Tourism boom for Wales
Tourism in Wales has outperformed that of the rest of the country, according to the latest national survey.
The first seven months of this year saw 6.6m visitors to Wales, an increase of 2% on last year, the latest UK Tourism Survey reveals.
The number of nights stayed rose by 14% while the amount tourists spent in Wales also rose by 16% to £969m.
By comparison UK trips overall were down 7%, while the amount spent dropped by 1%.
Wales Tourist Board chairman, Philip Evans, said that the figures cannot simply be attributed to good weather.
"These are encouraging indicators that our collective efforts to boost the tourism industry in Wales are having an impact and we are successfully winning a greater market share for Wales," he said.
The survey was compiled by data from all the national tourist boards.
by Christina Golding
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