Celebs’ TV cancer night raises £15m
ABOOM in the number of overseas tourists has been welcomed by the Welsh Government – with Wales far outperforming the rest of the UK in terms of the rise in foreign visitors.
Wales experienced by far the biggest rise of the UK nations in the number of overseas visitors coming here in the first six months of 2016 compared to last year, new data has shown.
The Office for National Statistics figures, which are still provisional, showed 450,000 foreign trips were made to Wales in the first two quarters of this year.
A rise of 59,000 on the same period was the equivalent of a 15% leap – while England and Scotland only saw rises of about 2.5% each.
It could mean Wales is on course to crack one million annual overseas visitors for the first time – although last year’s numbers would have received a significant boost from the Rugby World Cup held in September and October.
There was also a spurt in the amount overseas tourists spent in Wales between January and the end of June, to £183m compared with £169m a year earlier.
Scotland saw an even bigger percentage increase, but England MORE than £15m was raised for charity after an evening of television fundraising in aid of cancer research.
Celebrities including – and the UK as a whole – saw a drop in spending.
Almost £9.5bn was spent in the UK in the first six months of this year, meaning the amount spent in Wales represented less than 2% of the total UK spend.
The biggest rise in overseas numbers to Wales – almost a 33% increase – came from the 13 countries to have joined the EU most recently. They include Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Cabinet Secretary for the Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, was delighted with the figures.
“This is phenomenal news for Wales,” he declared.
“Our decision to target key growth markets is clearly working and we remain on course to achieve a 10% growth in tourism by 2020.”
And, referring to a Welsh Government tourism advertising campaign, he added: “As we approach the end of the Year of Adventure we are gearing up for the promotion of Wales in 2017, our Year of Legends.” footballer Daniel Sturridge, actor Martin Freeman and actress Anna Friel took part in Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer on Friday night.
But the Welsh Conservatives insisted a lot more could still be done.
Economy and tourism spokesman Russell George said: “We welcome the rise in overseas visitors coming to Wales, which is to be expected given the drop in the value of the pound, making it a more attractive destination.
“However, any backslapping by the Welsh Government would be premature.
“So much more can be done to attract overseas visitors by, for example, working with Cardiff Airport to offer more routes connecting Wales to economic hubs.
“At present, far too many of the routes subsidise airlines geared towards taking Welsh tourists out of Wales to destinations such as Alicante and Ibiza, instead of attracting tourists to come in.
“To compound matters, just 15% of surveyed tourism operators said they would use Visit Wales as a marketing tool, which is damning considering they are funded by the Welsh Government to sell Wales to the world.
“Rather than trumpeting minor successes that aren’t of their making, they should take steps towards achieving real and lasting successes for Wales’ tourist industry.”
The night £15,700,222, the website said.
Boy George paid tribute to Bowie during a performance of the late raised event’s musician’s hit Starman. The 55-year-old said the Heroes singer’s death was “like losing a family member” and said Bowie’s death “hit everybody”.