The Minister, Lord Elis-Thomas, is in Pembrokeshire on day one of Wales Tourism Week to thank the tourism industry and people of Wales for making Wales a world-class visitor destination.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The Minister visits Celtic Holiday Parks’ Noble Court to officially open a luxury glamping development. The Park is owned by the Pendleton family, who have been welcoming visitors to Wales since 1980. Today the Minister is due to meet with family and staff members to thank them for their efforts.
Each year, Wales welcomes more than 10 million overnight visitors – that’s well over three visitors per head of population. The Wales Visitor Survey consistently shows that the feeling of welcome and the feeling of security, along with the quality of the natural environment, are among the highest-rated aspects of visits to Wales.
Lord Elis-Thomas, said:
Following an extremely busy weekend and the hottest Spring Bank Holiday on record - I’d like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the tourism industry in Wales and to the people of Wales for welcoming visitors to our country and making sure that they have the best possible experience. We can be very confident in Wales’ ability to compete in a global market place – our people and welcome are one of our best assets – and my intention during Wales Tourism Week is to say ‘Diolch’.
The Minster continued:
And as the theme of Wales Tourism Week is collaborating to compete, my thanks also goes to the industry for joining forces to celebrate our themed years and marketing campaigns - the result has been that Wales is a destination with a clear, compelling and confident story to tell. With the industry also supporting our work on social media we now have a following of more than 1 million - an influential online community of support for Wales. Following the busy bank holiday, let us keep this momentum and confidence going as we look forward to a busy summer season.
Due to the challenges of an early Easter, preceded by bad weather, Visit Wales is running an additional early summer digital campaign, which will mean that Wales will be front of mind for those looking at holidays and day trips to Wales over the summer. Visit Wales marketing generated an additional value of £356 million to the Welsh economy in 2017.
Celtic Holiday Parks director, Huw Pendleton, said he was looking forward to welcoming the Minister and was honoured that the Park would be kick-starting such as important week for Welsh tourism; he also said:
Forward bookings are extremely buoyant, with overall percentages up by 30% on 2017 figures. Holiday snacking seems to be the key term in the industry currently, and we’re certainly experiencing that at Celtic Holiday Parks. Lots of multiple short breaks, with visitors enjoying a range of different accommodation during each stay. I’m very proud that the continued investment programme at Celtic Holiday Parks is creating jobs with futures for people within Pembrokeshire, offering career paths within hospitality and the tourism sector.
The early spring bank holiday was a busy one across the region, Head of Marketing for Folly Farm, Zoe Wright said:
The fantastic weather over the Bank Holiday weekend was a huge boost for us as holidaymakers and day visitors flocked to Pembrokeshire. We were 50% up on the same period last year in terms of visitor numbers and looking forward to the bank holiday at the end of May.