Bad weather 'biggest factor' affecting Wales visitor numbers

Businesses in Wales will be able to claim grant funding to protect tourists from the rain.

The Welsh government has introduced the funding after poor weather was the main reason given for why fewer people holidayed in Wales last summer. The £1m fund will mean eligible businesses can apply for grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 to introduce "weather-proofing measures".

Those measures could include canopies, covered seating areas, or improved pathways and car park surfaces, according to the Welsh government. The announcement of the new fund comes as Wales prepares to introduce a visitor levy, also known as a tourism tax.

The latest figures from the Great Britain Tourism Survey show there were 8.44m overnight trips taken in Wales by British residents in 2023, with a total spend of £2.02bn. While the volume of trips was 3% lower than in 2022, expenditure was 7% higher.

But recent data from Visit Wales showed poor weather was given by 55% of businesses as the reason for fewer visitors last summer. Carwyn Rees runs Erwlon Caravan and Camping Park in Llandovery.

He told Sky News that the weather in the UK was a "significant factor" affecting tourism numbers, particularly those visitors who "flitter between staying in the UK and going abroad". "Easter was a wet one so a lot of sites across Wales had to cancel because the ground was too wet for people to drive upon," he said.

"With that funding, we'd be able to look at an additional structure to give another covered area for people to enjoy while staying with us, and also the possibility of being able to enhance some of our pitches into hard-standing areas." Mr Rees said he hoped the "weather-proofing" funds would encourage more visitors to stay in the UK and to "spend their money locally". Read more from Sky News:Jury shown alleged moment Sycamore Gap tree was felledWoman suspected of killing three people with toxic mushrooms Wales's cabinet secretary for tourism Rebecca Evans said the weather was "the single biggest factor affecting visitor numbers to Welsh attractions".

"Poor weather can stop them operating as normal, impact on the experience and has the potential to discourage visits in the first place," she said. "That's why we have listened to the concerns of people working in the tourism attraction sector and launched this fund, helping them prepare for increasingly variable weather patterns.".