Darren Millar AM at St Dyfnog’s Holy Well, Llanrhaeadr, Nr Denbigh
In Wales Tourism Week, Clwyd West AM Darren Millar is encouraging people to discover the many religious treasures that are on offer in North Wales.
Records show that increasing numbers of visitors to the region are visiting religious and sacred sites and Darren, who chairs the Cross Party Group on Faith in the National Assembly, is keen to encourage spiritual tourism further.
He said:
“Tourism is the bread and butter of our local economy in North Wales and we are blessed with a number of important tourist attractions such as the Welsh Mountain Zoo and the Clwydian Range. However, there are also a number of important religious sites in our area such as holy wells in Holywell and Llanrhaeadr yng Nghinmeirch, historic churches and chapels such as St Asaph Cathedral and Rhug Chapel.
“Also we have the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way, launched in 2011, which follows a route from Flintshire to Bardsey island off Gwynedd, joining up many churches, abbeys and monuments.
“I have long been calling for more to be done to promote Wales’ abundance of ancient and sacred sites in a bid to improve faith tourism and therefore welcomed the Welsh Government’s Faith Tourism Action Plan launched last year as part of its wider tourism strategy.
“Church leaders have claimed there is a renewed interest in holy sites, with more than 600,000 visitors each year to some of the nation’s most prominent religious places. It is fantastic that the number of visitors to these sacred sites is growing and that the Welsh Government is taking strategic action to take advantage of the opportunity this presents.
“With this action plan now in place, such places could attract tens of thousands more helping to boost our tourism industry, which is the backbone of many communities across the region.”
