Resident Survey Pilot: Gwynedd, Pembrokeshire, and Vale of Glamorgan

This report presents a summary of the Wales Resident Survey carried out in the Vale of Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire, and Gwynedd, a pilot to help improve the experience of the visitor economy through the monitoring and analysis of resident attitudes towards Tourism. The project is being conducted as part of the priorities in Welcome to Wales.

Main findings

Attitudes to tourism

• Of the three pilot areas respondents from Pembrokeshire were the only ones to score a net positive perception of tourism (56%) compared to Gwynedd (46% and Vale of Glamorgan 45%).
• In terms of negativity towards Tourism, respondents from Gwynedd scored the highest at 14% with Pembrokeshire at 9% and Vale of Glamorgan at 8%.
• All three areas had a net positive score for wanting to see Tourism grow (Vale of Glamorgan, 63%; Gwynedd, 57%; Pembrokeshire 56%). However, it’s worth noting that both Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire respondents were more likely to work in Tourism (approximately 40% of respondents from both these areas, compared to just 12% for Vale of Glamorgan).

Respondent attitudes

• There is a strong sense of pride among all three areas (Gwynedd, 88%; Pembrokeshire, 84%; and Vale of Glamorgan, 83%).
• Gwynedd respondents are overall positive about the development of Short Term Let Accommodation (53%) whilst Pembrokeshire (42%) and Vale of Glamorgan (45%) are, on balance, more negative about them.

Short term let accommodation

• Gwynedd respondents were more likely to highlight increases in year-round visitors as a consequence of an increase in Short Term Lets (52%) whereas for Vale of Glamorgan it was the increase in house prices (40%).
• Pembrokeshire chose not to ask any further questions relating to Short Term Lets.

Open suggestions

• Respondents from all three pilot areas suggested more engagement in Tourism policy development (Gwynedd, 37%; Vale of Glamorgan, 35%; Pembrokeshire, 27%).
• Improvements in local infrastructure provision also featured highly across all areas (Gwynedd, 23%; Pembrokeshire, 24%; Vale of Glamorgan, 48%).
• It is important to note that these answers were not prompted, suggesting a high degree of feeling among the respondents.

Tourism impact

• The local economy featured top across all three areas as being positively influenced by Tourism (Gwynedd, 82%; Pembrokeshire, 86%; Vale of Glamorgan, 74%).
• Employment was also featured (Gwynedd, 76%; Pembrokeshire, 77%; Vale of Glamorgan, 62%). Cleanliness of public spaces had a marked negative impact across all three areas (Gwynedd, 38%; Pembrokeshire, 40%; Vale of Glamorgan, 48%).

Welsh language

• Both Gwynedd (70%) and Vale of Glamorgan (56%) respondents believe Tourism is a good vehicle for the promotion of Welsh language.
• Pembrokeshire chose not to ask about the impact on Welsh Language.

Tourism consequences

• Parking and Traffic Issues are the highest reported problems encountered by respondents (Gwynedd, 77% and 76% respectively; Pembrokeshire, 84% and 83% respectively; and Vale of Glamorgan, 84% and 84% respectively).

Visitor segments

• Growth of International visitors was prioritised across all three pilot areas (Gwynedd, 75%; Pembrokeshire, 65%; Vale of Glamorgan, 85%).

Events

• Gwynedd (61%) and Vale of Glamorgan (51%) respondents connect Tourism growth to hosting events in the local area.
• Gwynedd (18%) and Vale of Glamorgan (39%) respondents also highlight damage to local infrastructure as a result of these events. Respondents from both areas (Gwynedd, 18%; Vale of Glamorgan, 23%) also believe (at slightly lower levels) that events bring too many people at once.