LATEST DATA SHOWS CONTINUED GROWTH OF TOURISM...
Tourism now worth £115.9m to local economy in Wrexham!
The latest data issued by Global Tourism Solutions has revealed further good news for the tourism sector in Wrexham County Borough with a growth of 3.5% in the last year!
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Data submitted by local tourism operators to Wrexham County Borough Council's tourism team has shown a 3.5% growth in visitor spend in the last year, with a total of £115.9m being brought into the County in 2016. However, since 2010 - this also shows a growth of 37.2% making the County one of the strongest performers in Wales.
Badged as the Year of Adventure, 2016 saw popular tourism focussed events such as FOCUS Wales, ComicCon, the Wrexham Food Festival, a pop-up zip wire on Llwyn Isaf, Underneath the Arches, the Stereophonics gig at the Racecourse Ground and the popular Christmas programme in town. In addition, investment in the sector by local businesses and regional marketing through the popular North East Wales brand, plus the investment in a new website and brand for the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Canal World Heritage Site has also been attributed to helping continue to raise the awareness of Wrexham County Borough as a place to visit for leisure and business.
Speaking about the positive annual results, lead member for the economy at Wrexham County Borough Council Terry Evans said;
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"These latest results are further good news for the tourism sector in Wrexham County Borough. Being the local Councillor for Chirk, I have seen myself how the town and the County has benefitted from the growth in visitor numbers in recent years and I hope that these positive statistics encourage further investment and growth in the sector going forward. It's also encouraging in particular to see a growth in our events programme and overnight stays which we have worked hard to promote. Both of these generally bring more income for our local businesses here in the County."
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These comments were echoed by Chair of the This Is Wrexham Tourism Partnership, Peter McGivern who added;
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"We often can be accused of being overly positive about tourism in our County, however year on year the data gathered from local operators and national surveys show that more and more visitors continue to choose Wrexham County as either a base to explore North Wales from - or for days out at our local attractions or events.
In this last year, the Tourism Partnership and the team at Wrexham County Borough Council have collaborated on a number of initiatives and events - all of which have aimed to keep us competitive and attractive to visitors. In July, we also launched our new tourism card which aims to firstly continue the support that we have afforded hotels, restaurants and attractions in recent years and generate funding to put back into marketing, business support and visitor events."
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Early indications for 2017 are that tourism performance in both Wrexham County and across North Wales will continue to develop as the Lonely Planet Guide features the region as the 7th best place in the world to visit. Coupled with this, the Visit Wales 'Year of Legends' programme is in full swing, with Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire tourism teams working hard to market the regions strong heritage, event programme, hospitality and itineraries via a series of short films and brochure.
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For more information about things to do, places to stay and eat - check out the This Is Wrexham Tourism Partnership website at www.thisiswrexham.co.uk
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