Tourists bring in extra £10m

RISING tourism generated an extra £10m for Cardiff’s economy last year, official figures show.

The number of overseas visitors to the capital rose to 372,000 in 2017, up from 357,000 the year before, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

It shows that 167,000 of those were visiting for a holiday while 72,000 came to the city on business. Visitors coming to the city to see family and friends numbered 101,000. The overall value of foreign tourism of all kinds to Cardiff rose from £110m to £120m over the year. That includes accommodation costs as well as any spending in the city.

The data on travel trends suggests the rise was driven chiefly by holidaymakers and those visiting their family or friends.

However, the number of people visiting for business appears to have fallen by about 17,000 from 89,000 in 2016.

Leader of Cardiff council’s Conservative group Adrian Robson said: “Whilst there has been an increase in the number of tourists coming to Cardiff which is welcomed, the business visitors have decreased by 17,000.

“Business is one of the core aspects to Cardiff and as a city we are going to have to work hard to ensure that more people come to do business here.”

Cabinet Member for Investment and Development Cllr Russel Goodway said: “Cardiff is Wales’ most important tourism and visitor destination in terms of reputation, profile and impact, particularly for business and major events and over recent years, the city has excelled in developing its profile, status and appeal to visitors.

“It really is a fantastic place to visit and tourism is vitally important to the city, supporting more than 14,000 jobs and injecting £1.3bn into our economy.”