Sir Gâr Sustainable Tourism Forum

Page updated on: 12/02/2026

Tourism provides a substantial economic contribution to Carmarthenshire with related expenditure at £730million in 2024. Carmarthenshire County Council is a major stakeholder in supporting a sustainable tourism sector, being the statutory body for services such as planning, public health and highways, managing many key visitor attractions such as theatres, beaches, museums, swimming pools and country parks as well as facilitating the provision or improvement of infrastructure and business. We also seek to increase awareness of the County as a tourist destination, delivering marketing activities to support work from Visit Wales and Visit Britain.

We wish to increase our local stakeholder engagement in 2026 by setting up a Sustainable Tourism Forum (STF), with the purpose of:

  • involving key partners in our work, to consider practical operational matters, including challenges and opportunities 
  • gaining relevant stakeholder insight, supporting the planning and delivery of strategies and activities that will assist sustained growth in quality and economic impact across the County
  • discussing local impact and any required actions for national policy decisions as well as wider sector issues such as skills. 
  • providing an effective two-way communication process between different segments of the sector, private, public and community, amplifying key messages to all stakeholder groups.

Forum membership will comprise voluntary members from a range of organisations offering a range of experience, expertise and views on the tourism sector that will help support stated aims. Although additional members may be added to the group in the future, initial representation will be from:

  1. Hotels (chain and independent) 
  2. B&B / Guesthouse and self-catering 
  3. Caravan / camping / hostels
  4. Public house / restaurant 
  5. Events
  6. Attractions and places to visit (paid for)
  7. Retail

Public & community sector to include representation from national bodies such as Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Water and Welsh Government Tourism (inc CADW) as well as local town & Community Councils.

County Council officers will include when required from Waste, highways, infrastructure, Leisure, culture, outdoor recreation, planning, future planning, rights of way, biodiversity, Economic development, licensing, business affairs and marketing.

Members will be asked to:

  • Provide feedback and comment on project work and draft guidance
  • Consider and advise on potential opportunities and threats for the sector
  • Effectively communicate the work of the forum to the segment they represent, proposing topics of conversation which would be beneficial to discuss in future meetings.

Governance Arrangements 

The Forum will be chaired by the County Council’s Cabinet member for Regeneration, Leisure, Culture and Tourism and will be a face-to-face meeting. Discussion and documents will be shared for wider dissemination with secretariat, administrative support and arrangements for meetings and the work of the forum coordinated by the Council’s Tourism Development officers.

The forum will meet twice a year with an option to call extra meetings at short notice to discuss a specific item.

How to become a member

Please send your name, contact details, the category you are interested in representing and in no more than 200 words, the experience and value you would bring to the forum via email to tourism@carmarthenshire.gov.uk . If you would like further information or an informal discussion, please contact Huw Parsons via 07733 102318.

Review

We intend to annually review the Terms of Reference collectively for this forum and assess whether we are meeting the intended aims.

Note

Sustainable Tourism takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.
Carmarthenshire County Council has the following functions in relation to promoting the development of tourism in Carmarthenshire:

  1. encouraging people to visit Carmarthenshire
  2. encouraging residents to visit other places in the County
  3. providing or improving, or facilitating the provision or improvement of, tourist amenities, facilities and services across the County
  4. providing or improving, or facilitating the provision or improvement of, infrastructure for use by visitors in Carmarthenshire (whether or not this is also for use by local people). 

In exercising these functions, CCC must have regard to the importance of

  • mitigating the social and environmental impact of visitors.
  • maintaining and promoting use of the Welsh language. 

CCC may do anything they consider appropriate, within or outside Carmarthenshire, for the purpose of discharging their functions including carrying out, or facilitating, the following activities

  1. marketing Carmarthenshire as a visitor destination
  2. providing advisory and information services about tourism
  3. undertaking research about tourism
  4. providing financial assistance (on such terms as the CCC considers appropriate)