog near Pwllheli, Gwynedd, where there had been worries visitor numbers would fall because tourists would prefer the outdoors.

Gallery director Gwyn Jones said: "We've been pleasantly surprised and we think numbers are up because part of the Wales coastal path now goes through the Plas grounds, and so people are visiting both us and the beach. It was much busier than we expected it to be, and we've got lots going on at the moment too so it's continuing."

Self catering holidays formed a sector where the news was mixed with a 22% drop in turnover reported. Insiders thought, however, that this might be more a pricing issue.
Under the Thatch has around 100 traditional properties throughout Wales and the company's managing director Jill Scott said it had been a great summer "after last year, which was a bit of a disaster".

"There were a lot of last minute bookings - I'd say 50% of them were last minute but overall bookings were up 20% on last year," she said.

She was one of the people who thought poor figures for some self catering operators might be due to pricing issues. "We'd rather they are let out and so we keep our prices affordable and we can also tweak them to suit what's going on - such as when we dropped our prices due to the poor weather last year.

"It also helps that we've got a lot of dog-friendly cottages, because a lot of the people who visit Wales are walkers who want to bring their dogs," she added.

Minister Mrs Hart said it was inevitable that the best summer weather for several years would have given the industry a boost with day trips and last minute break bookings.

"However, it's important that we continue to work with the industry to ensure we have a high quality product which will attract people to Wales - whatever the weather," she said. "The Visit Wales marketing campaign for the autumn is already underway as we look to welcoming visitors over the autumn and winter months and it's good news that confidence for the coming season is high."

Other bullet points of a generally very positive survey include the facts that 57% of Welsh tourism businesses reported that they had received more guests or visitors this August compared to 12 months ago.

73% of attractions reported higher visitor numbers with 62% saying that the good weather had a positive effect on business.


Source: Wales Tourism Business Survey


The Wales Tourism Business Survey, for the Welsh government, involved 404 telephone interviews with tourism business owners/managers on 2 and 3 September.