Tourist numbers need a boost

AT the tail end of yet another tourism season this might be the time to take stock of Tourism Wales 2019.

This year there have been yet more worrying signs that if our Welsh Government does not give a larger budget to

“Visit Wales” our competitors will continue to increase their market share, while Welsh tourism picks up the crumbs from the tourism table, not the cake.

An example of the consequences of the above are Wales overseas visitor numbers compared to our competitors. Wales has seen no real increase in international visitor numbers in the past 20 years. In 2018 Wales attracted about one million overseas visitors, a decline of 12% on 2017. In comparison our competitor’s international visitor numbers clearly indicate how badly Wales is performing. Scotland in 2018 had 3.4 million international visitors, an increase of 29%. Ireland in 2018 had 10 million international visitors, an increase of 500,000 for that year.

Alarmingly since 2015 there has also been a decline in the numbers employed in Welsh tourism. This is an indicator that things are not going well, together with the news that there has been a growth in “part time” tourism employment.

For the first time ever many operators in Welsh tourism also reported lower tourism numbers for the first two weeks of August. The August four weeks are the most important in the entire Welsh tourism calendar.

By contrast South West England, which has a similar holiday profile to the Welsh tourism product, now gets double the volume of domestic holiday trips that we get in Wales.

Wales remains more reliant on regular repeat visits, especially from UK holiday makers. Wales is also finding it harder to attract more first-time holiday visitors from the UK. In general Wales has not kept up with the tourism growth enjoyed by the rest of the UK.

Another indicator of looming problems are the yearly occupancy rates for Welsh Guest Houses/BB’s at a dismal 35% occupancy, and for self-catering at 56%.

Can Wales look to a brighter tourism outlook? Most definitely, but Visit Wales must have a budget from the Welsh Government that reflects the true potential for Welsh tourism and enables Visit Wales to compete on equal terms in their marketing spend.

Currently the Welsh tourism budget is around £20m a year. However, Scotland spends around £45m to attract visitors. Tourism in Scotland is worth around £9bn annually. Wales earns £5bn by comparison.

We have the product, but many people in the UK and overseas are still unaware of what Wales has to offer as a holiday destination. If Visit Wales had the same budget for marketing as Scotland there is no doubt we could see Wales increase earnings to nearer Scotland’s figure. Think of the jobs that could be created by a massive increase in tourist numbers.

Wales has everything needed for an amazing holiday experience. Some of the best beaches, majestic mountains and rivers, a countryside that other regions envy, plus our culture and language.

Wales is bottom of the GB tourism league table, and unless “Visit Wales” is given more funds to promote Wales this position will not change.