Sunny summer boosts Welsh tourism as overseas visitors increase

Nation.Cymru staff

Welsh tourism businesses enjoyed a stronger summer, with visitor numbers improving across every region and a third of operators reporting an increase in overseas customers.

The latest Wales Tourism Business Barometer found that 34% of businesses welcomed more visitors than last summer, while 45% reported similar numbers and 21% experienced a decline.

Warm, sunny weather was the most commonly cited reason for improved trading. However, household spending pressures and rising business costs meant a busy season did not necessarily translate into confidence about profits.

The Welsh Government-commissioned survey, conducted by Strategic Research and Insight, involved telephone interviews with 900 business owners and managers between September 2 and 22.

Among businesses reporting more customers, 54% credited the weather, with activity providers and caravan and camping businesses particularly likely to say it had helped.

One north Wales caravan park operator told researchers: “We’ve had so many phone calls this summer that we could have sold the units three times over.”

A north Wales attraction reported its “best August on record”.

The improvement extended across accommodation, attractions, activity providers and hospitality businesses. Researchers found no significant differences in overall performance between the four Welsh regions.

Overseas trade also strengthened, with 32% of businesses reporting more international visitors, compared with 18% reporting fewer. Half said numbers were similar to last summer.

The report highlighted Germany and the Netherlands as particularly strong markets.

Confidence about profitability improved overall. Some 62% of operators felt either very or fairly confident about running profitably this year, up from 52% at the same point in 2025.

However, the proportion describing themselves as “very confident” fell from 21% to 18%, with the improvement coming from more businesses feeling “fairly confident”.

Operators said rising costs continued to make profitability hard work, while a lack of disposable income remained the most frequently cited explanation among businesses experiencing fewer customers.

One south-east Wales attraction said: “I thought business was going to be great this year with the heatwave but it’s not the case. People just don’t have money.”

Attractions

The sunshine also worked against some businesses as visitors chose beaches over indoor or inland attractions. Others said extreme heat discouraged customers from visiting sites offering little shade.

Among attractions reporting fewer visitors, 45% attributed the decline to the weather.

A south-east Wales activity provider told researchers: “We were significantly down on last year: around 20%. The weather was good and the beach is a cheap day out.”

Despite the stronger summer, increasingly late bookings were making it difficult for accommodation providers to judge demand for the quieter months.

“The last minute trend makes the autumn hard to predict as consumers watch the weather forecasts and their disposable income,” the report said.

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