SAM Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has expressed his delight at news that tourism in Wrexham is continuing to grow.

Mr Rowlands, Chair of the Senedd’s Cross Party Group on Tourism and a big supporter of attracting more visitors to North Wales said: “Everybody knows how passionate I am about encouraging tourism in my Region of North Wales and I am absolutely delighted to hear that data shows that Wrexham is continuing to be the destination of choice for tourists.

“The city is clearly now on the visitor radar thanks to the Wrexham AFC documentary and welcomes people from all over the world. It also has a university, which has been ranked the top in Wales for teaching for the second year running and attracts students from far and wide.

“Tourism is a huge part of our Welsh economy as it is such an incredible place to visit. I would argue that North Wales in particular is probably one of the most special places when it comes to the visitor economy and I am really pleased to see how Wrexham has continued to grow.

“My only concern for North Wales is the Welsh Government's policies towards the tourism sector with the proposed tourism tax and the punishing new taxes on holiday lets which is putting a huge strain on the industry.

"They really need to do more to back this sector in North Wales and make sure cities like Wrexham continue to be a destination of choice.”

The annual 2023 tourism data for Wales reveals that Wrexham County experienced it’s strongest annual performance since records began in 2023, with a near 20% year-on-year growth in visitor spend.

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The annual STEAM Data (which Local Authority areas across the UK commonly use to measure tourism performance) shows that Wrexham’s revival since the pandemic continues to grow at a strong pace, with the value of tourism for Wrexham increasing by 18.2% from 2022 to £179.4m today. 

This also reflects a huge growth of 82% in the last decade – the strongest in Wales, demonstrating the development of the county as a competitive leisure and business destination. 

Total visitor numbers grew in 2023 by 6.6% with just over two million visiting the county last year, with an 8.1% growth in day visitors, although overnight stays grew by just 1.3%, possibly reflecting the need for additional, high-quality accommodation.