First results from a new study of visitor attractions in Wales show that the industry has seen far more changes than was previously realised. The National Waterfront Museum, Swansea and National Botanic Garden of Wales have been high-profile new places to visit in the last 10 years, but overall the number of attractions has fallen for the first time ever.
The research is being carried out by Huw Thomas of the Dept of Management & IT, at the University of Wales Lampeter. “Figures from the Welsh Assembly Government show that tourists spend about £8m a day on trips to Wales, yet there are huge gaps in our knowledge of where they go and what they see’’, said Huw. ‘’ The only information available on who operates the places that people visit comes from an annual survey that is voluntary and completed by much less than half of all attractions. I’ve been trying to fill the gaps, and the early results show that the number of visitor attractions in Wales is now slightly lower than it was 10 years ago at about 575. This is interesting since before that, the number of attractions had doubled in the decade 1988 – 1998”.
“We’re talking about visitor attractions that mostly have an admission charge and are primarily places that people visit for sightseeing” continued Huw. “Another surprising fact to come out of the research so far is that between 1998 and 2008, 88 attractions closed and 86 opened, so things are also a lot more dynamic than was previously thought. The research will continue to investigate the main factors behind these changes, concentrating on business management and marketing issues”.
Amongst the new attractions opening were the Conwy Mussel Museum, Gower Coast Adventures, and 1940s Swansea Bay, whilst at the same time we saw the closure of Penscynnor Wildlife Park, Celtica and Penhow Castle.
The Department of Management & IT at Lampeter University currently has a variety of research projects underway ranging including understanding small business development, entrepreneurship and women in enterprise.
