Tourism across Wales will share nearly £16m of investment in a bid to create world centres of excellence.
15th July 2010
Afan Fforest, family cycling
More than £5m will go to a project to create in South Wales the “most exciting and accessible off-road cycle trail network in the UK”.
The off-road cycling initiative will involve the creation of the “best all-round, purpose built trail centre in the UK” at Afan Forest Park in Neath Port Talbot.
Trails at the “gateway to the Valleys site at Cwmcarn, Caerphilly, will be refreshed and support will also go to a bike park at Gethin Woods, Merthyr Tydfil and a mountain biking centre at Margam Park, near Neath.
More than £4.5m will be spent linking together great garden estates in South-West Wales and improving the attractions.
The One Historic Garden initiative will link sites throughout South West Wales in what is believed to be the first such initiative of its kind in the nation.
Bryngarw Country Park, Penllergare Valley Woods and Scolton Manor are among the locations which it is hoped will see a jump in visitor numbers.
Margam Park
Meanwhile, in Snowdonia, about £4m will be invested in developing outdoor sports and a further £2.2m of funding will be used in North Wales to promote cycling throughout the region.
The mixture of European development cash and match-funding follows research which demonstrates the economic potential of Welsh tourism.
Cardiff Business School’s Calvin Jones found that tourists spent an estimated £4.2bn in Wales in 2007 – directly supporting 78,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
He said: “While just over 40% of visitors’ spending was on accommodation and food, some 36% was on goods and services outside of identified tourist industries, demonstrating the wide range of services demanded by visitors, and hence the breadth of economic impact.”
Dr Jones said the research shows tourism is of greater importance to the Welsh economy than previously thought.
Robert Lloyd Griffiths of the Institute of Directors said tourism was now a “really important element of the Welsh economy”.
He said members were praying for sunshine this summer “like us all but perhaps even more so” because of the clear link between good weather and tourist visits to Wales.
The funding programme has been launched by Plaid Cymru Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones.
He said the centres will showcase what Wales has to offer as a sustainable tourism destination.
