Wales is an emerging tourist destination, with 8,078,900 visitors to National Trust and Welsh Tourist Board destinations in 2002.[1]
In 2005 tourism in Wales contributed to the Economy of Wales supporting over 100,000 service-sector jobs, more than 8% of total employees in Wales. The most popular activities undertaken by tourists in Wales were walking, shopping, and visiting historic attractions, museums and galleries. Over 1.1 million trips were made to Wales by overseas tourists in 2006. The main countries of origin of overseas visitors were the Republic of Ireland, USA, and Germany.[1]
The capital, Cardiff is the most popular area in Wales for tourists, with 11.7 million visitors in 2006.[2], and provides 8,400 full time jobs in the sector. In 2004, tourists spent the most money in Gwynedd, followed by Conwy and Cardiff.[3]
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Reasons for tourism in Wales
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Wales' history and culture have been exploited to attract tourists. The scars of the industrial revolution and its industrial heritage can still be seen on parts of the Welsh landscape today. The Museum of Welsh Life, which focuses largely on the industrial past of Wales, is currently the most popular tourist attraction in Wales, attracting over 600,000 visitors annually. Other historical destinations, such as the many castles across Wales, such as Caernarfon castle or Caerphilly castle—most of them built to either enable or to consolidate English conquest of Wales, during the reign of the English king Edward I—also attract large numbers of tourists.
The varied landscape of Wales also helps tourism. There are three national parks in Wales, the Brecon Beacons National Park, Snowdonia National Park and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Popular activities at the national parks include hill walking, hiking, canoeing, hang gliding, kayaking and climbing. Wales is also becoming increasingly popular for 'extreme' sports, such as surfing, mountain biking and downhill cycling (in which Wales hosts the 'Dragon Downhill Series'). The terrain of Wales has also attracted the World Rally Championship (WRC). The Wales Rally GB is held annually. The 2005 Wales Rally GB saw the first WRC stage to be set indoors, at the Millennium Stadium.
In Cardiff, the regenerated Cardiff Bay area, commonly shown on the cult TV series Doctor Who and the location for the spin off programme Torchwood, is one of the most popular destinations.
Another increasingly popular reason for going to Wales, as with the rest of the UK—especially by those from North America—is genealogy, with many visitors coming to Wales to explore their family and ancestral roots. 1.8 million United States citizens are estimated to have Welsh ancestral roots, including former presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson.[2]
History of tourism in Wales
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The Wye Valley witnessed the birth of British tourism in the eighteenth century. The area became widely known following the publication in 1782 of Observations on the River Wye by the Reverend William Gilpin. The first illustrated tour guide to be published in Britain, it helped travellers locate and enjoy the most "picturesque" aspects of the countryside, such as Tintern Abbey. The Wye Valley's particular attraction was its river scenery, and the many guidebooks, engravings and paintings ensured a continuing steady stream of visitors which grew after the building of a new turnpike road up the valley in 1822 and the opening of a rail line in 1865.
However, when George Borrow wrote Wild Wales in 1862 it is clear from his descriptions that the notion of tourism in more mountainous parts of Wales hardly existed except for the most intrepid traveller. Indeed he records that many locals regarded the mountainous and wild landscapes as monstrous and ugly rather than romantic or picturesque. It was only as the Victorian era developed that the concept of mountains and valleys as both interesting and visually pleasing landscapes developed. North Wales in particular benefitted from this changed vision with development of towns and villages such as Betws-y-Coed to accommodate the increasing numbers of visitors.
The changing face of industrialisation in the North West of England and in the Midlands, with increasing pay rates and the provision of paid time off for industrial workers, allowed many people to enjoy an annual holiday for the first time. Many chose to visit the seaside resorts such as Llandudno, Prestatyn and Rhyl in North Wales, Aberystwyth and Barmouth in Mid Wales and Barry, Tenby, Swansea and Penarth in South Wales as well as many others were developed to cope with this burgeoning new trend.
Infrastructure
Wales is connected to the rest of the United Kingdom (its principal tourist market) by road, rail and domestic flights. The M4 Motorway connects South and West Wales to Southern England and London. The A55 road is the principal route linking North Wales to North West England.
There are numerous rail links between Wales and England, including services to Cardiff Central, Newport and Swansea from London Paddington, and to Cardiff Central from Portsmouth, Gloucester, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Picadilly, Nottingham and Newcastle. Cardiff Central offers connections to the South Wales Valleys, the Vale of Glamorgan and West Wales, and Swansea offers connections to additional stations in West Wales. There are direct services from London and Birmingham to Holyhead via the North Wales Coast. Internally, there are services from Cardiff to Holyhead.
Cardiff International Airport is the international gateway to South and West Wales, offering international and domestic flights. There are a number of budget airlines operating out of Cardiff to Europe, Africa and North America. Internally, there are twice daily return flights from Cardiff to Anglesey with Highland Airways. Many daily flight operate to and from other major UK cities such as Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Belfast.
The country is also connected to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by car ferry services operating daily from a number of Welsh ports, principally Holyhead. These services are frequent and usually operated aboard fast ferries.
Tourist destinations in Wales
There are several towns and cities that are popular with tourists and visitors in Wales.
- Cardiff is the capital and largest city. The city has three major performing arts venues, the Wales Millennium Centre, St David's Hall and New Theatre. Other tourist attractions include Cardiff Castle, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff International Pool, National Museum Cardiff, Museum of Welsh Life, Llandaff Cathedral, Castell Coch, and in Cardiff Bay, Techniquest, the Senedd and the Pierhead Building.
- Swansea is the second-largest city. Attractions here include the National Waterfront Museum, Dylan Thomas Centre, Plantasia, Oystermouth Castle, Mumbles Pier and the beach and promenade along Swansea Bay and the adjoining Gower Coast.
- Newport is the third-largest city in Wales. An influx of visitors are expected in 2010 when the city hosts golf's Ryder Cup, at the Celtic Manor Resort. Attractions include Tredegar House and Gardens, the Transporter Bridge, the ancient Roman fortress at Caerleon, St. Woolos Cathedral, the Westgate Hotel. The Big Pit National Coal Museum is located at Blaenavon, 15 miles to the north.
- St David's in Pembrokeshire is the UK's smallest city, resting place of St David and gateway to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
- Bangor is between the mountains of Snowdonia and the Menai Strait and close to Anglesey. Bangor lies at the western end of the North Wales Path, a 60 mile long-distance coastal walking route, and is close to the Menai Suspension Bridge, one of the first modern suspension bridges in the world.
- Barry is a seaside town 9 miles south of Cardiff. Its seaside resort, Barry Island, is known for its beach and Barry Island Pleasure Park.
- Hay on Wye, the "town of books" famed for its numerous second hand bookshops.
There are several features of the Welsh landscape that are popular with visitors:
- Mount Snowdon in Snowdonia is the highest mountain in Wales and a popular mountaineering destination.
- Pen y Fan is the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons in South Wales.
- Wye Valley AONB includes Tintern Abbey and Chepstow Castle.
- Offa's Dyke Path is a long distance footpath on the English border in the historic Welsh Marches.
- Taff Trail is a foot and cycle path running along the River Taff through the city and countryside, from Cardiff Bay to Brecon.
- Glyndŵr's Way is a long-distance trail between Knighton and Welshpool in Powys.
- The Gower peninsula was the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956. Gower has a number of castles and sandy beaches.
- The Vale of Neath stretching from the town of Neath to the foothills of the Brecon Beacons National Park has several waterfall attractions along the length of the valley and contains the historic Neath Canal.
There are several independent attractions that are popular with visitors
See also
References
- ^ Welsh Assembly Government | Fast facts
- ^ "Steam report". http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ObjView.asp?Object_ID=9200. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
- ^ http://www.newswales.co.uk/index.php?section=Tourism&F=1&id=7860 News Wales: Cardiff visitors spent £456 million
External links
- Attractions North Wales (Funded by Tourism Partnership North Wales)
- Visit Wales
- Visit Wales - UK Short Break Holidays
- Welsh Assembly Government
- Wales Tourism Guide
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