Tourism

Tourism is a key component of Carmarthenshire’s economy, supporting 6,176 full time equivalent jobs and estimated to generate £441m to the local economy. The benefits are increasingly shared across the County; with visitors spending on accommodation, food and drink, leisure activities and shopping. Non-tourism businesses also benefit through extensive local supply chains, such as the wholesaler who supplies restaurants to the dry cleaner who launders the Hotel’s sheets.

Tourism also has a critical value to the wider community; particularly in the rural areas where many goods and services are only available to the resident community and remain viable because of visitor spend. This wider economic benefit to the destination is referred to as the Visitor Economy, and is far more wide reaching than the direct impact of just the tourism element alone.

The private sector has a fundamental role in delivering key elements of the visitor experience, but the policies and functions we deliver exert an influence over the way that tourism is developed, managed and promoted here in Carmarthenshire. We are the statutory body for planning and licensing, have responsibility for the upkeep of roads and highways, deliver marketing campaigns to attract tourists from the UK and abroad, as well as providing many of the key visitor attractions - from country parks to beaches to museums.