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Tourism industry gears up for a successful 2015 as Wales Rally GB gets underway

As one of the final major events for Wales to host in 2015 gets underway this weekend, figures released yesterday show that Wales' tourism industry has seen strong growth in 2015 to date, even compared with 2014 - a record breaking year for tourism in Wales.

The Great Britain Tourism Survey for January - July 2015 shows that the number of overnight domestic visitors to Wales has increased by 5% while the amount spent by these visitors is up 18% on 2014.

The Wales Rally GB is one of Wales’ flagship events, and the final event of 2015 to be supported by the Welsh Government. The event crucially attracts visitors to Wales during the shoulder season and gives accommodation and businesses a boost. An extension to the Welsh Government’s successful partnership with International Motor Sports to support Wales Rally GB for a further three years was recently announced.

Minster for Economy Science and Transport will attend the ceremonial start of the Wales Rally GB and said:

“I’m delighted that the Wales rally GB will take place in north Wales again this weekend and that entry numbers are at record level for the event, which demonstrates that the event is proving popular with competitors and spectators alike. North Wales provides some excellent rally stages, including some classic Welsh forest stages. 

The automotive sector brings £3bn to the economy each year and the value of the relationship between the staging of Wales Rally GB and Wales’ Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Industry should not be underestimated and is doing much to raise the profile of this sector internationally.  Wales is home to around 150 component and systems manufacturing companies and has 15,000 people employed in automotive manufacturing.”

Deputy Minister for Culture Sport and Tourism who will attend the Wales rally GB for the closing ceremony, said: 

"The Wales Rally GB is a world-class event and bringing the event to north Wales was a masterstroke which has seen the event going from strength to strength and my hope this year is that it will be even bigger and better than ever. Wales Rally GB has developed a strong profile on the World Rally Championship calendar, demonstrating Wales’ ability to deliver a wide range of major events. The rally provides an ideal platform to showcase Wales’ many assets, including our spectacular scenery, with last year’s media coverage estimated to have reached an international audience of 60 million.

“Our success in hosting major events is just one reason why the tourism industry in Wales is in such a strong position. We will work with the tourism industry to ensure that we continue to sustain these excellent figures. One of our key initiatives is the themed year’s approach - starting with the Year of Adventure in 2016. 

The Year of Adventure is all about building on a wave of exciting new openings and developments, and over 10 years of ongoing investment to make Wales one of the UK’s leading adventure destinations – and it will give people compelling reasons to visit Wales - now.”

In January-July 2015 the total volume of trips to Wales increased by 5.0 per cent in comparison with the same period in 2014 – 5.7 million overnight visits to Wales from the domestic market. Expenditure on visits to Wales in the first seven months of 2015 has risen by 18.0 per cent – to more than £1billion - compared with the same period in 2014. For Great Britain as a whole, total expenditure in January-July 2015 rose by 15.6 per cent compared with that period in 2014.

The volume of day visitors, as reported in the Great Britain Day Visits Survey for January to September, has decreased, which may in part be due to visitors taking longer trips instead of day visits. However, expenditure on day visits has seen an increase of 2% in the first nine months of 2015 which means that Wales is attracting higher spending visitors.

RELATED LINKS

Great Britain Tourism Survey

 

Channel website: http://gov.wales

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