Tourism in Wales

• In 2011, there were 9.7 million overnight trips to Wales by GB residents.  The associated spend was £1,734 million.
• 75% of GB visitors to Wales came for a holiday, 12% to visit friends or relatives and 10% on business.
• Among the regions of Wales, North Wales attracted the largest share of overnight GB tourists on a holiday. The majority of overnight business trips occurred in South East Wales. 
• The Great Britain Day Visits survey indicated that expenditure by day trippers in Wales amounted to over £2.9 billion in 2011.  

International Tourism

• Wales attracted 879,000 international visitors spending £328 million during 2011. 
• The four top generating countries for overseas tourism to Wales were the Republic of Ireland, France, Germany and USA. 
• 42% of International visitors were on a holiday trip, 36% were visiting friends or relatives and 16% were on business during 2011.
• In total there were some 10.6 million overnight visitors to Wales spending nearly £ 2.1 billion during 2011.   

• The Welsh Economy Research Unit (WERU) at Cardiff University has recently updated the Wales Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) work to a 2007 base. Its purpose is to provide a more accurate assessment of the contribution of Tourism to the economy. It follows an internationally accepted methodology approved by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
• The top line results indicated total annual tourism demand of around £4.2.billion, Gross Value Added (GVA) by Tourism of £1.8 billion.  This equates to 4.3% of total direct GVA for the Welsh economy. These figures compare with the following for TSA 2000: £3.5 billion for demand, £1.1 billion in respect of GVA and 3.7% of direct GVA.