Wales needs to move up the tourism value chain

TOURISM is still too often treated by politicians in Wales as a “nice-to-have” - seasonal, useful for jobs, good for communities but not with the seriousness we reserve for manufacturing, fintech or life sciences in any debate on the Welsh economy.

- DYLAN JONES EVANS

Visitor hotspot Rhos on Sea

This is despite clear evidence from a recent VisitBritain report which shows tourism is one of Wales' most economically important sectors but that we are running it like a domestic leisure industry rather than a critical export sector.

In 2024, Wales recorded total tourism spend of £5.3bn, a total tourism GDP contribution of £5.9bn, and 100,871 tourism jobs. This means it accounts for 6.4% of Welsh economic output and 7.1% of Welsh jobs, making tourism a core industry in Wales with the economy being more tourism-dependent than the UK average.

But here's the first uncomfortable truth: namely that Wales is dependent without being dominant and while the UK total tourism spend is £165.9bn, Wales' share is only around 3% of the UK total.

This is the paradox at the heart of the Welsh tourism economy - we rely more heavily on a sector we have not grown to anything like its potential.

That matters because bigger markets escape the trap of being busy in summer and fragile for the rest of the year while sustaining higher-end accommodation, better visitor experiences, stronger supply chains, year-round programming, skilled roles and profitable reinvestment.

And the quickest way to see why Wales underperforms on value is to look at the segment that behaves most like an export industry, namely inbound international tourism.

International visitors typically spend more per trip, demand higher quality, and crucially can help stretch the season beyond peak domestic school holidays. Yet in 2024, international spend in Wales was just £497m whereas Scotland recorded £3.8bn and London £20.4bn.