Wrexham’s ‘huge’ tourism growth facing challenges

Alec Doyle Local Democracy Reporter

Tourism revenue in Wrexham has grown by £120m in just three years – but a hospitality group has warned that economic pressure on the sector and hotel capacity place future growth in jeopardy.

Figures in the latest Destination Management Plan for Wrexham County Borough shows that in 2023 tourism revenue was just over £179m – having recovered from the covid collapse in 2020 that saw income plummet to around £49m.

The latest figures show that Wrexham tourism is booming over the longer term too however, with revenue around £90m higher than 2012.

Rising visitor numbers

Visitor numbers were up 21% last year with two million day visitors coming to the county borough. The tourism economy in Wrexham currently supports 1,758 full time hospitality jobs.

“Since we got world heritage status for the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 2009 Wrexham has been on an upward trajectory,” Joe Bickerton, Destination Project Manager for Wrexham told councillors at Wrexham County Borough Council’s Employment, Business and Investment Scrutiny Committee.

“Last year we were the best performing local authority in Wales for visitor growth. We see 21% as an anomaly, we usually see growth of five or six percent.”

Catalyst

He added that while the Welcome to Wrexham documentary around Wrexham AFC with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney has acted as a catalyst for many, the city has stepped up to embrace visitors.

“People might come because they’ve seen certain aspects on the documentary or they might now be interested to see what Wrexham is all about.

“The key going forward is how we maintain this in 2025 and 2026 and make sure Wrexham county and its rural areas are celebrated as much as the city centre.

“The City of Culture bid and the next year’s National Eisteddfod really enhance the profile of Wrexham further and we continue to play our part in that as a local authority.”

But Sam Regan, owner of the Lemon Tree restaurant in Wrexham and chair of hospitality group This is Wrexham, said that the sector – the face of the city’s tourism offering – was facing serious econmomic challenges that could jeopardise the future growth of the visitor economy.

“The hospitality industry in Wrexham needs a huge amount of support,” he said. “That is why This is Wrexham is formally becoming a CIC – so we can better help our members access support.

“Things are getting more difficult in hospitality. It’s not a particularly frothy industry in terms of profitability and it’s only getting worse. I think in April 2025 with decisions around budgets it’s going to be a really difficult year.

Challenge

One of the biggest challenges the city faces is accommodation.

“We are in a very fortunate position in Wrexham,” said Sam. “Our occupancy at the Lemon Tree is around 91% this year and we see that across the region – but there’s a lot of jepoardy involved as well.

“We cannot rest on our laurels in terms of the attention that Welcome to Wrexham and the football club brings in, we need to move forward and bolster that attention rather than just accepting it as a given.”

Mr Bickerton added that accommodation was a key focus of the county borough’s destination plan.

“We’ve got eight hotels around the city centre and if you speak to operators, accomodation is at a premium at the moment,” he said.

“Matchday weekends, midweek business tourism demand is very high. We are a seven day a week destination. Going forward there are plans for new accommodation, the Old Registry aparthotel is due to open on Chester Street for example.

“Most operators agree we do need more accommodation and I think that’s probably an area over the next five years where we’ll see investment.”