Tourists desert Welsh countryside for towns

A survey by the Wales Tourist Board of occupancy in June shows the stark contrast in fortunes caused by the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

B&Bs in the country or in small villages saw occupancy fall from 42% last year to 34%, with the percentage of overseas visitors also falling, from 25% to 18%. Although occupancy was down across the board, seaside B&Bs were the least affected.

Hotels in large towns and cities recorded the highest occupancy, at 71% compared with 63% last year. By contrast, occupancy at country hotels remained static at 56% and seaside hotels saw a small rise of two percentage points to 68%. Overall, the number of overseas visitors was unchanged at 10%.

Four-star hotels in towns or cities charging more than £60 had the highest occupancy, which Birgitte Magnussen, senior research officer at the tourist board, said was "fairly normal".

She added: "What's new is the big difference in performance based on location. There is a huge displacement of visitors from the countryside to the coast, towns and cities because of foot-and-mouth."

The survey covered 140 B&Bs and 142 hotels.

by Ben WalkerSource: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 13-19 September 2001