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.
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.
Image above; 25 US / Canadian based tour operators visited Wrexham in February as overseas group tours to Wrexham become more popular!
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.
The benefits are also being felt on the ground, with 1,758 full-time equivalent jobs being supported by tourism – a growth of 2.9%, although the sector is still reporting a struggle to attract the right skills whilst struggling with ever-increasing overheads.
Image; Wrexham City Centre (This is Wrexham).
Speaking about the results, Chair of the This is Wrexham Tourism Partnership and owner of the Lemon Tree Restaurant with Rooms, Sam Regan said;
“We’re thrilled as a destination to see such strong figures. On the ground, we’ve definitely seen a big rise in the numbers of international visitors to Wrexham in the last couple of years and the ripple effect has been felt through operators – particularly in the City Centre. The key for us now as a tourism partnership is to look at including Wrexham on more travel itineraries with partners, securing funding for more visitor experience improvements, targeting the out of season markets, non-matchday weekends and increasing midweek trade for all. However, to see tourism in Wrexham on such an upward trajectory is really great news for everyone in the sector!”
Lead Member for the Economy at Wrexham County Borough Council, Cllr Nigel Williams praised the resilience of local hospitality businesses and thanked them for their work to grow the sector;
“The latest tourism performance results are a testament to the hard work and commitment of our hospitality businesses and resilience to bounce back following the pandemic.
Naturally, Wrexham has benefitted more from overseas visitors in the last year thanks to the exposure afforded by the documentary.
My experience of speaking to visitors and travel journalists is that for many the draw to Wrexham has been to see the Racecourse ground - home of Wrexham AFC, but once here they realise what a beautiful county we live in after visiting areas such as the 11-mile Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site, Erddig and Chirk Castle.
I am also pleased to see the development of Wrexham as a visitor destination with new investment in our city centre, hosting large events, our ambassador scheme alongside private investment and entrepreneurship. Some of this is addressing our shortage of overnight accommodation with exciting plans for the refurbishment of existing hotels and new city centre hotels in the pipeline which will keep more of the tourism spend in Wrexham.
It is important that we build on these foundations to ensure visitors have the best possible overall experience and ensure Wrexham is firmly on the map as a place to visit.”
Image above; Over 300 students, hospitality staff and members of the public have become official Wrexham Tourism Ambassadors in the last 12-months.
Having watched the growth of Wrexham as an international tourism destination, hospitality consultant and new owner of Hotel Wrexham, Steven Hesketh added;
“As a multi-site operator across the North West, it was a no brainer to extend into North Wales and specifically Wrexham given the current stats. We invest based on what we see on the ground and our general gut feeling as a company and Wrexham’s buoyancy is being witnessed first-hand by many and we are so proud of the acquisition of Hotel Wrexham (formerly Holt Lodge) and our investment into the new Apart-hotel The Registry in Chester Street. The team and I can only but see a bright future for Wrexham given our own investments, the great changes at Wrexham AFC, the investment from private sector on the Industrial Estate, the growing University and the widening investment coming through from government also. Wrexham’s future is so very exciting!”
Image above; Steven Hesketh (right), joins Wrexham's Mayoress Cllr Beryl Blackmore (centre) at the official relaunch of Hotel Wrexham (formerly Holt Lodge) in June 2024. Image (c) Hotel Wrexham.
*STEAM data is an acronym for the Scarborough Tourism Economic Assessment Model, a model used by 21 of 22 Local Authorities in Wales deriving annual visitor data from local accommodation and attractions, alongside national passenger gateway surveys carried out at airports, rail stations and on the ground interviews across Wales.
**The Wrexham Tourism Ambassador is a free, online series of modules which can be taken in your own time at; https://www.ambassador.wales/ambassador-courses/wrexham-ambassador-course/
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