Research, trends & development
In 2021, 2.32million visitors came to Carmarthenshire, generating £412 million for the local economy. Over 5.1 million tourist days were spent in the County with 0.71 million people staying in one of the 1,300+ establishments. The changes for 2008 - 2018 (%) are as follows:
- Economic impact: +50% (£206 million to £412 million in 2021)
- Visitor numbers: +52.1% (1.2million to 2.3million in 2021)
The increase in visitor yield was driven by strong performance in the staying visitor sector especially serviced. Since 2008, the annual number of staying visitors to Carmarthenshire here has increased by 21%, contributing a further £238 million to the economy in 2021. Non serviced is still the largest provider of accommodation rising in economic impact by 63% since 2008 with a value in 2019 of £332 million. Our tourism performance is measured using STEAM (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor).
Who are our visitors?
- Affluent 'Empty Nesters' aged 55+ years
- Average number of people in each visiting party is 4.4
- Mid-income families with older children
- 97% said they were likely to return in future
- 98% said they would recommend it as a place to visit
- Large % came from other areas of Wales as well as Midlands, South East, USA, and Ireland
